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1961 Cleveland Browns

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Record: 8-5-1, Finished 3rd in NFL East Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 319 points (22.8/g), 6th of 14 in the NFL.
 Allowed 270 points (19.3/g), 5th.
 Differential of 49 points (3.5/g), 5th.
 Expected W-L: 8.4-5.6.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +5 (0.4/g), 4th.

Coached by Paul Brown (8-5-1)

1961 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 17 L 0-1 @ Philadelphia Eagles 20 27 20 432 329 103 4 15 305 158 147 1
2 Sun September 24 W 1-1 St. Louis Cardinals 20 17 14 245 134 111 4 18 185 90 95 3
3 Sun October 1 W 2-1 Dallas Cowboys 25 7 18 316 100 216 4 9 152 100 52 3
4 Sun October 8 W 3-1 Washington Redskins 31 7 13 285 194 91 16 245 201 44 2
5 Sun October 15 L 3-2 Green Bay Packers 17 49 20 290 165 125 3 23 482 266 216 2
6 Sun October 22 W 4-2 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 30 28 21 378 149 229 4 17 309 222 87 3
7 Sun October 29 W 5-2 @ St. Louis Cardinals 21 10 15 326 102 224 2 13 195 118 77 3
8 Sun November 5 L 5-3 Pittsburgh Steelers 13 17 14 252 104 148 2 18 356 196 160 2
9 Sun November 12 W 6-3 @ Washington Redskins 17 6 16 303 124 179 1 16 240 144 96 2
10 Sun November 19 W 7-3 Philadelphia Eagles 45 24 30 505 246 259 19 327 230 97 2
11 Sun November 26 L 7-4 New York Giants 21 37 20 334 268 66 2 24 369 253 116 2
12 Sun December 3 W 8-4 @ Dallas Cowboys 38 17 23 373 143 230 3 19 376 202 174 6
13 Sun December 10 L 8-5 @ Chicago Bears 14 17 15 320 245 75 2 19 324 216 108 4
14 Sun December 17 T 8-5-1 @ New York Giants 7 7 7 178 71 107 2 17 266 130 136 3

Team Stats and Rankings

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 319 4537 817 5.6 246 185 320 2374 20 13 7.0 120 476 2163 15 4.5 116 33 20 10
Team Defense 270 4131 807 5.1 399 200 358 2526 16 20 6.4 146 411 1605 16 3.9 243 38 18 10
Lg Rank Offense 6 7 6 13 8 8 1 4 2 2 7 5 3 10
Lg Rank Defense 5 7 10 4 10 3 11 9 3 4 10 5 10 5

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
Milt Plum* 26 QB 14 13 177 302 58.6 2416 18 6.0 10 3.3 77 8.0 7.1 13.6 172.6 90.3
Len Dawson 26 7 1 7 15 46.7 85 1 6.7 3 20.0 17 5.7 -2.7 12.1 12.1 47.2
Jim Brown*+ 25 FB 14 14 1 3 33.3 37 1 33.3 0 0.0 37 12.3 15.7 37.0 2.6 120.8
Team Total 26.8 14 185 320 57.8 2538 20 6.3 13 4.1 77 7.9 6.7 13.7 181.3 87.2
Opp Total 14 200 358 55.9 2526 16 4.5 20 5.6 7.1 5.0 12.6 180.4 69.7 38 305 6.4 3.7

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
Jim Brown*+ 25 FB 14 14 305 1408 8 38 4.6 100.6 21.8 46 459 10.0 2 77 3.3 32.8 1867 10 6
Bobby Mitchell 26 HB 14 0 101 548 5 56 5.4 39.1 7.2 32 368 11.5 3 52 2.3 26.3 916 8 6
Tom Watkins 24 hb 10 0 43 209 0 21 4.9 20.9 4.3 4 66 16.5 1 35 0.4 6.6 275 1 2
Milt Plum* 26 QB 14 13 24 -17 1 14 -0.7 -1.2 1.7 -17 1 9
Len Dawson 26 7 1 1 -10 0 -10 -10.0 -1.4 0.1 -10 0 0
Bobby Franklin 25 RS 14 0 1 12 1 12 12.0 0.9 0.1 12 1 1
Preston Powell 25 12 0 1 5 0 5 5.0 0.4 0.1 5 0 0
Ray Renfro 32 FL 14 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 48 834 17.4 6 57 3.4 59.6 834 6 1
Rich Kreitling 25 SE 13 0 0 4 0 4 0.3 0.0 21 229 10.9 3 19 1.6 17.6 233 3 2
Gern Nagler 29 TE 13 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 19 241 12.7 1 21 1.5 18.5 241 1 0
Leon Clarke 28 13 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 11 211 19.2 2 41 0.8 16.2 211 2 0
Bobby Crespino 23 se 13 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 62 31.0 1 49 0.2 4.8 62 1 1
Charley Ferguson 22 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 68 34.0 1 60 0.2 5.7 68 1 0
Team Total 26.8 14 476 2163 15 56 4.5 154.5 34.0 185 2538 13.7 20 77 13.2 181.3 4701 35 28
Opp Total 14 411 1605 16 3.9 114.6 29.4 200 2526 12.6 16 14.3 180.4 4131 32 23

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
Bobby Mitchell 26 HB 14 0 14 164 1 64 11.7 16 428 1 91 26.8 1508
Preston Powell 25 12 0 16 321 0 36 20.1 326
Jim Shofner 26 RCB 14 0 14 119 0 21 8.5 119
Tom Watkins 24 hb 10 0 9 226 0 47 25.1 501
Sam Baker 32 P 14 0 3 57 0 25 19.0 57
Jim Brown*+ 25 FB 14 14 2 50 0 26 25.0 1917
Johnny Brewer 24 14 0 1 2 0 2 2.0 2
Ross Fichtner 23 13 0 1 11 0 11 11.0 11
Errol Linden 24 10 0 1 5 0 5 5.0 5
Larry Stephens 23 rdt 14 0 1 15 0 15 15.0 15
Team Total 26.8 14 28 283 1 64 10.1 50 1115 1 91 22.3 6099
Opp Total 14 27 0 56 1465 1 26.2

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Kicking Punting
Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
Lou Groza 37 K 14 0 23 16 69.6% 38 37 97.4%
Sam Baker 32 P 14 0 53 2296 62 0 43.3
Team Total 26.8 14 23 16 69.6% 38 37 97.4% 53 2296 62 0 43.3
Opp Total 14 28 11 39.3% 34 33 97.1% 54 2317 42.9

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
Sam Baker 32 P 14 0 0 1 0 0
Jim Brown*+ 25 FB 14 14 6 1 0 0
Vince Costello 29 LLB 14 0 0 1 30 1
Bobby Crespino 23 se 13 0 1 0 0 0
Galen Fiss 30 llb 13 0 1 13 0 13 0 3 0 0
Don Fleming 24 LS 14 0 3 62 0 41 0 2 35 0
Bobby Franklin 25 RS 14 0 2 20 0 20 1 0 0 0
Bob Gain* 32 LDT 14 0 0 1 0 0
Lou Groza 37 K 14 0 0 1 0 0
Jim Houston 24 LDE 14 0 0 1 0 0
Rich Kreitling 25 SE 13 0 2 2 4 0
Dave Lloyd 25 MLB 14 0 0 2 0 0
Walt Michaels 32 RLB 14 0 2 17 0 15
Bobby Mitchell 26 HB 14 0 6 0 0 0
John Morrow* 28 C 14 0 0 1 0 0
Bernie Parrish 25 LCB 14 0 7 40 0 16 0 1 34 1
Floyd Peters 25 RDT 13 0 0 3 5 0
Milt Plum* 26 QB 14 13 9 3 0 0
Ray Renfro 32 FL 14 0 1 0 0 0
Dick Schafrath 24 LT 13 0 0 1 0 0
Jim Shofner 26 RCB 14 0 5 8 0 5
Tom Watkins 24 hb 10 0 2 0 0 0
Paul Wiggin 27 RDE 14 0 0 2 0 0
Team Total 26.8 14 20 160 0 41 28 26 108 2
Opp Total 14 21 23 5

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
Lou Groza 37 K 14 0 37 16 85
Jim Brown*+ 25 FB 14 14 8 2 60
Bobby Mitchell 26 HB 14 0 5 3 1 1 60
Ray Renfro 32 FL 14 0 6 36
Rich Kreitling 25 SE 13 0 3 18
Leon Clarke 28 13 0 2 12
Vince Costello 29 LLB 14 0 1 6
Bobby Crespino 23 se 13 0 1 6
Charley Ferguson 22 12 0 1 6
Bobby Franklin 25 RS 14 0 1 6
Gern Nagler 29 TE 13 0 1 6
Bernie Parrish 25 LCB 14 0 1 6
Milt Plum* 26 QB 14 13 1 6
Tom Watkins 24 hb 10 0 1 6
Team Total 26.8 14 15 20 1 1 2 37 16 319
Opp Total 14 16 16 1 33 11 270