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Otto Graham's worst loss

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:40 am
by conace21
I was browing PFR when I came across this 1954 Browns Steelers game.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 170pit.htm

A few interesting tidbits.

-This was the worst loss of Otto Graham's NFL career. (Shockingly enough, the 1947 Browns had a 28 point loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
-Graham was 22 of 28 in the game and had 5 interceptions. That's means interceptions made up an incredible 83.3% of his incompletions. I've seen other games where a QB had more passes "hit the ground" (neither completed not intercepted,) but this is the 2nd highest percentage I've ever seen, with a minimum of 5 passes thrown. (Heath Shuler had a game in 1995 where he completed 10 of 12 passes, and both of the incompletions were picked off.)

-Graham in this game was one of 5 players since 1950 to throw 4 or more interceptions in a game and still have a modern passer rating over 100.

Re: Otto Graham's worst loss

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:46 am
by JuggernautJ
- and two of those interceptions were returned for TDs.
Jack Butler 41 yards and Russ Craft 81 yards.

That would be a great game to see...

Re: Otto Graham's worst loss

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:04 am
by conace21
JuggernautJ wrote:- and two of those interceptions were returned for TDs.
Jack Butler 41 yards and Russ Craft 81 yards.

That would be a great game to see...
Craft apparently had the longest interception return of the 1954 season. Not bad for a 35 year old.

Re: Otto Graham's worst loss

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:27 pm
by ChrisBabcock
I wish I had Ray Mathews on my fantasy team that day.

Re: Otto Graham's worst loss

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:59 pm
by Bryan
It was statistically the best game of Jim Finks' career. He had another big game against the Giants in an equally surprising 63-7 win. Finks had a strong arm and could throw deep, but he was very inconsistent. The Steelers stuck with him as their starting QB for 4 seasons...I guess he'd show enough keep his starting spot. In the 1954 season rematch against Cleveland, Finks completed 9 of 20 passes for 65 yards and 2 INTs...a 110 point drop in QB rating from the first Cleveland game.

Re: Otto Graham's worst loss

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 3:03 pm
by conace21
Bryan wrote:It was statistically the best game of Jim Finks' career. He had another big game against the Giants in an equally surprising 63-7 win. Finks had a strong arm and could throw deep, but he was very inconsistent. The Steelers stuck with him as their starting QB for 4 seasons...I guess he'd show enough keep his starting spot. In the 1954 season rematch against Cleveland, Finks completed 9 of 20 passes for 65 yards and 2 INTs...a 110 point drop in QB rating from the first Cleveland game.
PFR has him going 7 of 20 for 93 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT's, a 100 point drop from the first meeting, (still very substantial.)
Do you have a primary source showing Fink's numbers for the 1954 finale? PFR certainly isn't perfect.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 120cle.htm

Re: Otto Graham's worst loss

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 3:35 pm
by Bryan
conace21 wrote:PFR has him going 7 of 20 for 93 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT's, a 100 point drop from the first meeting, (still very substantial.)
Do you have a primary source showing Fink's numbers for the 1954 finale? PFR certainly isn't perfect.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 120cle.htm
I sorted Finks' career gamelogs, and misread his 1953 game as being his 1954 game.