1967 Blues for the Browns

[Saban1]

Not trying to beat a dead horse here, but just trying to make one more point. We got the Browns games where I live during the 60's (that ended when Art Modell put the Browns into the AFC in 1970). Cleveland really had very good teams in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969. I noticed watching most of those games that there was a big difference in the play of the Cleveland Browns during those years and 1967. The only year close at all was 1965 when they lost big to the Cardinals (49 to 13 I think) and also lost big to the Rams after they had the Eastern Conference title wrapped up. Cleveland rested Frank Ryan and others while playing a lot of their reserves in the Rams game because the game really meant nothing as the Browns finished the regular season with an 11 and 3 record and ran away with the conference title.

Cleveland played Green Bay in 1965 for the NFL title and lost 23 to 12, but really did not embarrass themselves as the playing conditions were pretty bad. So, even though the Browns made the playoffs in 1967 in a new weak division with a 9 and 5 record, they were just not playing up to the same level that they did in surrounding years, and I noticed it even if many other football fanatics didn't.

[BD Sullivan]

A breakdown of the Browns' nine wins in 1967:

Week 3: A 42-7 rout of the expansion Saints

Week 4: A 21-10 Saturday night home win vs. the Steelers: Rookie Kent Nix, in his second start, was 23-of-34 for 218 yards

Week 5: A 20-16 home win over the Cardinals, who outgained them, 349-223, but committed five turnovers, including three picks thrown by rookie Jim Hart.

Week 6: A 24-0 home shutout of the Bears, who didn't play Gale Sayers. The game was scoreless at the half.

Week 8: A 34-14 road win over the Steelers. It took the Steelers two quarters to realize that Frank Ryan couldn't throw more than 20 yards because of a sore arm. At the half, the Browns led 24-7.

Week 10: A 14-10 home win over the 2-5-2 Vikings, with Leroy Kelly scoring the game-winner with about 30 seconds left. The Vikings led 10-7 and were trying to run out the clock, but Dave Osborn was stripped of the ball around midfield. The Browns came out flat, no doubt a hangover after getting destroyed by GB, 55-7.

Week 11: A 42-37 home win over the 4-4-2 Redskins. The Browns had a 42-24 lead early in the fourth, but Jurgensen (who finished with 418 yards passing) got the margin to five with 2:59 left. Then, the Skins got the ball back on their 23 with 1:33 left. Jurgensen managed to get the ball down to the Browns 25 with 48 seconds left, but the drive stalled out and the Browns took over on downs.

Week 12: A 24-14 home win over the 6-5 Giants. Browns led 17-0 at the half, but were outgained for the game, 343-215. Browns led 17-7 in the fourth, with the Giants having first down at the Browns 24, but Tarkenton then threw a pick-six to Jim Houston.

Week 13: A 20-16 road win over the 6-5-1 Cardinals to clinch the division. The Cardinals entered the game having won just once in the last month--the previous week against the expansion Saints. The Browns had a 13-9 lead in the fourth when Houston had another pick-six (18 yards) of Jim Hart's pass to make it 20-9. Cards scored to slice the deficit to four and then got it back at their own 7 with 1:11 left. Two passes got it to their 32 and on the last play, Jackie Smith made it to the Browns 17 before he was tackled. The Browns again were dominated in the stats, 295-131.

One of the chief reasons that they struggled in these games was that Frank Ryan was banged up for pretty much the entire year. In four of his last five starts, he threw for under 100 yards and compiled these numbers: 32 of 70 for 317 yards and two TD passes. That helps explain why they got Bill Nelsen during the ensuing offseason.

[Saban1]

Too bad that they traded Ninowski before the 1967 season. In 1967, the Browns really could have used him.

[Saban1]

I believe that BD was right. Frank Ryan just wasn't the same in 1967 as he was in previous years, and I think that the team lost confidence in him. I noticed that the Browns seemed to perk up after Bill Nelson became the starting quarterback in 1968. Then, almost magically, the Browns started playing like the pre 1967 Browns again.

Of course, there were other problems in 1967 mentioned earlier on this thread. Lou Groza, at 43, was not kicking the ball as far as when he was in his prime. In his younger years, he would often kick the ball out of the end zone on his kickoffs. It would have been nice to have a couple of his kickoffs out of the end zone in the Green Bay game instead of to about the 15 yard line. Then, Green Bay fans would not have been treated to a couple of Travis Williams' kickoff returns.

Gary Collins punting was not quite as good after years of being one of the best in the league. Not only did his average drop, but he had a couple of his punts blocked for the first time at Cleveland. The next year, both Groza with his kicking and Collins with his punting were replaced by Don Cockroft.

Carl Ward was a good young player with a lot of potential, but he happened to fumble kickoffs at a couple of the worst possible times, against the Giants and in the Green Bay game, both leading to easy TD's for the Giants and Green Bay. The Browns ended up losing to the Giants 38 to 34 and Green Bay in the infamous 55 to 7 loss. Ward did run a kickoff back for a TD later on in the Washington game that Cleveland did win 42 to 37.

There were other things, some of which were mentioned before on this thread, like the joint holdout, not being a good road team, letting down at the end of three game road trips. letting down after their Dallas games that continued in 1968 and 1969. Even after losing the opener to Dallas in 1967, Cleveland seemed to suffer a letdown in their next game at Detroit, some players aging, etc.etc.

[Saban1]

I didn't mention Vince Costello on the previous post. Costello had been a very good linebacker for the Browns since 1957, but was traded to the Giants during the 1967 preseason. Costello played well for the Giants that year and is one of the big reasons for the Giants upsetting Cleveland and also probably helped New York win some other games in 1967. Never a good idea to trade a good player to a division rival.

In that Giants game: The Cleveland Browns were often accused of being lucky in 1967, but here are some of the things that helped the Giants win that 38 to 34 home game against the Browns:

(1) Giant's punter Koy shanked a punt that hit a Browns player on the side of his leg as he was running up the field to set up a block for Cleveland. The Giants recovered and that seemed to give New York momentum.

(2) A fumbled kickoff by Cleveland gave the Giants an easy touchdown.

(3) Gary Collins had a punt blocked for the first time in his pro career, by a rookie and this gave the Giants another easy 6 points. Collins had been the Browns regular punter since 1962.

(4) Browns great running duo of Leroy Kelly and Ernie Green both were knocked out of the game and Kelly never returned. Turns out that it was Costello who knocked both players out of the game. Vince Costello also made a key interception that led to a Giants TD.

(5) Cleveland could often run almost at will against the Giants weak defense by running sweeps and screen passes, but on the Browns last possession, quarterback Ryan kept trying to throw bombs instead of running the ball. The long passes didn't work and the Giants won the game 38 to 34. Of course, Kelly was out of the game and Green may have been a little shaky.

So, four turnovers and a blocked punt were the story of Cleveland's unlikely loss on that day in 1967. I guess that maybe you could say that the law of averages caught up with the Browns after six straight wins over the New York Giants. Fran Tarkenton was also a factor.

[Saban1]

I recently read something about that Browns-Giants game in 1967, won by the Giants 38 to 34. Frank Ryan got a badly bruised upper arm in that game (wonder if Costello had anything to do with that), and it wasn't sure if Ryan could even play against Pittsburgh the next week. Turns out that he did, but I wonder if that was the reason for his poor numbers the rest of the season, as BD pointed out. Frank Ryan really took some beatings that year.

I wonder if Ninowski asked to be traded prior to the 1967 season? Anyone here know? If he didn't, then it was not a very good trade for Cleveland.

[BD Sullivan]

I recently read something about that Browns-Giants game in 1967, won by the Giants 38 to 34. Frank Ryan got a badly bruised upper arm in that game (wonder if Costello had anything to do with that), and it wasn't sure if Ryan could even play against Pittsburgh the next week. Turns out that he did, but I wonder if that was the reason for his poor numbers the rest of the season, as BD pointed out. Frank Ryan really took some beatings that year.

I wonder if Ninowski asked to be traded prior to the 1967 season? Anyone here know? If he didn't, then it was not a very good trade for Cleveland.

Ryan was 56 of 108 for 711 yards in his final six games after his injury--which apparently was delivered by multiple Giants linemen. He threw five TD passes in those final six games and four interceptions--all of them in the blowout at GB.

With regard to Ninowski, he was traded during training camp--which he hadn't been at because he needed to get work completed at his offseason business. He had wanted to be traded to the Lions--nearer to that business, but the Lions had Karl Sweetan and Milt Plum. Besides Dick Shiner Iwho the Browns liked because he was six years younger, they also got a third rounder in 68, which they used on Reece Morrison. Otto Graham had coached Ninowski in the 1958 College All-Star Game.

[Saban1]

I recently read something about that Browns-Giants game in 1967, won by the Giants 38 to 34. Frank Ryan got a badly bruised upper arm in that game (wonder if Costello had anything to do with that), and it wasn't sure if Ryan could even play against Pittsburgh the next week. Turns out that he did, but I wonder if that was the reason for his poor numbers the rest of the season, as BD pointed out. Frank Ryan really took some beatings that year.

I wonder if Ninowski asked to be traded prior to the 1967 season? Anyone here know? If he didn't, then it was not a very good trade for Cleveland.

Ryan was 56 of 108 for 711 yards in his final six games after his injury--which apparently was delivered by multiple Giants linemen. He threw five TD passes in those final six games and four interceptions--all of them in the blowout at GB.

With regard to Ninowski, he was traded during training camp--which he hadn't been at because he needed to get work completed at his offseason business. He had wanted to be traded to the Lions--nearer to that business, but the Lions had Karl Sweetan and Milt Plum. Besides Dick Shiner Iwho the Browns liked because he was six years younger, they also got a third rounder in 68, which they used on Reece Morrison. Otto Graham had coached Ninowski in the 1958 College All-Star Game.

Thanks BD. I bet that Ninowski didn't like being traded to Washington where he figured to back up Sonny Jurgeson. Also lost out on some playoff money and was farther away from Detroit.

The Browns special teams were not so good in the Green Bay game when Travis Williams returned two kickoffs for TD's. They probably should have had someone else kick off. They should have had someone who could other than 43 year old Lou Groza in 1967, as great as Groza was in earlier years.

Also, Bob Hayes ran wild against Cleveland on punt returns in Cleveland's playoff game against the Cowboys that year.

[Saban1]

It seems like the 67 Browns could have had someone who could kick the football more than 60 yards. Those players were big, strong guys who were good athletes. What would the Browns have done if Groza was injured? I guess that they might have activated Don Cockroft from the taxi squad.

[rhickok1109]

I don't know why Ninowski is getting so much love in this thread. In my recollection, he was a somewhat less than mediocre QB who was twice as likely to throw an INT as a TD.