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1954 Cleveland Browns

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1954 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach Paul Brown
Home Field Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record 9–3–0
Place 1st NFL American
Playoff Finish Won NFL Championship
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1953 1955

The 1954 Cleveland Browns season was the team's fifth season with the National Football League. The Browns' defense became the first defense in the history of the NFL to lead the league in fewest rushing yards allowed, fewest passing yards allowed and fewest total yards allowed.[1]

Assistant coach Weeb Ewbank left the club to coach the Baltimore Colts.[2]

Offseason[]

Defensive Back Don Paul arrived via a trade with the Washington Redskins. The Redskins acquired Paul from the Chicago Cardinals. Upon his arrival in Washington, he fell in disfavor with George Preston Marshall, owner of the Redskins.[3]

NFL Draft[]

The 1954 NFL Draft was one of the biggest busts in Browns history. In the first round, the club selected John Bauer. He would never play for the Browns, as he was traded to Green Bay during training camp, and only played in two NFL games in his career before joining the Army.[3] The Browns also drafted quarterback Bobby Garrett out of Stanford. The plan was that he would be the heir to Otto Graham. Garrett suffered from a stuttering problem, which the Browns claimed hindered his performance in the huddle, although this was disputed by western sportswriters. Garrett would soon be traded to the Packers in exchange for Babe Parilli, although Parilli would not play for the Browns until 1958.[3]

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Main article: 1954 NFL Draft
1954 Cleveland Browns draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 1 (lottery pick) Bobby Garrett Quarterback Stanford
1 12 John Bauer Guard Illinois
2 24 Chet Hanulak Running back Maryland
      Made roster  

[4]

Pre Season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 August 21 at Green Bay W 14–13
15,747
2 August 27 at Los Angeles L 38–10
58,567
3 September 5 at San Francisco L 38–21
46,877
4 September 10 vs. Detroit (@ Dallas) L 56–31
42,000
5 September 18 Chi. Bears L 35–7
17,631

Regular Season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 26 at Philadelphia L 28–10 0-1
26,546
2 October 10 Chi. Cardinals W 31–7 1-1
24,101
3 October 17 at Pittsburgh L 55–27 1-2
33,262
4 October 24 at Chi. Cardinals W 35–3 2-2
23,823
5 October 31 NY Giants W 24–14 3-2
30,448
6 November 7 Washington W 62–3 4-2
25,158
7 November 14 at Chi. Bears W 39–10 5-2
48,773
8 November 21 Philadelphia W 6–0 6-2
41,537
9 November 28 at NY Giants W 16–7 7-2
45,936
10 December 5 at Washington W 34–14 8-2
21,761
11 December 12 Pittsburgh W 42–7 9-2
28,064
12 December 19 Detroit L 14–10 9-3
34,168

Game Summaries[]

Week 3: @ Pittsburgh[]

Team 1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 14 6 0 7 27
Steelers 7 27 14 7 55


at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 31,256
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Cleveland – Reynolds 5 run (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 7 pass from Finks (Held kick)
  • Cleveland – Jones 37 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Rogel 14 pass from Finks (kick failed)
  • Pittsburgh – Butler 41 interception return (Held kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Lattner 12 run (Held kick)
  • Cleveland – Lavelli 29 pass from Graham (kick blocked)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 78 pass from Finks (Held kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 8 pass from Finks (Held kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 3 run (Held kick)
  • Cleveland – Lavelli 24 pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Craft 81 interception return (Held kick)

Week 11: vs Pittsburgh[]

Team 1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 0 7 0 7
Browns 7 21 0 14 42


at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • Game time:
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 28,064
  • Referee:
  • TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

  • Cleveland – Hanulak 13 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Konz 54 interception return (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Hanulak 3 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Hanulak 8 run (Groza kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Mathews 47 pass from Finks (Bolkovac kick)
  • Cleveland – Morrison 2 run (Groza kick)
  • Cleveland – Reynolds 3 run (Groza kick)

Roster[]

1954 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  • 38 Maurice Bassett (FB)
  • 46 Billy Reynolds (RB, DB)
  • 32 Fred Morrison
  • 44 Chet Hanulak

Wide Receivers

  • 26 Ray Renfro (WR/RB/DB
  • 40 Dub Jones (WB, DB, RB, KR)
  • 84 Ken Carpenter (FL, RB)
  • 94 Don Phelps (KR, PR)

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

  • 82 Carlton Massey (DE)
  • 70 Don Colo (DE)
  • 79 Bob Gain (DL/T)
  • 83 Doug Atkins (DE)
  • 80 Len Ford (DE)
  • 79 Don King (DL)
  • 72 John Kissell (DE)
 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

  • 42 Tommy James DB
  • 20 Don Paul DB
  • 22 Ken Konz DB
  • 15 Ken Gorgal DB

Special Teams

Reserve Lists
  • N/A - Vacant

Standings[]

NFL Eastern
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns 9 3 0 .750 336 162 L-1
Philadelphia Eagles 7 4 1 .636 284 230 W-1
New York Giants 7 5 0 .583 293 184 L-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 5 7 0 .417 219 263 L-2
Washington Redskins 3 9 0 .250 207 432 W-1
Chicago Cardinals 2 10 0 .167 183 347 L-3

Post Season[]

Playoff[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Championship December 26 Detroit W 56–10
43,827

References[]

  1. ↑ The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.294, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6
  2. ↑ The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.310, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.308, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6
  4. ↑ 1954 Cleveland Browns Draftees. Pro-Football-Reference.com.

External links[]

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