Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I was perusing the 1965 NFL season on PFR, and noticed that the Browns were the only team in the East to finish with a winning record. They played 12 games against East division rivals and 2 against West division teams...and the two West division teams were the 7-7 Vikings and the 4-10 Rams. The Browns lost both games to the West teams by rather large margins, 27-17 and 42-7, which accounted for 2 of the Browns' 3 regular season losses. So the Browns didn't play a team with a winning record the entire regular season...has that ever happened before or since?

Bryan wrote:I was perusing the 1965 NFL season on PFR, and noticed that the Browns were the only team in the East to finish with a winning record. They played 12 games against East division rivals and 2 against West division teams...and the two West division teams were the 7-7 Vikings and the 4-10 Rams. The Browns lost both games to the West teams by rather large margins, 27-17 and 42-7, which accounted for 2 of the Browns' 3 regular season losses. So the Browns didn't play a team with a winning record the entire regular season...has that ever happened before or since?

The Vikings had a losing record BECAUSE of their loss to the Browns ...

JeffreyMiller wrote:

Bryan wrote:I was perusing the 1965 NFL season on PFR, and noticed that the Browns were the only team in the East to finish with a winning record. They played 12 games against East division rivals and 2 against West division teams...and the two West division teams were the 7-7 Vikings and the 4-10 Rams. The Browns lost both games to the West teams by rather large margins, 27-17 and 42-7, which accounted for 2 of the Browns' 3 regular season losses. So the Browns didn't play a team with a winning record the entire regular season...has that ever happened before or since?

The Vikings had a losing record BECAUSE of their loss to the Browns ...

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 310cle.htm

The 1972 Dolphins came close, with only the 8-6 Chiefs having a record above .500, one reason why they were so dismissed that year.

As far as the 1965 Browns, their loss to the Rams came after they had clinched, with few key starters in the lineup. The Vikings loss had footage from it used in "The Fortune Cookie."

The Eastern Conference of the NFL was very weak that year, except for the Browns. The Giants were no longer the team that they were during the era of Huff, Gifford, Webster, Tittle, etc. The Cardinals were only a threat in the even numbered years starting in 1964 through 1970, and they had a tendency to self destruct. So, there was no real competition for the Cleveland Browns in 1965. Dallas was a year away.

"The 1972 Dolphins came close, with only the 8-6 Chiefs having a record above .500, one reason why they were so dismissed that year."


The New York Giants were also 8-6 that year. Miami beat them at Yankee Stadium in Week #13.

In their 49-13 pounding by the Cardinals in Week 2, the Browns actually had a 10-7 lead. However, the roof fell in as St. Louis returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards and Charley Johnson soon followed with a TD pass. The next three Browns drives all ended with interceptions, with the Cardinals scoring TD's each time to take a 35-10 halftime lead.

Johnson ended up with six TD passes, while a banged up Frank Ryan and Jim Ninowski combined to throw six picks.

In short, this was a game (like their 1963 home game against the Giants) where virtually everything went wrong. They were able to get that miserable performance out of their system and win nine of their next 10 games, then beat the Cards in the regular season finale. That rematch was also Jim Brown's last regular season contest and he got kicked out for fighting in the game.