The 1958 Cleveland Browns season was the team's ninth season with the National Football League. They were 9–3 in the regular season, tied for first in the Eastern Conference with the New York Giants,[1][2] in the tiebreaker playoff the Giants won 10–0.[3][4]
| 1958 Cleveland Browns season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Paul Brown |
| Home field | Cleveland Stadium |
| Local radio | WGAR |
| Results | |
| Record | 9–3 |
| Division place | T-1st Eastern |
| Playoff finish | Lost Eastern Conference Playoff (at Giants) 0–10 |
Exhibition schedule
edit| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 16 | vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at Akron | W 10–0 | 27,202 |
| 2 | August 22 | at Detroit Lions | L 17–7 | 36,662 |
| 3 | August 29 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 13–10 | 41,387 |
| 4 | September 7 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 21–16 | 31,339 |
| 5 | September 12 | at Chicago Bears | L 42–31 | 52,669 |
| 6 | September 20 | Detroit Lions | W 41–7 | 35,343 |
Regular season
edit- Tommy O’Connell was the first MVP to be cut from a team before the start of the following season.[5]
Schedule
edit| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 28 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 30–27 | 1–0 | 69,993 |
| 2 | October 5 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 45–12 | 2–0 | 31,130 |
| 3 | October 12 | Chicago Cardinals | W 35–28 | 3–0 | 65,403 |
| 4 | October 19 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 27–10 | 4–0 | 66,852 |
| 5 | October 26 | at Chicago Cardinals | W 38–24 | 5–0 | 30,933 |
| 6 | November 2 | New York Giants | L 17–21 | 5–1 | 78,404 |
| 7 | November 9 | Detroit Lions | L 10–30 | 5–2 | 75,563 |
| 8 | November 16 | at Washington Redskins | W 20–10 | 6–2 | 32,372 |
| 9 | November 23 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 28–14 | 7–2 | 51,319 |
| 10 | November 30 | Washington Redskins | W 21–14 | 8–2 | 33,240 |
| 11 | December 7 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 21–14 | 9–2 | 36,773 |
| 12 | December 14 | at New York Giants | L 10–13 | 9–3 | 63,192 |
Season summary
editFor the second straight year, one of their rivals had gotten revenge for something that had happened earlier in the decade.
After the Detroit Lions whipped the Browns 59–14 in the 1957 NFL Championship Game to atone for the 56–10 pounding they had absorbed from Cleveland in the title contest three years earlier, the 1958 New York Giants took their turn. The Giants shut out the Browns 10–0 in a tiebreaker playoff game at Yankee Stadium to determine the Eastern Conference champion. The last time the two teams met in such a special playoff contest was 1950, when Cleveland edged New York 8–3 to win the title in the American Conference, the forerunner of the Eastern Conference, and advance to the league championship game.
As was the case in 1950, the 1958 Giants also beat Cleveland twice during the regular season, 21–17 and 13–10, and the teams tied for first with a 9–3 record. The Browns went into the latter game at 9–2, needing a tie (or a win) to clinch the conference crown, and led 7–0 early in the first quarter and 10–3 in the fourth quarter. Future broadcaster Pat Summerall kicked a 49-yard field goal in a snowstorm to provide the win,[1][2] even though he made barely 50 percent (12-of-23) of his attempts during the regular season. Seven days later in the tiebreaker playoff, Summerall added a 26-yard field goal in a game highlighted by the fact the Giants held hall of fame running back Jim Brown to a career-low eight yards rushing on seven carries, and limited the Browns to just 86 yards of total offense.[3][4]
In the following week's NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium, later dubbed "The Greatest Game Ever Played," the Giants lost 23–17 in overtime to the Baltimore Colts.[6][7][8]
Aside from the three losses to the Giants, the only team to beat the Browns in 1958 were the Detroit Lions, who gained a 30–10 decision midway through the year.
Standings
edit| NFL Eastern Conference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK | ||
| New York Giants | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 7–3 | 246 | 183 | W4 | |
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 8–2 | 302 | 217 | L1 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 4 | 1 | .636 | 6–3–1 | 261 | 230 | W1 | |
| Washington Redskins | 4 | 7 | 1 | .364 | 3–6–1 | 214 | 268 | W1 | |
| Chicago Cardinals | 2 | 9 | 1 | .182 | 2–7–1 | 261 | 356 | L6 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 9 | 1 | .182 | 2–7–1 | 235 | 306 | L4 | |
- Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
Playoffs
edit| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference | December 21 | at New York Giants | L 0–10 | 0–1 | Yankee Stadium | 61,174 | Recap |
- Unscheduled tiebreaker game for conference title
References
edit- ^ a b "Giants force playoff, jolt Browns, 13-10". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. December 15, 1958. p. 26.
- ^ a b Schell, Jack (December 15, 1958). "Summerall's kick gives Giants 13-10 win, forces playoff with Browns". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). p. 14.
- ^ a b c "Giants do the 'impossible', blank Browns". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. December 22, 1958. p. 24.
- ^ a b c Hand, Jack (December 22, 1958). "Giants blank Browns". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 2B.
- ^ Giants Among Men, Jack Cavanaugh, p.133, 2008, Random House, ISBN 978-1-4000-6717-6
- ^ "Unitas hero as Colts get 23-17 title win". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. December 29, 1958. p. 18.
- ^ "Colts win 23-17 in overtime". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 29, 1958. p. 4, part 2.
- ^ Maule, Tex (January 5, 1959). "The best football game ever played". Sports Illustrated. p. 8.
External links
edit- 1958 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference (profootballreference.com)
- 1958 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
- 1958 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
- 1958 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com
- 1958 Season summary and statistics at Cleveland Browns.com