# 1960 Cleveland Browns season

The 1960 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 11th season with the National Football League. The 1960 Browns compiled an 8–3–1 record, and finished second in the NFL's Eastern Conference, behind the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles. As runner-up, the Browns qualified for the inaugural third place Playoff Bowl in Miami, but lost 17–16 to the Detroit Lions on January 7.

## Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 13 | at Detroit Lions | W 28–14 | 1–0 | Briggs Stadium | 24,620 |
| 2 | August 18 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 27–24 | 2–0 | Pitt Stadium | 16,360 |
| 3 | August 27 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 17–22 | 2–1 | L.A. Memorial Coliseum | 48,175 |
| 4 | September 3 | vs. San Francisco 49ers | W 26–24 | 3–1 | Multnomah Stadium (Portland, OR) | 25,898 |
| 5 | September 10 | vs. Chicago Bears | W 16–10 | 4–1 | Rubber Bowl (Akron, OH) | 21,568 |
| 6 | September 17 | Detroit Lions | W 14–10 | 5–1 | Cleveland Stadium | 25,911 |

## Regular season

A bye week was necessary in 1960, as the league expanded to an odd-number (13) of teams (Dallas); one team was idle each week.

### Schedule

| Game | Date | Opponent | Time | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 25 | at Philadelphia Eagles | 1:30 p.m. EDT | W 41–24 | 1–0 | Franklin Field | 56,303 | |
| 2 | October 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 2:00 p.m. EDT | W 28–20 | 2–0 | Cleveland Stadium | 67,692 | |
| — | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 3 | October 16 | at Dallas Cowboys | 2:30 p.m. EST | W 48–7 | 3–0 | Cotton Bowl | 28,500 | |
| 4 | October 23 | Philadelphia Eagles | 2:00 p.m. EST | L 29–31 | 3–1 | Cleveland Stadium | 64,850 | |
| 5 | October 30 | at Washington Redskins | 2:00 p.m. EST | W 31–10 | 4–1 | Griffith Stadium | 32,086 | |
| 6 | November 6 | New York Giants | 2:00 p.m. EST | L 13–17 | 4–2 | Cleveland Stadium | 82,872 | |
| 7 | November 13 | St. Louis Cardinals | 2:00 p.m. EST | W 28–27 | 5–2 | Cleveland Stadium | 49,192 | |
| 8 | November 20 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | 2:00 p.m. EST | L 10–14 | 5–3 | Forbes Field | 35,215 | |
| 9 | November 27 | at St. Louis Cardinals | 2:00 p.m. EST | T 17–17 | 5–3–1 | Busch Stadium I | 26,146 | |
| 10 | December 4 | Washington Redskins | 2:00 p.m. EST | W 27–16 | 6–3–1 | Cleveland Stadium | 35,211 | |
| 11 | December 11 | Chicago Bears | 2:00 p.m. EST | W 42–0 | 7–3–1 | Cleveland Stadium | 38,155 | |
| 12 | December 18 | at New York Giants | 2:00 p.m. EST | W 48–34 | 8–3–1 | Yankee Stadium | 56,517 | |
| Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text. |||||||||

### Standings

NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 10 | 2 | 0 | .833 | 8–2 | 321 | 246 | W1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 8 | 3 | 1 | .727 | 6–3–1 | 362 | 217 | W3 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 4 | 2 | .600 | 5–4–1 | 271 | 261 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 6 | 5 | 1 | .545 | 4–5–1 | 288 | 230 | W1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 6 | 1 | .455 | 4–5–1 | 240 | 275 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 1 | 9 | 2 | .100 | 0–8–2 | 178 | 309 | L8 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 7–4 | 332 | 209 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 7–4 | 239 | 212 | W4 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 7–4 | 208 | 205 | W1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 5–6 | 288 | 234 | L4 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 6 | 1 | .455 | 5–5–1 | 194 | 299 | L3 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 4 | 7 | 1 | .364 | 4–6–1 | 265 | 297 | L1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 0 | 11 | 1 | .000 | 0–6 | 177 | 369 | L1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Final statistics
### Statistical comparison

| | Cleveland Browns | Opponents |
| First downs | 219 | 208 |
| First downs rushing | 107 | 92 |
| First downs passing | 96 | 102 |
| First downs penalty | 16 | 14 |
| Total net yards | 3974 | 3806 |
| Avg. Per Game | 331.2 | 317.2 |
| Total Plays | 647 | 724 |
| Avg. Per Play | 6.1 | 5.3 |
| Net yards rushing | 1930 | 1643 |
| Avg. Per Game | 160.8 | 136.9 |
| Rushing attempts | 383 | 405 |
| Net yards passing | 2044 | 2163 |
| Avg. Per Game | 170.3 | 180.3 |
| Times sacked-total yards | 37–299 | 26–209 |
| Gross yards | 2343 | 2370 |
| Passing – Completions/attempts | 160?264 | 163/319 |
| Completion Pct. | 60.6 | 51.1 |
| Interceptions thrown | 5 | 31 |
| Punts-average yardage | 55–42.0 | 46–45.0 |
| Net Punting Avg. | 55–38.7 | 46–40.5 |
| Penalties-total yards | 49–534 | 48–526 |
| Fumbles-lost | 20–12 | 27–14 |
| Touchdowns | 47 | 26 |
| Touchdown rushing | 18 | 10 |
| Touchdown passing | 22 | 15 |
| Touchdown returns | 7 | 1 |
Boxscore
Quarter-by-quarter :
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
| Browns | 59 | 150 | 58 | 95 | 362 |
| Opponents | 41 | 60 | 48 | 68 | 217 |

## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent | Time | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| Playoff Bowl | January 7, 1961 | vs. Detroit Lions | 2:00 p.m. EST | L 16–17 | 0–1 | Orange Bowl | 34,981 | |

## Personnel
### Awards and records

* Jim Brown, NFL rushing leader, 1,257 yards
* Milt Plum, NFL leader, passing yards, (2,297)

### Milestones

* Jim Brown, third consecutive 1,000 yard season
* Jim Brown, fourth consecutive rushing title