1964 Cleveland Browns season

1964 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Blanton Collier
Home field	Cleveland Stadium
Local radio	WERE
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	1st NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Won NFL Championship (4)
← 1963 Browns seasons 1965 →

Cleveland Browns 27, Washington Redskins 13

1 2 3 4 Total • Browns 0 13 7 7 27 Redskins 0 10 0 3 13 Date: September 13 Location: District of Columbia Stadium, Washington, DC Game start: 1:30 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 47,577 Game weather: 58°F; wind 11 Referee: Harry Brubaker TV announcers (CBS): Ken Coleman (CLE) (second half) and Jim Gibbons (WSH) (first half) (play–by–play), Warren Lahr (CLE) (second half) and Eddie Gallaher (WSH) (first half) (color commentators)

Scoring summary Q2 WSH Martin 12 yard field goal WSH 3–0 Q2 WSH Taylor 17 yard rush (Martin kick) WSH 10–0 Q2 CLE Collins 23 yard pass from Ryan (kick failed) WSH 10–6 Q2 CLE Brown 1 yard rush (Groza kick) CLE 13–10 Q3 CLE Brown 1 yard rush (Groza kick) CLE 20–10 Q4 WSH Martin 14 yard field goal CLE 20–13 Q4 CLE Green 1 yard rush (Groza kick) CLE 27–13

Scoring summary
Q2		WSH	Martin 12 yard field goal	WSH 3–0
Q2		WSH	Taylor 17 yard rush (Martin kick)	WSH 10–0
Q2		CLE	Collins 23 yard pass from Ryan (kick failed)	WSH 10–6
Q2		CLE	Brown 1 yard rush (Groza kick)	CLE 13–10
Q3		CLE	Brown 1 yard rush (Groza kick)	CLE 20–10
Q4		WSH	Martin 14 yard field goal	CLE 20–13
Q4		CLE	Green 1 yard rush (Groza kick)	CLE 27–13

St. Louis Cardinals 33, Cleveland Browns 33

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 10 3 10 10 33 Browns 6 10 7 10 33 Date: September 20 Location: Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 1:30 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 76,954 Game weather: 67°F; wind 7 Referee: Tom Bell TV announcers (CBS): Jack Drees (STL) (second half) and Ken Coleman (CLE) (first half) (play–by–play), Bill Fischer (second half) (STL) and Warren Lahr (first half) (CLE) (color commentators)

Scoring summary Q1 STL Crow 22 yard pass from Johnson (Bakken kick) STL 7–0 Q1 CLE Groza 32 yard field goal STL 7–3 Q1 CLE Groza 12 yard field goal STL 7–6 Q1 STL Bakken 30 yard field goal STL 10–6 Q2 CLE Groza 37 yard field goal STL 10–9 Q2 STL Bakken 51 yard field goal STL 13–9 Q2 CLE Warfield 40 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) CLE 16–13 Q3 STL Randle 38 yard pass from Johnson (Bakken kick) STL 20–16 Q3 STL Bakken 44 yard field goal STL 23–16 Q3 CLE Collins 7 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) Tie 23–23 Q4 STL Randle 50 yard pass from Johnson (Bakken kick) STL 30–23 Q4 CLE Groza 25 yard field goal STL 30–26 Q4 CLE Brown 1 yard rush (Groza kick) CLE 33–30 Q4 STL Bakken 28 yard field goal Tie 33–33

Scoring summary
Q1		STL	Crow 22 yard pass from Johnson (Bakken kick)	STL 7–0
Q1		CLE	Groza 32 yard field goal	STL 7–3
Q1		CLE	Groza 12 yard field goal	STL 7–6
Q1		STL	Bakken 30 yard field goal	STL 10–6
Q2		CLE	Groza 37 yard field goal	STL 10–9
Q2		STL	Bakken 51 yard field goal	STL 13–9
Q2		CLE	Warfield 40 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick)	CLE 16–13
Q3		STL	Randle 38 yard pass from Johnson (Bakken kick)	STL 20–16
Q3		STL	Bakken 44 yard field goal	STL 23–16
Q3		CLE	Collins 7 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick)	Tie 23–23
Q4		STL	Randle 50 yard pass from Johnson (Bakken kick)	STL 30–23
Q4		CLE	Groza 25 yard field goal	STL 30–26
Q4		CLE	Brown 1 yard rush (Groza kick)	CLE 33–30
Q4		STL	Bakken 28 yard field goal	Tie 33–33

Cleveland Browns 28, Philadelphia Eagles 20

1 2 3 4 Total • Browns 7 0 14 7 28 Eagles 7 6 0 7 20 Date: September 27 Location: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:30 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 60,671 Game weather: 64°F; wind 12 Referee: George Rennix TV announcers (CBS): Ken Coleman (CLE) (second half) and Jack Whitaker (PHI) (first half) (play–by–play), Warren Lahr (CLE) (second half) and Art Pollard (PHI) (first half) (color commentators)

Scoring summary Q1 CLE Green 37 yard run (Groza kick) CLE 7–0 Q1 PHI Matson 1 yard rush (Baker kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 PHI Baker 12 yard field goal PHI 10–7 Q2 PHI Baker 42 yard field goal PHI 13–7 Q3 CLE Warfield 24 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) CLE 14–13 Q3 CLE Brown 40 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) CLE 21–13 Q4 CLE Collins 12 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) CLE 28–13 Q4 PHI Matson 7 yard rush (Baker kick) CLE 28–20

Scoring summary
Q1		CLE	Green 37 yard run (Groza kick)	CLE 7–0
Q1		PHI	Matson 1 yard rush (Baker kick)	Tie 7–7
Q2		PHI	Baker 12 yard field goal	PHI 10–7
Q2		PHI	Baker 42 yard field goal	PHI 13–7
Q3		CLE	Warfield 24 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick)	CLE 14–13
Q3		CLE	Brown 40 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick)	CLE 21–13
Q4		CLE	Collins 12 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick)	CLE 28–13
Q4		PHI	Matson 7 yard rush (Baker kick)	CLE 28–20

Cleveland Browns 27, Dallas Cowboys 6

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 6 0 0 6 • Browns 6 6 7 6 25 Date: October 4 Location: Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 1:30 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 72,062 Game weather: 56°F; wind 14 Referee: Norm Schachter TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber (DAL) (second half) and Ken Coleman (CLE) (first half) (play–by–play), Davey O'Brien (DAL) (second half) and Warren Lahr (CLE) (first half) (color commentators)

Scoring summary Q1 CLE Green 7 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) CLE 7–0 Q2 CLE Groza 19 yard field goal CLE 10–0 Q2 DAL Norman 5 yard pass from Roach (kick failed) CLE 10–6 Q2 CLE Groza 21 yard field goal CLE 13–6 Q3 CLE Warfield 40 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) (Groza kick) CLE 20–6 Q4 CLE Collins 38 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) (Groza kick) CLE 27–6

Scoring summary
Q1		CLE	Green 7 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick)	CLE 7–0
Q2		CLE	Groza 19 yard field goal	CLE 10–0
Q2		DAL	Norman 5 yard pass from Roach (kick failed)	CLE 10–6
Q2		CLE	Groza 21 yard field goal	CLE 13–6
Q3		CLE	Warfield 40 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) (Groza kick)	CLE 20–6
Q4		CLE	Collins 38 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) (Groza kick)	CLE 27–6

Pittsburgh Steelers 23, Cleveland Browns 7

1 2 3 4 Total • Steelers 10 6 7 0 23 Browns 0 7 0 0 7 Date: October 10 Location: Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 8:00 p.m. EDT Game attendance: 80,530 Game weather: 40°F; wind 14 TV announcers (Sports Network Incorporated (SNI)): Ken Coleman (play–by–play), Warren Lahr (color commentator)

Scoring summary Q1 PIT Clark 21 yard field goal PIT 3–0 Q1 PIT Johnson 33 yard rush (Clark kick) PIT 10–0 Q2 PIT Johnson 45 yard rush (kick failed) PIT 16–0 Q2 CLE Collins 18 yard pass from Ryan (Groza kick) (Groza kick) PIT 16–7 Q3 PIT Johnson 5 yard rush (Clark kick) PIT 23–7

The 1964 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 19th season, and 15th season with the National Football League. The Browns won the NFL Championship, despite having not made the playoffs in six seasons.

The regular season was a success with The Browns finishing with a regular season record of 10–3–1.They were coached by Blanton Collier who had replaced the historic Paul Brown the previous season. The team had a tremendous amount of heart, which was demonstrated by the fact that they had key commanding wins throughout the season. For instance, they swept their arch rival New York Giants, who the previous year had edged them out as the eastern conference champion. Not only did they win both times that they played against the Giants but both wins were very convincing, the first being a 42–20 home victory and the second being a 52–20 away victory. The Second Victory over the Giants was a clutch, season ending game that clinched the eastern conference title. Many of the Browns' wins during the regular season were in a very commanding manner, with a 37–21 win over the Detroit Lions being a prime example. The win over the Lions carried extra significance due to the fact that the Lions had been the team that knocked them out of the conference champion hunt the previous season by beating them 38–10 in the second to last regular season game. The Browns were led by legendary running back Jim Brown who had a stellar regular season, rushing for 1,446 yards with a 5.2 yards/carry average. Although they had a great rushing game, the Browns had a very balanced offense, choosing not to just hand the ball to Brown on every play. The quarterback of the team was Frank Ryan who had a decent season throwing for 2,404 yards and 25 touchdowns while throwing 19 interceptions. The top receivers of the team were Paul Warfield and Gary Collins, the second of whom would become a legend by catching three touchdowns in the championship game against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts.

Leading into the game, the Browns were huge underdogs. Most experts had them losing by double digits. Baltimore was so heavily favored that after the Browns won the game, Sports Illustrated had to scramble to find a picture of a Browns player to put on its cover. Baltimore had the league's best offense and had a league best record of 12–2. They were stacked with future Hall of Famers such as Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, and John Mackey. The Browns though, were unfazed by the apparent talent disparity and Jim Brown was reported stating before the game, "we're going to kick their [butt] today." The game-time temperature that day was 34 degrees and felt much colder in 15- to 25-mph winds whipping under gray December sky. The Municipal Stadium crowd of 79,544 was the second largest in NFL title-game history at the time. The Browns knew that if they wanted to be in the game they had to make a statement early on, and they did just that. Galen Fiss, the Browns team captain, broke up a screen pass from Unitas to Moore, sending Moore airborne for a loss. The Browns tenacity on defense is what got them to the half time score of 0–0. Brown's running back Ernie Green reported after the game about half time, "We cleaned ourselves and sat down, and it seemed like something came over all of us. I think we all kind of looked at each other and concluded, 'Hey, we can beat these guys.'" Not only did the Browns "beat" the Colts in the second half, They destroyed them, scoring 27 unanswered points. Gary Collins became a Cleveland Browns legend by catching three touch down passes, the third one being a 51-yarder with Colts defender Bobby Boyd all over him. The biggest story of the game was how well Cleveland's defense played against Baltimore's heralded offense. Cleveland was able to hold Unitas to just 95 yards while intercepting him twice.

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