1985 Cleveland Browns season

1985 Cleveland Browns season

Head coach	Marty Schottenheimer (2nd season)
General manager	Ernie Accorsi (Since 1985)
Owner	Art Modell (Since 1961)
Home field	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	1st AFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins 21–24)

The 1985 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 36th season with the National Football League.

In Marty Schottenheimer's first full year as head coach, the Browns bounced back from a horrible 5–11 season in 1984 to make the playoffs, despite a .500 season. Rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar led the Browns' offense; Ozzie Newsome's 62 receptions earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl; Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack each rushed for over 1,000 yards.

In the Divisional Playoffs, the Browns led the Miami Dolphins 21–3 in the third quarter, but in a scene that would be repeated 4 more times in the 1980s, the Browns collapsed down the stretch as the Dolphins came back to score three touchdowns to win the game 24–21.

In 2004, Football Outsiders named the 1985 Browns as one of the "worst playoff teams ever":^[1]

Opponents outscored them 287–294, and they were blown out in two of their last three games (31–13 by the Seahawks and 38–10 by the Jets). They took a 21–3 lead over the Dolphins in the playoffs, only to watch Dan Marino and company score 21 unanswered points to win the game.
The 1985 Browns are probably best known for having two 1,000-yard rushers in Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack. Despite that impressive feat, the Browns were only fourth in the AFC in team rushing yards. They were 13th in the conference in passing yards, thanks to rookie [quarterback] Bernie Kosar and journeyman Gary Danielson. What that team did very well was play defense and take advantage of a weak division. The Browns swept the 5–11 Oilers and split with the 7–9 Bengals and Steelers. A 28–21 win in Week 15 against the Oilers proved to be the division capper: Kosar threw three TDs to open up a 28–7 lead, and the defense withstood a Warren Moon comeback.

Until 2011, Cleveland's .500 winning percentage held the record for the lowest such percentage for a division winning playoff team in a non-strike season; the record was tied by the 2008 San Diego Chargers, then broken by the 2010 Seattle Seahawks. (Incidentally, in 1985 and 2008, teams with 11–5 records – Denver in 1985, New England in 2008—missed the playoffs.)

Personnel

Staff

1985 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

President and Owner – Art Modell
Executive Vice President of Football Operations – Ernie Accorsi

Head coaches

Head Coach – Marty Schottenheimer

Offensive coaches

Offensive Coordinator – Joe Pendry
Quarterbacks – Greg Landry
Running Backs – Steve Crosby
Receivers – Richard Mann
Offensive Line – Howard Mudd

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator – Tom Bettis
Defensive Line – Tom Pratt
Linebackers – Tom Olivadotti
Special Assistant – Darvin Wallis

Special teams coaches

Special Teams – Bill Cowher

Strength and conditioning

Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding

^[2]

Roster

1985 Cleveland Browns roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

72 Dave Puzzuoli NT
78 Carl Hairston DE
79 Bob Golic NT
91 Sam Clancy DE
96 Reggie Camp DE
99 Keith Baldwin DE

Linebackers

Defensive backs

20 Don Rogers S
22 Felix Wright S
27 Al Gross S
29 Hanford Dixon CB
31 Frank Minnifield CB
37 Chris Rockins S
47 Larry Braziel CB
48 D.D. Hoggard CB

Special teams

7 Jeff Gossett P
9 Matt Bahr K

Rookies in italics

^[3]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 8, 1985	St. Louis Cardinals	L 27–24	62,107
2	September 16, 1985	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–7	79,042
3	September 22, 1985	at Dallas Cowboys	L 20–7	61,456
4	September 29, 1985	at San Diego Chargers	W 21–7	52,107
5	October 6, 1985	New England Patriots	W 24–20	62,139
6	October 13, 1985	at Houston Oilers	W 21–6	38,386
7	October 20, 1985	Los Angeles Raiders	L 21–20	77,928
8	October 27, 1985	Washington Redskins	L 14–7	78,540
9	November 3, 1985	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 10–9	51,976
10	November 10, 1985	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 27–10	57,293
11	November 17, 1985	Buffalo Bills	W 17–7	54,478
12	November 24, 1985	Cincinnati Bengals	W 24–6	74,439
13	December 1, 1985	at New York Giants	W 35–33	66,482
14	December 8, 1985	at Seattle Seahawks	L 31–13	58,477
15	December 15, 1985	Houston Oilers	W 28–21	50,793
16	December 22, 1985	at New York Jets	L 37–10	59,073

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	January 4, 1986	at Miami Dolphins	L 24–21	75,128

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns⁽³⁾	8	8	0	.500	4–2	7–5	287	294	L1
Cincinnati Bengals	7	9	0	.438	4–2	5–7	441	437	L2
Pittsburgh Steelers	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	379	355	L1
Houston Oilers	5	11	0	.313	1–3	4–8	284	412	L4

References

↑ Football Outsiders: Skin of the Teeth: The Worst Playoff Teams Ever
↑ "All-Time Assistant Coaches". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/1985_roster.htm

Cleveland Browns

Founded in 1946 Based in Cleveland, Ohio Headquartered in Berea, Ohio

Franchise	History Players Head coaches Seasons Logos and uniforms First-round draft picks 1999 expansion draft

Stadiums	Cleveland Stadium FirstEnergy Stadium

Key personnel	Owners: Jimmy Haslam Dee Haslam President (de facto): Paul DePodesta General manager (de facto): Sashi Brown Head coach: Hue Jackson

Culture and lore	Art Modell Cleveland sports curse Dawg Pound Draft Day Hot Tub Time Machine Kardiac Kids Paul Brown Marty Ball Red Right 88 Relocation controversy "The Best Man" The Drive The Express The Fortune Cookie The Fumble

Rivalries	Cincinnati Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers

Playoff appearances (28)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957 1958 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1971 1972 1980 1982 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1994 2002

Division titles (12)	1946 1947 1948 1967 1968 1969 1971 1980 1985 1986 1987 1989

Conference titles (11)	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957 1964 1965 1968 1969

League titles (8)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1954 1955 1964

Retired numbers	14 32 45 46 76

Hall of Fame inductees	Players: Brown DeLamielleure Ford Gatski Graham Groza Hickerson Kelly Lavelli McCormack Mitchell Motley Newsome Warfield Willis Coach: Brown

Media	Broadcasters Radio network Flagships: WKNR WKRK-FM WNCX Television: WEWS-TV

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1950–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: North Division

Former league affiliation	League: All-America Football Conference (1946–1949)

Seasons (67)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Cleveland Browns seasons

1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates AAFC championship (through 1949) or NFL championship

1985 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Buffalo	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Indianapolis	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	LA Rams
Miami	Houston	LA Raiders	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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