The 1958 Cleveland Browns season was the team's ninth season with the National Football League. They were 9–3 in the regular season, tied for first in the Eastern Conference with the New York Giants, in the tiebreaker playoff the Giants won 10–0.

Exhibition schedule

Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Sources 1 August 16 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at Akron W 10–0 1–0 27,202 2 August 22 at Detroit Lions L 17–7 1–1 36,662 3 August 29 at Los Angeles Rams W 13–10 2–1 41,387 4 September 7 at San Francisco 49ers L 21–16 2–2 31,339 5 September 12 at Chicago Bears L 42–31 2–3 52,669 6 September 20 Detroit Lions W 41–7 3–3 35,343

Regular season

Tommy O’Connell was the first MVP to be cut from a team before the start of the following season.Giants Among Men, Jack Cavanaugh, p.133, 2008, Random House,

Schedule

Game Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources 1 September 28 at Los Angeles Rams W 30–27 1–0 L.A. Memorial Coliseum 69,993 Recap 2 October 5 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 45–12 2–0 Forbes Field 31,130 Recap 3 October 12 Chicago Cardinals W 35–28 3–0 Cleveland Stadium 65,403 Recap 4 October 19 Pittsburgh Steelers W 27–10 4–0 Cleveland Stadium 66,852 Recap 5 October 26 at Chicago Cardinals W 38–24 5–0 Comiskey Park 30,933 Recap 6 November 2 New York Giants L 17–21 5–1 Cleveland Stadium 78,404 Recap 7 November 9 Detroit Lions L 10–30 5–2 Cleveland Stadium 75,563 Recap 8 November 16 at Washington Redskins W 20–10 6–2 Griffith Stadium 32,372 Recap 9 November 23 Philadelphia Eagles W 28–14 7–2 Cleveland Stadium 51,319 Recap 10 November 30 Washington Redskins W 21–14 8–2 Cleveland Stadium 33,240 Recap 11 December 7 at Philadelphia Eagles W 21–14 9–2 Franklin Field 36,773 Recap 12 December 14 at New York Giants L 10–13 9–3 Yankee Stadium 63,192 Recap Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Season summary For the second straight year, one of their rivals had gotten revenge for something that had happened earlier in the decade.

After the Detroit Lions whipped the Browns 59–14 in the 1957 NFL Championship Game to atone for the 56–10 pounding they had absorbed from Cleveland in the title contest three years earlier, the 1958 New York Giants took their turn. The Giants shut out the Browns 10–0 in a tiebreaker playoff game at Yankee Stadium to determine the Eastern Conference champion. The last time the two teams met in such a special playoff contest was 1950, when Cleveland edged New York 8–3 to win the title in the American Conference, the forerunner of the Eastern Conference, and advance to the league championship game.

As was the case in 1950, the 1958 Giants also beat Cleveland twice during the regular season, 21–17 and 13–10, and the teams tied for first with a 9–3 record. The Browns went into the latter game at 9–2, needing a tie (or a win) to clinch the conference crown, and led 7–0 early in the first quarter and 10–3 in the fourth quarter. Future broadcaster Pat Summerall kicked a 49-yard field goal in a snowstorm to provide the win, even though he made barely 50 percent (12-of-23) of his attempts during the regular season. Seven days later in the tiebreaker playoff, Summerall added a 26-yard field goal in a game highlighted by the fact the Giants held hall of fame running back Jim Brown to a career-low eight yards rushing on seven carries, and limited the Browns to just 86 yards of total offense.

In the following week's NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium, later dubbed "The Greatest Game Ever Played," the Giants lost 23–17 in overtime to the Baltimore Colts.

Aside from the three losses to the Giants, the only team to beat the Browns in 1958 were the Detroit Lions, who gained a 30–10 decision midway through the year.

Standings

Playoffs

This game was an unscheduled tiebreaker game to determine the Western conference title.

Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Sources Conference December 21 at New York Giants L 0–10 0–1 Yankee Stadium 61,174 Recap

Roster 1958 Cleveland Browns roster Quarterbacks

Running backs

Receivers Offensive linemen T/K G C T/DT T G G

Defensive linemen DT DE/T DT/DE DT/DE DE/DT DE/DT Linebackers MLB MLB OLB OLB

Defensive backs CB/S S CB CB CB S

Special teams P Reserve list WR (Left squad) QB (Military) DE (IR)

rookies in italics

References

External links 1958 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference (profootballreference.com) 1958 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com 1958 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com at DatabaseFootball.com