1967 Blues for the Browns

[Saban1]

I will add that in 1966, Cleveland played 7 games with teams with winning records. In 1967, Cleveland played 3 games with teams with winning records. The Browns lost to Green Bay 21 to 20 in 1966. Cleveland lost to the Packers 55 to 7 in 1967. Both games are the same in the standings, one loss.

In the 1966 Philadelphia game, Cleveland was basically a dead team in that game. When the Browns lost to Dallas on Thanksgiving, they knew that they would not repeat as champions in the east. They did not play well in their previous game to the Eagles game and almost lost to the 1-12-1 Giants as they sleepwalked through most of the game before coming back to win in the 4th quarter.

I think that Art Modell made a big mistake by agreeing to play in Dallas on Thanksgiving day, giving them only three days to prepare for the Cowboys' multiple offense. The Browns lost to Dallas that day for the first time since 1962. There were 7 wins for Cleveland over Dallas between their loss in 1962 and their 1966 loss on Thanksgiving. I believe that the Browns would have had a better chance to beat the Cowboys in 1966 if they played them in Dallas on the following Sunday after Thanksgiving day.

Another thing that hurt Cleveland in 1966 was being the only team in the Eastern Conference to play champion Green Bay.

[Saban1]

in both 1966 and '67, the Browns went 9-5. Those 10 losses were almost always because they died in the second half.

In 1966, they were outscored 66-24 in the second half of their losses. The only game in which they "won" the second half was the second-last game at Philly, outscoing the Eagles, 14-6. Of course, the Eagles likely let their foot off the gas a little since they led 27-7 at the break.

In 1967, they were outscored 76-38 in the second half of their losses. It probably could have been worse, but in the GB game, they were losing 45-7 at the half.

In 1966 they lost both to Green Bay and the Cardinals by being outscored in the 2nd half. Not unusual in the Green Bay game as the Packers often played better in the 2nd half. Cleveland was leading 14 to 0 in that Green Bay game.

In their 16 to 6 loss to the Steelers in 1966, center John Morrow suffered a broken leg sometime during the game and Frank Ryan was sacked a bunch of times. Don't know if any of the sacks were a result of Morrow's injury, but it couldn't have helped.

They lost the Thanksgiving game to Dallas as they might have run out of gas after only 3 days between games and traveling to Dallas.

Cleveland was a dead team in the Eagles loss being that they were out of contention in the east. Same thing in their previous game with the Giants which they almost lost despite the Giants being one of the worst defensive teams in NFL history.

I have already listed many of the problems with the 1967 Browns team. The 1966 Cleveland team was much better than the 1967 Browns team.

[Saban1]

What a difference a year makes. In 1966, the Cleveland Browns were one of the best teams in football. The New York Giants were the worst team in major league football and possibly in pro football history setting a record for allowing the most points (501) in a season in NFL history and losing by scores of 52 to 7, 55 to 14, and 72 to 41 and also being the first team to lose to the first year Atlanta Falcons, who were arguably the most inept expansion team in league history.

In 1967, the Giants improved a lot, mostly due to the acquisition of quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who was one of the best quarterbacks of his time and maybe all time. Also helping were getting new players like MLB Vince Costello,DT Bob Lurtsema, rookies LB Ken Avery, Scott Eaton, and good play from veterans Homer Jones, Joe Morrison, Ernie Koy, Spider Lockhart, Jim Katcavage, and Henry Carr.

The Cleveland Browns went the other way in 1967 and declined so much that you could probably make a case that the improved Giants were about as good as the Browns that year despite having a defense that still was not very good. Let's compare the two teams against common opponents:

Cleveland has an edge against Pittsburgh winning 21 to 10 and 34 to 14 whereas the Giants beat the Steelers 27 to 24 and 28 to 20. With New Orleans it was the Browns winning 42 to 7 and Giants winning 27 to 21. Cleveland beat Chicago 24 to 0 and the Giants lost to Chicago 34 to 7. Big edge to Cleveland in those games.

The Giants beat St. Louis 37 to 14 and 37 to 20 whereas the Browns beat the Cards by identical scores of 20 to 16 in both games. New York beat Philadelphia 44 to 7 and Cleveland lost to the Eagles 28 to 24 in a throwaway game with their division clinched. Champion Green Bay beat the Giants 48 to 21 and beat Cleveland 55 to 7. Big edge to the Giants there.

The two games that actually won the Century Division over the Giants were the Browns beating the Vikings 14 to 10 and the Vikings beating the Giants 27 to 24, and Cleveland beating the Redskins 42 to 37 and the Redskins beating New York 38 to 34. All four of those game could have gone either way with luck being a factor in at least 3 of them, but those were the games that ended up deciding the division race.

Cleveland lost to Detroit 31 to 14 and the Giants lost to Detroit 30 to 7 as the Giants were essentially a dead team after being eliminated from playoff contention the week before. Cleveland lost to Dallas in the opener 21 to 14 and New York lost to Dallas 38 to 24. Sound like an edge for the Browns here except that Cleveland lost to Dallas in the playoffs 52 to 14.

If you count in the playoff game with Dallas, then Cleveland scored 348 points in 1967 while allowing 349 points and the Giants scored 369 points and allowed 379 points. Not really a great difference in the quality of play by both teams.

[Saban1]

What a difference a year makes. In 1966, the Cleveland Browns were one of the best teams in football. The New York Giants were the worst team in major league football and possibly in pro football history setting a record for allowing the most points (501) in a season in NFL history and losing by scores of 52 to 7, 55 to 14, and 72 to 41 and also being the first team to lose to the first year Atlanta Falcons, who were arguably the most inept expansion team in league history.

In 1967, the Giants improved a lot, mostly due to the acquisition of quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who was one of the best quarterbacks of his time and maybe all time. Also helping were getting new players like MLB Vince Costello,DT Bob Lurtsema, rookies LB Ken Avery, Scott Eaton, and good play from veterans Homer Jones, Joe Morrison, Ernie Koy, Spider Lockhart, Jim Katcavage, and Henry Carr.

The Cleveland Browns went the other way in 1967 and declined so much that you could probably make a case that the improved Giants were about as good as the Browns that year despite having a defense that still was not very good. Let's compare the two teams against common opponents:

Cleveland has an edge against Pittsburgh winning 21 to 10 and 34 to 14 whereas the Giants beat the Steelers 27 to 24 and 28 to 20. With New Orleans it was the Browns winning 42 to 7 and Giants winning 27 to 21. Cleveland beat Chicago 24 to 0 and the Giants lost to Chicago 34 to 7. Big edge to Cleveland in those games.

The Giants beat St. Louis 37 to 14 and 37 to 20 whereas the Browns beat the Cards by identical scores of 20 to 16 in both games. New York beat Philadelphia 44 to 7 and Cleveland lost to the Eagles 28 to 24 in a throwaway game with their division clinched. Champion Green Bay beat the Giants 48 to 21 and beat Cleveland 55 to 7. Big edge to the Giants there.

The two games that actually won the Century Division over the Giants were the Browns beating the Vikings 14 to 10 and the Vikings beating the Giants 27 to 24, and Cleveland beating the Redskins 42 to 37 and the Redskins beating New York 38 to 34. All four of those game could have gone either way with luck being a factor in at least 3 of them, but those were the games that ended up deciding the division race.

Cleveland lost to Detroit 31 to 14 and the Giants lost to Detroit 30 to 7 as the Giants were essentially a dead team after being eliminated from playoff contention the week before. Cleveland lost to Dallas in the opener 21 to 14 and New York lost to Dallas 38 to 24. Sound like an edge for the Browns here except that Cleveland lost to Dallas in the playoffs 52 to 14.

If you count in the playoff game with Dallas, then Cleveland scored 348 points in 1967 while allowing 349 points and the Giants scored 369 points and allowed 379 points. Not really a great difference in the quality of play by both teams.

On the other hand:

Much was made by some of the New York media abut the Giants' 44 to 7 shellacking of the Philadelphia Eagles. Frank Gifford even said that defensive players like Swain, Lockhart, and Eaton were becoming household names among Giants fans like Tarkenton and Jones (Homer) due to their defense getting so good now evidenced by giving up only 7 points to the Eagles. Frank was often a little over the top with his praise of the Giants teams.

I believe that the Philadelphia Eagles were a dead team going into their 1967 Giants game, making them an easy mark for the Giants or just about anyone else. The Eagles were 5 and 5 going into that game and the Dallas Cowboys were 8 and 3 having just trounced the Cardinals on Thanksgiving which was three days before the Eagles game with the Giants. The Eagles had little chance of beating out the Cowboys in the Capitol Division, but the Cards figured to be maybe a final hope of giving Philadelphia even a small chance at the division title. The Cards loss was probably like a punch in the stomach just before their Giants game.

The Giants also beat a dead team in the Cardinals in the season final game at home, 37 to 14, as the Cards had been eliminated from playoff contention the previous week. The Giants seemed to have a hex of some kind over the Cardinals throughout much of the 60's, but I believe that St. Louis was an easy mark in that game.

To be fair about it, the Giants were a dead team in their game against Detroit after just having been eliminated from the playoffs the week before and Tarkenton had one of his worst career games against the Lions.

So, the Giants were a dead team in one of their games, but played two dead teams near the end of the 1967 season. So, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages 2 to 1 in that respect (playing dead teams as opposed to being the dead team) for the Giants in 1967.

[Saban1]

It might have been Jack Whitaker instead of Frank Gifford who remarked about Swain, Lockhart, and Eaton becoming household words in the film of the 1967 Giants-Eagles game, won by New York 44 to 7. Swain was traded to the Detroit Lions after the 1967 season.

Philadelphia may have been a dead team in the Giants game that year, but they really were not a very good team in 1967 anyway, whether they were dead or alive. They had the second worst defense in 1967 giving up 409 points that year. Only the second year Atlanta Falcons gave up more (422 points I think). Third worst was a tie between the Giants and the expansion New Orleans Saints in their first season at 379 points.

The Eagles also lost 48 to 14 to the Cardinals in their sixth game when they were still alive in the Capitol Division race.

[Saban1]

Cleveland (9 and 5) ended up 2 games ahead of the New York Giants (7 and 7) in the 1967 Century Division. The difference turned out to be their games with their Western Conference, Central Division foes as Cleveland split the 4 games, winning and losing 2 each. The Giants lost all 4 games in their games against teams from the west.

In their games with teams from the Eastern Conference, the Browns and Giants both had the same record including a split in their games against each other. So, if the Giants could have gotten a split in their games with the Central Division teams of Green Bay, Detroit, Chicago, and Minnesota, then their record would have been 9 and 5, which is the same as the Browns. I wonder who would have gotten the tie breaker in that case?

[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.

It is kind of strange that Cleveland's first game with the New York Giants in 1967 looked almost like a replay of their second game with the Giants in 1966.

In 1966, the Browns were behind by 20 points in the 3rd quarter (34 to 14) and came back to win 49 to 40. It was kind of a wild game and Cleveland's comeback was their biggest in history up to that time.

The game followed Cleveland's Thanksgiving loss to Dallas that all but eliminated the Browns in the Eastern Conference race. I believe that I have mentioned that Cleveland always seemed to suffer a let down after their Dallas games in 1967, 1968, and 1969. Well, their 2nd Giants game in 1966 may have also been a post Dallas game let down and it pretty much killed the Browns chances of winning the Eastern Conference in 1966.

The Cleveland Browns did not play very well against the Giants that day, and the Giants may have been the only team that they could have pulled off the comeback against due to the Giants defense (501 points allowed that year). A screen pass to Ernie Green in the 4th quarter that ended up for a TD was a key play for Cleveland in that game to give the Browns a 42 to 40 lead.

Anyway, in 1967 the Giants got much better and the Browns went the other way. In the first game between the two teams in 1967, the Giants led by 18 points in the 3rd quarter. Then Cleveland started to come back again. It got as close as 35 to 34 in the Giants favor in the 4th quarter. Then Pete Gogolak kicked a long field goal to make the score 38 to 34.

The Giants were improved in 1967 due to the acquisition of Fran Tarkenton and also players like 35 year old Vince Costello, rookies Bob Lurtsema, Scott Eaton, and Ken Avery. Also, very good years by Homer Jones, Ernie Koy, Joe Morrison, Aaron Thomas, and Spider Lockhart. I think I have mentioned the hows of why Cleveland declined that year (bad year by Frank Ryan for one and off year by others).

The Browns still had a chance. They got as close as about the 35 yard line, but then QB Frank Ryan tried 4 straight long passes. Two were incomplete and two resulted in sacks including Cleveland's last play (by Katcavage). Why did the Browns not try a sweep or a screen pass to one of their running backs. Maybe it was because Leroy Kelly was out of the game and Ernie Green had returned after an injury, but maybe wasn't 100 per cent.

Funny how two games could be so similar with the Browns pulling off the comeback in 1966 and falling short in 1967.

[Saban1]

During the late 60's, the Cleveland Browns would usually get really up for one or two games a year. In 1966 they got up for their first game with Dallas, sacking Cowboys quarterbacks (mostly Don Meredith) 5 times and pressuring them into 4 interceptions as Cleveland won 30 to 21. They must have been up for the champion Green Bay Packers that year in their second game of the season as they led almost the entire game only to lose 21 to 20 in the final moments of the game as Jim Taylor scored on a 9 yard screen pass on a 4th and goal situation. Even though the loss was only by 1 point, it badly hurt the Browns chances for another Eastern Conference title as the Browns, down from letting the Green Bay game slip away (easy to do in those days), lost the following week to the Cardinals 34 to 28 (Lou Groza missed 3 field goals in that game). The Browns never could catch up to Dallas after those two losses. Cleveland was the only team in the east to have the dubious honor of playing Green Bay that year.

In 1968, the Browns got up for Baltimore giving the Colts their only loss during the regular season. Cleveland also was up for Dallas in the Eastern Conference playoff game winning 31 to 20.

In 1969, Cleveland got up for both games with the Cowboys, including their playoff game, winning both games big, 42 to 10 and 38 to 14.

That leaves 1967. It came down to their second game with the New York Giants that Cleveland had to get up for. The Giants had been the worst team in the NFL the previous year winning only one game and setting a record by giving up over 500 points, a record until sometime after the NFL went to a 16 game season. The Giants were improved in 1967 mostly due to their new quarterback named Fran Tarkenton, which seemed to leapfrog them over teams like Washington, Philadelphia, new franchise New Orleans, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was Cleveland's second game with the Giants that the Browns needed to win the new Century Division and thus get into the playoffs,

Cleveland did a good job of handling Tarkenton and the Giants, but it seems like quite a difference having their big game being the New York Giants in 1967 compared to teams like Green Bay, Baltimore, and Dallas in the surrounding seasons.

Jerry Kramer related in his book "Instant Replay" that the Green Bay players and coaches were watching the Cleveland/Dallas playoff game in 1967 to see who they would be playing the next week in Green Bay for the NFL title. Vince Lombardi had guessed that Dallas would win. After a short time of only a few minutes, Vince Lombardi said, "OK, it's Dallas," and then left the room with the other coaches to prepare for their next game with the Dallas Cowboys. Vince was right as Dallas won 52 to 14.

As I think about it, Cleveland did get up for two games in 1967, instead of one as I wrote before. The Browns were for sure up for their opening game with the Dallas Cowboys. Trouble was, while Cleveland usually won the games that they were up for, the opener against Dallas in 1967 was not one of them. Dallas was the team that replaced Cleveland as the Eastern Conference Champion in 1966.

I think that Dallas was up for that game as well as Cleveland and the Cowboys were a better team than the Browns in 1967, maybe much better. The Browns defense actually did not play too badly that day only allowing Dallas 14 points (the Cowboys got a TD on a pick 6). Some of Cleveland's old heroes played well, like Gary Collins who often had good games in their most important ones.

Frank Ryan had one of his better games, although he threw 3 interceptions, and Cleveland's front 4 played well. Bill Glass had a good game. One thing that probably helped keep the game as close as it was is that Dallas lost 3 fumbles. Anyway, I believe that the Browns were up for that game, hence the let down the following week against Detroit.

The second Giants game turned out to be their most important one that year, as the Giants had upset the Browns in their first game, 38 to 34. The New York Giants turned out to be Cleveland's main rival in the Century Division in 1967, and if Cleveland lost their second game with them, they may have
been in danger of not winning that division.

[Brian wolf]

What's ironic about the 67' Browns was the decline of Frank Ryan. Though he had a great season in 1966, throwing 29 TD passes, the Cowboys easily won the division. Due to injuries, Ryan got off to a slow start in 1967 but led the Browns to the playoffs, due to a weak Century division. Ryan and his teammates were man-handled in the playoffs by Dallas and when Ryan struggled again against the Cowboys pass rush in early 1968, Collier had seen enough and replaced him with bad-kneed Bill Nelson, who would delight Browns fans by beating the Cowboys the next three times he faced them, including playoffs.

Looking at the Browns performances in the 68-69 NFL Championship games however, did Collier make a mistake in replacing Ryan for Nelson, or were the revenge wins over Dallas an astute justification? One thing about Ryan was that he was a streaky passer who could be hot or cold and play well against weaker teams but once Nelson got into the lineup, Paul Warfield and Milt Morin would play more prominent roles. Would the Browns had gotten two more wins in 1967, had Morin not been injured?

[Saban1]

Milt Morin might have helped Cleveland in the 1st Giants game, won by New York, 38 to 34, but they really did not need any more wins as it turned out as they won the Century Division by 2 games, and they basically gave away their game against the Eagles because they didn't need it.

If Dallas easily won the Eastern Conference in 1966, it was probably because of Cleveland's game against the powerful Green Bay Packers that they lost by 1 point. Nobody else in the east had to play Green Bay in 1966. The Browns were leading the Packers for nearly the entire game, but lost on a 4th and 9 yards screen pass for a TD to Jim Taylor on their last possession, 21 to 20.

The Browns followed up that game with a loss to the Cardinals by 6 points when Lou Groza missed 3 field goals. It was difficult for Cleveland to come back from that even though they did a pretty good job of beating Dallas in their first meeting in 1966, 30 to 21. Lou Groza was the greatest place kicker of his time but maybe played a couple of years too long.

Ryan was battered in 1967 with injuries to his shoulders, arms, and legs. He not only could not pass as well, but he lost his mobility and was kind of a sitting duck compared with 1966 and earlier years. Browns quarterbacks (mostly Ryan) were sacked 44 times in 1967, which was the most by Cleveland quarterbacks in one year up to that time.

When the 1968 season seemed to start about the same as 1967, Collier decided to go with Nelson at quarterback and Cleveland began to play much better. I don't think it was a mistake going with Nelson even though Ryan had done great things for the Browns in earlier years.