2012 Cleveland Browns season The Cleveland Browns season was the team ' s 64th season as a professional sports franchise and its 60th season as a member of the National Football League ( NFL ) . Although the team improved on its record to 5 - 11 this 2012 season from its 4 – 12 finish in 2011 , the team still placed fourth in the AFC North . The team also failed to break its 9 - year playoff drought , the longest in franchise history . The 2012 season was the third season under the leadership of team president Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert and the second season under head coach Pat Shurmur . The Browns also had Jimmy Haslam as their new owner , after buying the team from Randy Lerner . The Browns played all of their home games at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland , Ohio . Off - season . Ownership change . On August 2 , team owner Randy Lerner sold the controlling interest of the Browns to Tennessee businessman Jimmy Haslam . Haslam is the owner of Pilot Flying J travel centers and was previously a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers . The amount of the sale was in excess of US $ 1 billion . The sale is complete pending approval by the NFL owners . A vote is expected in the next owners ' meeting in October . Coaching changes . On January 11 , defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson left the Browns to take the same position with the Dallas Cowboys . On January 18 , the Browns hired Nolan Cromwell as a senior offensive assistant . Cromwell replaces Keith Gilbertson , who retired following the 2011 season . On January 23 , the Browns hired former Tennessee Titans ' assistant secondary coach Tim Hauck to replace Henderson as defensive backs coach . Hauck was on the Titans ' staff from 2009 – 2010 , and served as an assistant at the collegiate level prior to that . On January 27 , the Browns hired former Minnesota Vikings ' head coach Brad Childress as offensive coordinator . Childress coached the Vikings from 2006 – 2010 . From 2003 – 2005 , he was the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles , where he worked with current Browns ' head coach Pat Shurmur . Roster changes . 2012 Draft Class . The draft occurred from April 26 – 28 . The Browns had an NFL - high eleven selections . NOTES : Supplemental Draft . On July 12 , the Browns selected WR Josh Gordon of Baylor with a second round pick in the supplemental draft . The Browns will forfeit their second round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft . Gordon became only the second player drafted by the Browns in the supplemental draft , the other being QB Bernie Kosar in 1985 . Other news and notes . LB Fujita suspension . On May 2 , NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced a three - game suspension for LB Scott Fujita for his role in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal in 2009 . Fujita was suspended along with former Saints teammates Jonathan Vilma , Anthony Hargrove , and Will Smith for what the commissioner called " conduct detrimental to the NFL as a result of their leadership roles . " Fujita and the three other players have appealed the suspensions , however on July 3 Goodell upheld the suspensions . On September 7 , two days before the Week 1 game , the suspensions against Fujita and the other players were overturned . Fujita is expected to start the Week 1 contest . DT Taylor injury . On May 10 , starting DT Phil Taylor tore his left pectoral muscle while doing bench presses in the weight room . Taylor , the Browns ' 1st round draft choice in 2011 , will be out for several months and may miss the entire season . Suicide of grounds crew member . A member of the Browns ' grounds crew killed himself at their practice facility in Berea , Ohio , a team spokesman said Sunday , December 2 , 2012 . The man ' s body was found Saturday morning , December 1 , 2012 , at the facility in suburban Cleveland , the same day Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher committed suicide after killing his girlfriend . Browns spokesman Neal Gulkis confirmed to The Associated Press that a team employee died of a suicide , but provided no other details . He released a statement calling the man a good friend and an outstanding employee and saying the team ' s heartfelt condolences go out to his family . Preseason . Schedule . The Browns ' preseason schedule was announced on April 4 , 2012 . LB Gocong injury . On August 4 , starting LB Chris Gocong tore his right Achilles tendon during morning practice . He will likely miss the entire season . QB Weeden named starter . On August 6 , coach Pat Shurmur named Brandon Weeden as the starting QB . Weeden , 28 , was picked 22nd overall by the Browns in the 2012 NFL Draft . First roster cuts . All NFL teams were required to cut their rosters from 90 players to 75 by August 27 . One day earlier , the Browns released nine players , most notably WR veteran WR Carlton Mitchell . The Browns also placed LBs Emanuel Acho and Chris Gocong on injured reserve , waived / injured DEs Marcus Benard and Austin English and CB Antwaun Reed . The team also placed DT Phil Taylor on the physically unable to perform list . With one open roster spot , the Browns claimed DE Ernest Owusu off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings . Second roster cuts . All NFL teams were required to cut their rosters from 75 players to 53 by August 31 . The Browns cut quarterback Seneca Wallace ; running back Adonis Thomas ; fullback Brad Smelley ; wide receivers Josh Cooper and Rod Windsor , tight ends Dan Gronkowski and Evan Moore ; offensive linemen Dominic Alford , Stanley Daniels , Garth Gerhart , Jerrod Shaw , and J . B . Shugarts ; defensive linemen Ronnie Cameron , William Green , Ernest Owushu , Brian Schaefering , and Kiante Tripp ; linebackers Benjamin Jacobs and Quinton Spears ; and defensive back James Dockery . In addition , DT Phil Taylor remained on the physically unable to perform list . Cameron , Cooper , Gerhart , Jacobs , Shaw , Shugarts , and Smelley were added to the Browns ' practice squad . Captains elected . On September 2 , the Browns elected offensive tackle Joe Thomas , linebacker D ' Qwell Jackson , and kicker Phil Dawson as captains . Regular Season . Game summaries . Week 1 : vs . Philadelphia Eagles . The Browns opened their season against the Philadelphia Eagles . They would get their first points of the 2012 season when Phil Dawson kicked a 43 - yard field goal to make the score 3 - 0 for the only points of the opening quarter . The Eagles responded to tie the game at 3 - 3 when Alex Henery kicked a 42 - yard field goal followed by Michael Vick finding Jeremy Maclin in the end zone on an 18 - yard touchdown pass to make the halftime score 10 - 3 . Heading into the 3rd quarter and extending into the 4th , the Browns scored 13 unanswered points starting with Dawson ' s field goals from 42 ( for the only score of the quarter ) and 22 yards out shortening the Eagles ' lead from 4 to just a point from 10 - 6 to 10 - 9 . And then , the Browns retook the lead when D ' Qwell Jackson ran for a 13 - yard touchdown for a 16 - 10 game . However , the Eagles were able to complete the comeback as Vick found Clay Harbor on a 4 - yard pass making the final score 17 - 16 . The Browns started their season 0 - 1 for the 8th straight year . Week 2 : at Cincinnati Bengals . After a tough home loss to the Eagles , the Browns traveled on the road to take on the Bengals for Round 1 of the Battle Of Ohio . With less than 2 minutes , the Bengals scored as Pacman Jones would return a punt 81 yards for a touchdown making the score 7 - 0 . The Browns responded with Phil Dawson ' s 50 - yard field goal to come within 4 at 7 - 3 . In the 2nd quarter Andy Dalton found A . J . Green on a 10 - yard touchdown pass making the score 14 - 3 for an 11 - point lead . The Browns followed up with Trent Richardson running for a 32 - yard touchdown making the score 14 - 10 but the Bengals pulled away as Mike Nugent nailed a 39 - yard field goal for a 17 - 10 halftime lead . In the 3rd quarter , the Bengals went right back to work when Dalton found Brandon Tate on a 44 - yard touchdown pass to increase their lead to 24 - 10 . Again , the Browns tried to rally by coming in just a touchdown short with Brandon Weeden ' s first NFL career touchdown pass : A 23 - yard pass to Richardson to make the score 24 - 17 . The Bengals pulled away in the 4th quarter as Dalton found Andrew Hawkins on a 50 - yard pass making the score 31 - 17 but again , the Browns tried to rally by coming within a touchdown as Weeden found Greg Little on a 24 - yard pass making the score 31 - 24 . After this , the Bengals moved ahead by double digits for the first time since leading by 14 in the 3rd quarter with Nugent ' s 37 - yard field goal for a 34 - 24 lead . The Browns tried to rally a comeback but could only come away with 3 points as Dawson nailed a 25 - yard field goal for a final score of 34 - 27 . With the loss , the Browns fell to 0 - 2 . Also , with the Steelers ' victory over the Jets , the team now sits in sole possession of last place in the AFC North as well as losing by a certain number of points increasing as the weeks go by from losing to the Eagles by a point in Week 1 to losing to the Bengals by 7 points in Week 2 . Week 3 : vs . Buffalo Bills . The Browns returned home for a home game against the Bills . Again , the Browns fell behind and would never lead a game for the 2nd straight week as Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick found T . J . Graham on a 9 - yard touchdown pass for a 7 - 0 lead followed up by Fitzpatrick finding C . J . Spiller on a 32 - yard touchdown pass for a 14 - 0 lead . The Browns got on the board in the 2nd quarter when Trent Richardson ran for a 6 - yard touchdown to make the score 14 - 7 at halftime . However , the Bills went back to work in the 3rd quarter as Rian Lindell nailed a 37 - yard field goal to take a 10 - point lead of 17 - 7 . The Browns tried to rally coming within 3 points of the Bills when Brandon Weeden found Travis Benjamin on a 22 - yard pass coming with 3 at 17 - 14 . However , the Bills pulled away and wrapped this game up as Fitzpatrick found Steve Johnson on a 9 - yard touchdown pass for a final score of 24 - 14 . With the loss , the Browns fell to 0 - 3 with their loss by a certain number of points worsened to 10 . Week 4 : at Baltimore Ravens . The Browns traveled to Baltimore to take on the Ravens on TNF . After a scoreless first quarter , the Ravens scored first in the 2nd quarter as Joe Flacco found Torrey Smith on an 18 - yard touchdown pass ( with a failed PAT ) for a 6 - 0 lead . The team would increase their lead as Justin Tucker nailed a 45 - yard field goal to make the score 9 - 0 . Finally , the Browns were able to score not long before halftime when Trent Richardson ran for a 2 - yard touchdown making the halftime score 9 - 7 . After the break , the Ravens went right back to work as Flacco used a QB sneak 1 - yard run for a 16 - 7 lead . However , The Browns were able to draw within 6 points as Phil Dawson nailed a 51 - yard field goal making the score 16 - 10 . But then , the Ravens pulled away as Cary Williams picked off Weeden and returned the ball 63 yards for a touchdown making the score 23 - 10 . In the fourth quarter , the Browns tried to comeback as Dawson nailed 2 field goals from 50 and 52 yards out making the score 23 - 13 and then 23 - 16 . However , the Ravens took control of the game and the Browns ' record dropped to 0 - 4 on the season losing their 13th straight game against a division rival and their 9th straight game against the Ravens . Week 5 : at New York Giants . After a tough road loss to the Ravens , the Browns went to face against the Giants on the road . They drew first blood taking a 7 - 0 lead as Trent Richardson ran for a 15 - yard touchdown followed by Brandon Weeden finding Josh Gordon on a 62 - yard touchdown pass leaving the Browns with a 14 - 0 lead . Finally , the Giants were able to get on the board when Eli Manning found Victor Cruz on a 3 - yard pass to shorten the lead 14 - 7 . In the 2nd quarter , the Browns moved ahead by double digits again as Phil Dawson kicked a 32 - yard field goal for a 17 - 7 . The Giants then again responded by scoring 17 unanswered points before halftime starting by coming within a touchdown off of Lawrence Tynes ' 29 - yard field goal making the score 17 - 10 . Then the Giants were able to tie it as Ahmad Bradshaw ran for a 4 - yard touchdown for a 17 - 17 score before the Giants took the lead as Manning found Cruz again on a 7 - yard pass making the score 24 - 17 . Tynes not long before halftime would make the score 27 - 17 with his 40 - yard field goal . The Giants went right back to work in the third quarter as Manning found Cruz a 3rd time on a 28 - yard pass increasing their lead to 34 - 17 . Then the Browns tried to rally a comeback but only came away with Dawson nailing a 41 - yard field goal making the score 34 - 20 . Then in the fourth quarter , David Wilson ran for a 40 - yard touchdown making the score 41 - 20 . The Browns wrapped up the game scoring with Weeden finding Gordon again on a 20 - yard pass for a final score of 41 - 27 . The Browns dropped to 0 - 5 on the season . And with the Saints ' win over the Chargers on Sunday Night , they remain the league ' s only winless team . Week 6 : vs . Cincinnati Bengals . The Browns returned home for Round 2 of 2012 ' s Battle of Ohio . The Bengals got off to a fast start in the first quarter as Andy Dalton found Jermaine Gresham on a 55 - yard touchdown pass making the score 7 - 0 for the only score of the period . The Browns then managed to tie it as Brandon Weeden found Josh Gordon on a 71 - yard touchdown pass for a 7 - 7 game before the Bengals moved back into the lead with Dalton ' s 4 - yard pass to A . J . Green making the score 14 - 7 at halftime . The Browns went into a frenzy of points in the 2nd half starting scoring 13 unanswered points starting in the 3rd quarter when Phil Dawson nailed 2 field goals from 41 and 38 yards out making the score 14 - 10 and then 14 - 13 respectively . And in the fourth quarter , they took the lead as Montario Hardestly ran for a 1 - yard touchdown for a 20 - 14 lead . The Bengals came within 3 as Mike Nugent kicked a 44 - yard field goal making the score 20 - 17 . But the Browns increased their lead with 2 straight touchdowns as Weeden found Benjamin Watson on a 4 - yard pass followed by Sheldon Brown who returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown making the score 27 - 17 and then 34 - 17 . The Bengals tried to rally a comeback as Dalton found Green again on a 57 - yard pass . But the Bengals failed to rally and therefore loss this game by a final score of 34 - 24 as the Browns managed to snap their 4 - game losing streak to the Bengals as well as their 13 - game losing streak to division rivals as they improved to 1 - 5 with the win . Week 7 : at Indianapolis Colts . The Browns traveled to Indianapolis to take on an Andrew Luck - led Colts offense . The Colts were able to score in the first quarter as Andrew Luck ran for a 3 - yard touchdown making the score 7 - 0 for the only score of the game . The Browns responded in the 2nd quarter coming within a point when Brandon Weeden found Greg Little on a 14 - yard pass ( with a failed PAT ) making the score 7 - 6 . Then , Luck ran for another touchdown this time from 5 yards out to make the score 14 - 6 at halftime . The Browns came within a point again in the 3rd quarter as Weeden found Josh Gordon on a 33 - yard pass making the score 14 - 13 but the Colts wrapped things up with Adam Vinatieri ' s 38 - yard field goal followed by a scoreless 4th quarter making the final score 17 - 13 as the Browns ' road record at this point of the season was 0 - 4 while their record overall was 1 - 6 . Week 8 : vs . San Diego Chargers . In rainy and windy conditions , Trent Richardson would score the game ' s only touchdown running from 26 yards out for a 7 - 0 lead . The Chargers managed to get on the board as Nick Novak score a 43 - yard field goal before halftime making the score 7 - 3 . The Chargers would then score the only 2nd half points in the 3rd quarter with Novak scoring a 31 - yard field goal making the score 7 - 6 . The Browns ' defense would then hold a game where the opponent doesn ' t score a touchdown winning by only a point and increasing their record to 2 - 6 and their home record to 2 - 2 . Week 9 : vs . Baltimore Ravens . The Ravens took a 14 - 0 lead after the first quarter , but the Browns took the lead with five consecutive field goals from Phil Dawson . However , the Ravens retook the lead for good in the fourth quarter . With their 10th - straight loss to the Ravens , the Browns went into their bye week at 2 - 7 . Week 11 : at Dallas Cowboys . The Browns came into Cowboys Stadium leading 13 - 0 at halftime . However , the lead was blown as the Browns were outscored 20 - 7 in the 2nd half with the Cowboys kicking a late field goal to tie the game at 20 - 20 and send it into overtime . There , the Cowboys would kick the game - winning field goal , dropping the Browns to 2 - 8 and 0 - 3 against the NFC East . Week 12 : vs . Pittsburgh Steelers . Although the Steelers scored first on a 53 yd interception return by Lawrence Timmons , the Browns benefited from eight Pittsburgh turnovers and the Browns defeated the Steelers 20 - 14 . This was the first Browns victory over the Steelers since Week 14 of the 2009 season , and only the fifth time the Browns beat the Steelers since returning to the NFL in 1999 . The Browns would become the only AFC North team on the season to successfully defend their home territory against the Steelers . After the game , it was announced that team president Mike Holmgren would leave the Browns effective immediately . Week 13 : at Oakland Raiders . Behind Brandon Weeden ' s career high passing day ( 364 yds ) , the Browns defeated the Oakland Raiders 20 - 17 , snapping a 12 game road losing streak , and their first consecutive wins since Weeks 2 and 3 of the 2011 season . Week 14 : vs . Kansas City Chiefs . Helped by a 93 yard punt return by Travis Benjamin ( the longest punt return for a touchdown in franchise history ) , the Browns defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 30 - 7 for their first three game win streak since 2009 , improving their current season to 5 - 8 and 3 - 0 against the AFC West . With losses by the Bengals and Steelers ( both 7 - 6 ) , the Browns still remain in playoff contention moving up to only two games behind their two longest rivals . Week 15 : vs . Washington Redskins . With the loss , the Browns fell to 5 - 9 and were eliminated from the postseason contention . This loss clinched the team ' s fifth straight losing season and 12th in the 14 years since rejoining the NFL . The Browns were 4 - 4 in home games . Week 16 : at Denver Broncos . With the loss , the Browns dropped to 5 - 10 on the season , and as a result they officially clinched 4th - place in the AFC North for the second straight season since they still remained two games behind the 3rd - place Steelers ( 7 - 8 ) , who got booted from the playoff race by the Bengals earlier that day . Next week the Browns look to win in Pittsburgh for the first time since 2003 , and sweep the Steelers for the first time since 1988 . Week 17 : at Pittsburgh Steelers . After a tough loss at the Broncos , the Browns traveled to Pittsburgh for game 2 of the 2012 Rust Belt Series . The Browns were able to tie the game at 3 - 3 and then 10 - 10 . However , they were overpowered by the Steelers as they scored 14 unanswered points to make the final score 24 - 10 . The Browns would go on to lose the game finishing 5 - 11 for the season . They finished 1 - 7 in games away from home . Shurmur and Heckert fired . On December 31 , the day after the final regular season game , the Browns fired head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert . In two seasons as Browns head coach , Shurmur posted a record of 9 - 23 , including a disappointing 2 - 10 mark within the division ( 1 - 3 vs . the Bengals and Steelers and 0 - 4 vs . the Ravens ) . 2013 Pro Bowl . On December 26 , T Joe Thomas and K Phil Dawson were recognized for their individual accomplishments by being named to the AFC Pro Bowl roster . Thomas , who will be the starting left tackle , is making his sixth consecutive appearance in the Pro Bowl , while this is the first Pro Bowl appearance for Dawson in his 14 - year career . KR Joshua Cribbs , LB D ' Qwell Jackson , and C Alex Mack were named first alternates at their respective positions .