# 1957 Cleveland Browns season

The 1957 Cleveland Browns season was the team's eighth season with the National Football League. They were 9–2–1 in the regular season and won the Eastern Conference title, but lost the championship game to the Detroit Lions, 59–14.

## Season summary

The Browns missed the playoffs the previous season, ending ten straight years of league championship game appearances. The Browns came storming back in 1957 to finish 9–2–1 and win the Eastern Conference title by a relatively healthy margin over the defending world champion New York Giants (7–5). The Browns took care of business against the Giants, "bookending," as it were, their arch rivals. They beat New York 6–3 in the season opener and then edged them again 34–28 in the finale. The Browns also posted two shutouts on the year, 24–0 over the Pittsburgh Steelers and 31–0 over the Chicago Cardinals.
The Eastern foe the Browns had the most trouble with was fourth-place Washington (5–6–1). Cleveland edged the Redskins 21–17 and then had to settle for a 30–30 tie in the rematch. The Browns fell to Detroit 20–7, making them 0–3 against the Lions in the regular season since joining the NFL in 1950.
Although they had a rookie All-American running back out of Syracuse by the name of Jim Brown, the Browns were by no means an offensive juggernaut overall. The future Hall of Famer was outstanding, rushing for 942 yards and nine TDs, but he was the only real standout that year. Tommy O'Connell, who had taken over for retired Hall of Famer Otto Graham in 1956 and was the quarterback during the 5–7 finish that year, had the job for most of the way in 1957 as well. He and rookie Milt Plum combined for just 1,873 yards passing 12 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.

## Schedule
### Exhibition

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 14 | at Detroit Lions | L 10–20 | 0–1 | Briggs Stadium | 40,150 |
| 2 | August 24 | vs. Pittsburgh Steelers | W 28–13 | 1–1 | Rubber Bowl | 26,669 |
| 3 | September 1 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 17–21 | 1–2 | Kezar Stadium | 32,840 |
| 4 | September 6 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 14–20 | 1–3 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 45,011 |
| 5 | September 14 | Detroit Lions | W 23–7 | 2–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 34,369 |
| 6 | September 20 | at Chicago Bears | L 3–29 | 2–4 | Wrigley Field | 47,354 |

### Regular season

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 29 | New York Giants | W 6–3 | 1–0 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 58,095 |
| 2 | October 5 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 23–12 | 2–0 | Forbes Field | 35,570 |
| 3 | October 13 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 24–7 | 3–0 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 53,493 |
| 4 | October 20 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 7–17 | 3–1 | Connie Mack Stadium | 22,443 |
| 5 | October 27 | at Chicago Cardinals | W 17–7 | 4–1 | Comiskey Park | 26,341 |
| 6 | November 3 | Washington Redskins | W 21–17 | 5–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 52,936 |
| 7 | November 10 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 24–0 | 6–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 53,709 |
| 8 | November 17 | at Washington Redskins | T 30–30 | 6–1–1 | Griffith Stadium | 27,722 |
| 9 | November 24 | Los Angeles Rams | W 45–31 | 7–1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 65,407 |
| 10 | December 1 | Chicago Cardinals | W 31–0 | 8–1–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 40,525 |
| 11 | December 8 | at Detroit Lions | L 7–20 | 8–2–1 | Briggs Stadium | 55,814 |
| 12 | December 15 | at New York Giants | W 34–28 | 9–2–1 | Yankee Stadium | 54,294 |
    Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Standings

NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 2 | 1 | .818 | 8–1–1 | 269 | 172 | W1 |
| New York Giants | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–4 | 254 | 211 | L3 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 5–5 | 161 | 178 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 5 | 6 | 1 | .455 | 4–5–1 | 251 | 230 | W3 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 4–6 | 173 | 230 | L2 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 2–8 | 200 | 299 | L1 |
       Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| Championship | December 29 | at Detroit Lions | L 14–59 | 0–1 | Briggs Stadium | 55,263 | Recap |

### NFL Championship Game

* Detroit Lions 59, Cleveland Browns 14
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Lions | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 59 |
Scoring
* DET – FG Martin 31
* DET – Rote 1-yard run (Martin kick)
* DET – Gedman 1-yard run (Martin kick)
* CLE – Brown 29-yard run (Groza kick)
* DET – Junker 26-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick)
* DET – Barr 19-yard interception (Martin kick)
* CLE – Carpenter 5-yard run (Groza kick)
* DET – Doran 78-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick)
* DET – Junker 23-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick)
* DET – Middleton 32-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick)
* DET Cassady-yard pass from Reichow (Martin kick)

## Awards and records

* Jim Brown, NFL rushing leader, 942 yards
* Tommy O’Connell, NFL leader, passing yards, (1,229)

### Milestones

* Jim Brown, First Rushing Title