Bill Willis play series Part 2 1950 regular season
Different league, same results.
Indeed, the Browns’ first season in the NFL in 1950 was just like the years they enjoyed in the All-America Football Conference from 1946–49.
That is, they won. A lot. And decisively.
The team that, in four seasons in the AAFC, won four championships, posted an overall record of 52-4-3 (.907), had a perfect 15-0 r mark in 1948, put together a 29-game unbeaten streak (27-0-2) from midway through 1947 through 1949 and had lopsided victories by scores of 44-0, 51-14, 66-14, 55-7, 42-0, 49-7 and 61-14, blew into the NFL like a tornado, destroying nearly everything in its path. The Browns whipped the two-time defending league champion Philadelphia Eagles 35-10 on the road in their opener (it would have been worse had their return for a touchdown of the opening kickoff had not been negated by a bogus clipping penalty) and shut out the Baltimore Colts 31-0 the following week, put together another two-game winning streak by defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals and captured their final six games to finish the regular season with a 10-2 record.
The only losses were administered by the New York Giants, 6-0 in Week 3 in the Browns’ home opener, marking the first time they had ever been shut out, and 17-13 at New York three weeks later. It was the the first time they had ever been beaten twice in one season by the season. Two losses in a span of three games, to Pittsburgh and the Cardinals, left them at 10-2 as well, tying them with Cleveland for first place in the American Conference (renamed the Eastern Conference in 1952). A special playoff was necessitated, to be played ar Cleveland Stadium a week after the completion of the regular season, on Dec. 17, to decide which team would face the National Conference champion Los Angeles Rams at home in the NFL Championship Game.
The Browns played well enough defensively in their two meetings with New York to win, but they couldn’t solve the Giants’ “Umbrella” defense that head coach Steve Owen and his staff had created specifically for Cleveland. They took their 6-1-4 alignment, dropped the ends and even the middle guard off the line to turn it into the modern 4-3-4 alignment to clog up the short lanes to thwart quarterback Otto Graham and the Browns’ precision passing attack, the forerunner of today’s West Coast offense. Yes, that was another innovation by Browns head coach Paul Brown, “The Father of Modern Football.”
Yes, the Browns had their work cut out for them.
They needed something special.
They got it, but it was someone rather than something.
Talk to you next time.
Steve King
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