1957 Cleveland Browns season

1957 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach Paul Brown
Home field Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record 9–2–1
Division place 1st NFL Eastern
Playoff finish Lost NFL Championship

The 1957 Cleveland Browns season was the team's eighth season with the National Football League.

Season summary

After missing the playoffs in 1956, ending a string of 10 straight years in which they had advanced to the league championship game, the Browns came storming back to finish 9–2–1 and win the Eastern Conference title by a relatively healthy margin over the defending world champion New York Giants (7–5). The Browns took care of business against the Giants, "bookending," as it were, their arch rivals. They beat New York 6–3 in the season opener and then edged them again 34–28 in the finale. The Browns also posted two shutouts on the year, 24–0 over the Pittsburgh Steelers and 31–0 over the Chicago Cardinals.

Ironically, the Eastern foe the Browns had the most trouble with was fourth-place Washington (5–6–1). Cleveland edged the Redskins 21–17 and then had to settle for a 30–30 tie in the rematch. Once again, the Browns fell to Detroit 20–7, making them 0–3 against the Lions in the regular season since joining the NFL in 1950.

Although they had a rookie All-American running back out of Syracuse by the name of Jim Brown, the Browns were by no means an offensive juggernaut overall. The eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer was outstanding, rushing for 942 yards and nine TDs, but he was the only real standout that year. Tommy O'Connell, who had taken over for retired Hall of Famer Otto Graham in 1956 and was the quarterback during the 5–7 finish that year, had the job for most of the way in '57 as well. He and rookie Milt Plum combined for just 1,873 yards passing 12 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.

Exhibition Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 August 14, 1957 at Detroit Lions L 20–10
40,150
2 August 24, 1957 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at Akron W 28–13
26,669
3 September 1, 1957 at San Francisco 49ers L 21–17
32,840
4 September 6, 1957 at Los Angeles Rams L 20–14
45,011
5 September 14, 1957 Detroit Lions W 23–7
34,369
6 September 20, 1957 at Chicago Bears L 29–3
47,354

Regular Season Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 29, 1957 New York Giants W 6–3
58,095
2 October 5, 1957 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 23–12
35,570
3 October 13, 1957 Philadelphia Eagles W 24–7
53,493
4 October 20, 1957 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–7
22,443
5 October 27, 1957 at Chicago Cardinals W 17–7
26,341
6 November 3, 1957 Washington Redskins W 21–17
52,936
7 November 10, 1957 Pittsburgh Steelers W 24–0
53,709
8 November 17, 1957 at Washington Redskins T 30–30
27,722
9 November 24, 1957 Los Angeles Rams W 45–31
65,407
10 December 1, 1957 Chicago Cardinals W 31–0
40,525
11 December 8, 1957 at Detroit Lions L 20–7
55,814
12 December 15, 1957 at New York Giants W 34–28
54,294

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Championship December 29, 1957 at Detroit Lions L 59–14
55,263

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns 9 2 1 .818 8–1–1 269 172 W1
New York Giants 7 5 0 .583 6–4 254 211 L3
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 6 0 .500 5–5 161 178 W1
Washington Redskins 5 6 1 .455 4–5–1 251 230 W3
Philadelphia Eagles 4 8 0 .333 4–6 173 230 L2
Chicago Cardinals 3 9 0 .250 2–8 200 299 L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Postseason

NFL Championship Game

1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 0 7 7 0 14
Lions 17 14 14 14 59

Scoring

Awards and records

Milestones

External links

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