1966 Cleveland Browns

The 1966 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 17th season with the National Football League. Even though they finished just 9-5, their worst record since 1962, and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since '63, there was a lot to like about the 1966 Browns.

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 amount 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 (29) to interceptions (14). He also posted his second-best quarterback rating at 88.2.

NFL Draft
The following were selected in the 1966 NFL Draft.