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1985 Cleveland Browns season

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1985 Cleveland Browns season
OwnerArt Modell
General managerErnie Accorsi
Head coachMarty Schottenheimer
Home fieldCleveland Municipal Stadium
Local radioWWWE
Results
Record8–8
Division place1st AFC Central
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs
(at Dolphins) 21–24
Pro BowlersTE Ozzie Newsome
FB Kevin Mack
NT Bob Golic
OLB Clay Matthews Jr.
OLB Chip Banks

The 1985 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 36th season with the National Football League.

This was the first of three consecutive AFC Central titles for the Browns. In Marty Schottenheimer's first full year as head coach, the Browns bounced back from a 5–11 season in 1984 to make the playoffs, despite a .500 season. Rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar led the Browns' offense; Ozzie Newsome's 62 receptions earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl; Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack each rushed for over 1,000 yards.

In the Divisional Playoffs, the Browns led the Miami Dolphins 21–3 in the third quarter, but in a scene that would be repeated 4 more times in the 1980s, the Browns collapsed down the stretch as the Dolphins came back to score three touchdowns to win the game 24–21.

In 2004, Football Outsiders named the 1985 Browns as one of the "worst playoff teams ever":[1]

Opponents outscored them 287–294, and they were blown out in two of their last three games (31–13 by the Seahawks and 38–10 by the Jets). They took a 21–3 lead over the Dolphins in the playoffs, only to watch Dan Marino and company score 21 unanswered points to win the game.

The 1985 Browns are probably best known for having two 1,000-yard rushers in Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack. Despite that impressive feat, the Browns were only fourth in the AFC in team rushing yards. They were 13th in the conference in passing yards, thanks to rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar and journeyman Gary Danielson. What that team did very well was play defense and take advantage of a weak division. The Browns swept the 5–11 Oilers and split with the 7–9 Bengals and Steelers. A 28–21 win in week 15 against the Oilers proved to be the division capper: Kosar threw three TDs to open up a 28–7 lead, and the defense withstood a comeback driven by Warren Moon.

Until 2011, Cleveland's .500 winning percentage held the record for the lowest such percentage for a division winning playoff team in a non-strike season; the record was tied by the 2008 San Diego Chargers, then broken by the 2010 Seattle Seahawks.[a] (Incidentally, in 1985 and 2008, teams with 11–5 records – Denver in 1985, New England in 2008—missed the playoffs.)

Personnel

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Staff

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1985 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


[2]

Roster

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1985 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

[3]

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 8 St. Louis Cardinals L 24–27 0–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 62,107 Recap
2 September 16 Pittsburgh Steelers W 17–7 1–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 79,042 Recap
3 September 22 at Dallas Cowboys L 7–20 1–2 Texas Stadium 61,456 Recap
4 September 29 at San Diego Chargers W 21–7 2–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 52,107 Recap
5 October 6 New England Patriots W 24–20 3–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 62,139 Recap
6 October 13 at Houston Oilers W 21–6 4–2 Houston Astrodome 38,386 Recap
7 October 20 Los Angeles Raiders L 20–21 4–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 77,928 Recap
8 October 27 Washington Redskins L 7–14 4–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,540 Recap
9 November 3 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 9–10 4–5 Three Rivers Stadium 51,976 Recap
10 November 10 at Cincinnati Bengals L 10–27 4–6 Riverfront Stadium 57,293 Recap
11 November 17 Buffalo Bills W 17–7 5–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 54,478 Recap
12 November 24 Cincinnati Bengals W 24–6 6–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 74,439 Recap
13 December 1 at New York Giants W 35–33 7–6 Giants Stadium 66,482 Recap
14 December 8 at Seattle Seahawks L 13–31 7–7 Kingdome 58,477 Recap
15 December 15 Houston Oilers W 28–21 8–7 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 50,793 Recap
16 December 22 at New York Jets L 10–37 8–8 Giants Stadium 59,073 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Postseason

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See also: 1985–86 NFL playoffs
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
Divisional January 4, 1986 at Miami Dolphins (2) L 21–24 0–1 Miami Orange Bowl 75,128 Recap

Standings

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AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns(3) 8 8 0 .500 4–2 7–5 287 294 L1
Cincinnati Bengals 7 9 0 .438 4–2 5–7 441 437 L2
Pittsburgh Steelers 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 379 355 L1
Houston Oilers 5 11 0 .313 1–5 4–8 284 412 L4

Notes

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  1. ^ It has also been subsequently beaten by the 2014 Carolina Panthers and by Washington in 2020.

References

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  1. ^ Football Outsiders: Skin of the Teeth: The Worst Playoff Teams Ever
  2. ^ "All-Time Assistant Coaches". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
  3. ^ "1985 Cleveland Browns Starters, Roster, & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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