1950's Detroit Lions

[Saban1]

The Rams were a good team from 1949 through 1955 (some call them a dynasty), but did not have as good a defense as Detroit, even though they had great pass rushers Larry Brink and Andy Robustelli. The Rams could score points with their great offense (Waterfield, Van Brocklin, Hirsch, Fears, Boyd, Towler, Younger, Waller, etc.), and played in the NFL championship game in 1949, 1950, and 1951, but once Detroit got going, the Rams championship games stopped until 1955 when Detroit had a bad year.

The Rams were somewhat unlucky to play in such a competitive era. I think that National/Western division of the early 1950's was perhaps the toughest in NFL history. For the Rams to appear in three straight title games is pretty rare...and most of the teams the Rams faced in the postseason from 1949-1952 were all in their own three straight title game runs...Eagles (1947-1949), Browns (1946-1955/1950-1955), Lions (1952-1954).

The Western Conference was pretty tough from 1951 through 1954 with the Lions, Rams, and 49ers, and with the Bears becoming contenders starting in 1954, which coincides with Chicago getting a rookie named Harlon Hill. Trouble is, the Bears had a tendency to be a slow starting team, losing 3 of their first 5 games in 1954 and their first 3 in 1955, yet finishing 8 and 4 both years. In 1955, the Bears beat the Rams twice, but finished a half game behind the Rams, who were 8-3-1, which was good enough to get them into the NFL title game with Cleveland.

I don't think that the west was quite so tough in the few years after 1954 with the 49er becoming losers in 1955 and 1956, after firing head coach Buck Shaw after the 1954 season (Shaw's 49ers were contenders 9 out of 10 seasons starting in 1946).

The Rams seemed to fall apart after 1955 having only one winning season until George Allen showed up in LA in 1966.

Detroit somehow became a loser in 1955, which interrupted the run of championships and close to championship years.

So, after 1954, the contenders in the west were Los Angeles and the Chicago Bears in 1955, Detroit and the Bears in 1956, and Detroit and the 49ers in 1957 (the 49ers were 8 and 4 in 1957 having their only winning season between 1954 and 1959. San Francisco gave up more points than they scored in 1957, but tied with Detroit that year for the Western Conference lead due to the weakness of the rest of the Western Conference, IMO. I believe that their teams from 1951 through 1954 were better than the 1957 team that ended up in a playoff game with Detroit, but had much stiffer competition).

Again, the west was tough from 1951 through 1954, but I think that Detroit was a little bit better in 1952 through 1954 than the Rams and 49ers and Bears (in 1954). Their defense was superior and they probably had the best coach in the west in Buddy Parker.

They simply were a solid team with good players at all positions and some were really great.

[Saban1]

Here is something to think about. How many NFL Championships would the Detroit Lions have won during the 1950's if the Cleveland Browns were not around and vice verse?

I think that both teams likely would have won more. A good chance that Detroit gets the 1954 title without Cleveland. That would have given the Lions a 3-peat and 4 championships during the decade and 4 titles in 6 years (like Pittsburgh). So, where would those 1950's Lions be ranked then with the other great championship runs? (dynasties?)

I guess that you could say the same about some of the others. Pittsburgh without Oakland, 49ers without the Giants, New England without the Giants, maybe Cleveland without the Giants in the late 1950's (those Giants sure liked to play spoiler).

Of course, that was before the Super Bowl and before many of the baby boomers started watching football. Anyway, I think that he 1950's Detroit Lions were a great team, even if they did "only" win three NFL Championships.

[Bryan]

If we eliminate the Lions, I think a 1952 title game between the Browns and Rams would have been interesting. Third consecutive title game matchup, with the previous two games being very good in quality. 4th consecutive title game for the Rams and 8th consecutive title game for the Browns. The Browns destroyed the Rams to start the 1952 season, but perhaps things are different.

[Saban1]

If we eliminate the Lions, I think a 1952 title game between the Browns and Rams would have been interesting. Third consecutive title game matchup, with the previous two games being very good in quality. 4th consecutive title game for the Rams and 8th consecutive title game for the Browns. The Browns destroyed the Rams to start the 1952 season, but perhaps things are different.

Trouble is, from a Browns perspective, is that Cleveland was hurting going into the 1952 championship game. Mac Speedie and Dub Jones (two of Cleveland's top three receivers) missed the championship game due to injuries. Also, Lou Groza had a rib injury, and missed 3 field goals in the 1952 championship, maybe as a result of his injured ribs.

Cleveland seemed to own the Rams after the 1951 championship, but the Rams would have had their best chance to upset the Browns in the 1952 title game, due to Cleveland's injuries. If the Rams did beat Cleveland in the 1952 championship, then maybe the Los Angeles Rams would have been the Cleveland Browns "jinx" team.

[Saban1]

Speaking of jinxes and teams owning other teams, Cleveland seemed to own the Bears during the early 1950's, beating Chicago 42 to 21 in 1951 and 39 to 10 in 1954. The Browns also beat the 49ers in 1950, 1953, and 1955, but lost to them in the opener in 1951. Cleveland beat the Rams in 1950 (title game), 1951 (regular season, 38 to 23), 1952 (37 to 7) and 1955 (38 to 14 in the championship), losing only to the Rams in the 1951 title game, 24 to 17.

Kind of hard to say that Detroit owned Cleveland during Graham era when the Browns beat the Lions 56 to 10 in 1954 championship. Besides, 2 of Cleveland's losses during that era were in 1952 when the Browns had their worst season of those 10 Graham teams due to injuries and other problems, and another Detroit win was an end of the season game when Detroit and Cleveland both had their conferences clinched.

Detroit really did own the Browns from 1957 on, not only in the late 1950's, but also during the 1960's, beating the Browns in 1963, 1967, 1969, and in the playoff bowl in 1960. Detroit also beat Cleveland in 1970. Cleveland's only win over Detroit during the 1960's was in their championship year of 1964.

Vince Lombardi's Packers owned Cleveland during the 1960's, winning every time they played (1961,1964,1965,1966, and 1967), and also the Giants I guess.

[conace21]

I don't think it's a stretch to say the Lions owned the Browns during the Graham years, and beyond, despite the blowout loss.
I also have no problem saying the 90's Cowboys owned the Packers, despite a 45-17 loss in 1997.
In both cases, the win was an aberration in the larger picture. Not that Cleveland's win was a fluke or anything. It was a dominant win, one of the best by Graham's Browns. But it was the only time they defeated the Lions until 1964. This was in an era when the Browns beat everyone...except the Lions. They had played 6 times before, I believe. Twice in regular season, twice in postseason and even twice in preseason. Cleveland was 0-6. There were extenuating circumstances, as Savannah pointed out, such as the meaningless regular season finale. But from what I've read, there weren't too many meaningless games to Paul Brown. Bottom line, Graham was 1-4 in official games against Detroit. I'd say it's fair to say they got owned.... but Graham sure ended the rivalry on a high note.

[Saban1]

I don't think it's a stretch to say the Lions owned the Browns during the Graham years, and beyond, despite the blowout loss.
I also have no problem saying the 90's Cowboys owned the Packers, despite a 45-17 loss in 1997.
In both cases, the win was an aberration in the larger picture. Not that Cleveland's win was a fluke or anything. It was a dominant win, one of the best by Graham's Browns. But it was the only time they defeated the Lions until 1964. This was in an era when the Browns beat everyone...except the Lions. They had played 6 times before, I believe. Twice in regular season, twice in postseason and even twice in preseason. Cleveland was 0-6. There were extenuating circumstances, as Savannah pointed out, such as the meaningless regular season finale. But from what I've read, there weren't too many meaningless games to Paul Brown. Bottom line, Graham was 1-4 in official games against Detroit. I'd say it's fair to say they got owned.... but Graham sure ended the rivalry on a high note.

Yeah, if there was a movie made about the Browns of that era, it would probably end with Cleveland's 1950 championship. The sequel would end with the 1954 championship and another sequel might be made ending with the 1955 title game (the 2nd sequel is never as good as the first).

Cleveland did a lot of rebuilding starting in 1952, and the Browns had their weakest team of that era that year. It was probably fortunate for Detroit that they came up in 1952, when Cleveland was at its most vulnerable. The Lions didn't have to contend with a prime Motley or Mac Speedie in championship games (Dub Jones as well in the 1952 game).

Anyway, the Detroit Lions were a great team during their championship era (dynasty?) from 1952 through 1957. They really had it all: Great coach in Buddy Parker, great Qb in Bobby Layne and Tobin Rote was not too shabby either, great defense including one of the greatest secondaries of all time, and great offensive line, and players like Joe Schmidt, Doak Walker, Hunchy Hoernschemeyer, Lavern Torgeson, Leon Hart, Cloyce Box, Dorne Dibble, Les Bingaman, Thurman McGraw, Bob Miller, Ray Krouse, and all the rest.

[conace21]

The 1952 Browns were the weakest of Graham's teams, but the 1953 Browns were arguably the best. I didn't realize before that they were less than 30 minutes from having an undefeated season. They scored first in the 3rd quarter of week 14 to get a 20-14 lead. Philly scored 28 straight points. (Can you imagine the hype they would have dealt with today?) I think George Ratterman started that game.
Yet the next week, Otto had a sort of rash on his hands, and Bobby Layne led a classic two minute drill (albeit in 4 minutes) to beat Cleveland.

[Saban1]

The 1952 Browns were the weakest of Graham's teams, but the 1953 Browns were arguably the best. I didn't realize before that they were less than 30 minutes from having an undefeated season. They scored first in the 3rd quarter of week 14 to get a 20-14 lead. Philly scored 28 straight points. (Can you imagine the hype they would have dealt with today?) I think George Ratterman started that game.
Yet the next week, Otto had a sort of rash on his hands, and Bobby Layne led a classic two minute drill (albeit in 4 minutes) to beat Cleveland.

Otto had his best season in 1953, and his worst game in the championship that year.

Buddy Parker said that he thought that Detroit had their best team in 1954, and the Lions got slaughtered in the title game.

Football can be a funny game.

[conace21]

Football can be a funny game.

Just ask the 1934 Bears, 1942 Bears, or 2007 Patriots.