1966 Cleveland Browns season


The 1966 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 17th season with the National Football League.
They finished just 9–5, their worst record since 1962, and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1963.

Season summary

Save for a devastating 16–6 upset loss to a Pittsburgh Steelers team that would finish just 5–8–1, the Browns offense scored points in bunches. In later years, Browns players from that era said the 1966 team had the best offense—even better than the one in 1964, when the club won the NFL championship—and there's evidence to support that contention. The flurry of points started in the opener when the Browns blew out the Washington Redskins 38–14. It continued in a stretch of five straight games in which they lost 34–28 to the St. Louis Cardinals, beat the New York Giants 28–7, routed the Steelers 41–10, turned back the Dallas Cowboys 30–21 and crushed the expansion Atlanta Falcons 49–17.
Then, as they were finishing the season, the Browns outscored the Giants 49–40 and walloped the Cardinals 38–10.
The Browns scored 403 points in all, averaging a healthy 28.8 per contest. Even in the game that eventually did in their playoff chances—a 33–21 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the next-to-last week—they were able to score a decent number of points.
Quarterback Frank Ryan was as good – or better – than he was in any of his previous three seasons as the full-time starter, including 1964, when he helped lead the Browns to the NFL championship. He threw for a career-high 2,974 yards and had better than a 2-to-1 ratio of touchdown passes to interceptions. He also posted his second-best quarterback rating at 88.2.

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1966 NFL Draft.
RoundOverallPlayerPositionSchool/Club Team
114Milt MorinTight EndMassachusetts
229Rick NortonQuarterbackKentucky
461Pete DurankoDefensive EndNotre Dame
574Randy SchultzRunning BackNorthern Iowa
578Dan FulfordEndAuburn
690Jim BattleTackleSaginaw Valley
693Fred HoaglinCenterPittsburgh
7109Leroy CarterFlankerGrambling
8123Tom TalagaEndNotre Dame
9139Jack GregoryDefensive EndDelta St.
10153Monte LedbetterWide ReceiverNorthwestern St.
11169Tony FireTackleBowling Green
11183Rich CzapTackleNebraska
13199Jim BoudreauxTackleLouisiana Tech
14213Pete LammonsTight EndTexas
15229Bob EllisDefensive EndMassachusetts
16243David RayKickerAlabama
17259Gene ModzelewskiTackleNew Mexico St.
18273Charlie HarrawayRunning BackSan Jose St.
19289Karl SingerTacklePurdue
20303Joe PetroDefensive BackTemple

Exhibition schedule

There was a doubleheader on August 26, 1966 Redskins vs Vikings and Colts vs Browns.

Regular season schedule

Week 1

Week 6: at Atlanta Falcons season|Atlanta]]

Standings

Personnel

Roster

Staff/Coaches