the last time the browns had a winning season was 1999.
the last time the browns had a winning season was 1999.
when was the last time the browns had a winning season?
1999
this was the 82nd meeting between the teams in the "battle of ohio." the browns’ defense suffocated the bengals, forcing four turnovers while limiting the bengals’ offense to 3 points and surrendering only one red zone drive. bengals qb andy dalton struggled severely, going 10/33 for 86 yards while throwing 3 interceptions, and being sacked twice on consecutive plays by dt desmond bryant. his final passer rating was 2.0, the lowest in bengals team history. cleveland found its sea legs using the "running back by committee" approach, with all three of its starting rushers (ben tate, terrence west, and isiah crowell) scoring td's in compiling 170 yds on the ground. the bengals lost their first regular season home game since week 14 of the 2012 season (against the cowboys). the 21-point loss represented the bengals’ most lopsided defeat since the ravens routed them by 31 points in week 13 of the 2008 season. for the browns, their 21-point victory marked their largest road margin since the 1993 season (when the browns beat the l.a. rams by 28 points), won multiple road games in a season for the first time since 2010, snapped a 5-game road losing streak to the bengals and a 17-game road losing streak to division foes (both of which began in 2008). the browns’ 6–3 record is the franchise's best 9-game start since returning to the league in 1999, and their best start since the 1994 season when the browns opened the season with a 7–2 record. with the convincing win on thursday night in front of a national audience, and after a steelers loss on sunday, the browns held sole possession of first place in the afc north, the first time the browns solely led a division since 1995. this would also be their last win over a team that would finish the season with a winning record until 2018.
2014 cleveland browns season
despite mayfield's status as the #1 overall pick, the browns began the 2018 nfl season with veteran tyrod taylor as the starting quarterback. on opening day, the browns tied the pittsburgh steelers 21–21 after neither team scored in overtime, ending the browns' losing streak at 17 games, but extending their winless streak to 18 games. two weeks later, on september 20, mayfield entered the game near the end of the first half after taylor left with a concussion and led the browns to a 21–17 comeback victory over the new york jets at firstenergy stadium. the victory was the browns' first since week 16 of the 2016 season, ending their winless streak at 19 games, which was the 4th-longest in nfl history. four days later, jackson announced mayfield as the browns' starter for the remainder of the season. on october 7, 2018, the browns defeated the baltimore ravens 12–9 in overtime to end an 18-game winless streak against divisional opponents dating back to 2015. after a week 8 loss to the pittsburgh steelers that dropped the browns to a 2-5-1 record, hue jackson was fired as head coach along with offensive coordinator todd haley. jackson's final record of 3-36-1 as the browns' head coach is the worst of any coach's with a single franchise in nfl history. defensive coordinator gregg williams was named interim head coach and running backs coach freddie kitchens was named interim offensive coordinator. their 35–20 win over the cincinnati bengals at paul brown stadium on november 25 was the browns' first win away from home since 2014 and broke a 25-game road losing streak that ranks second all-time in nfl history. three weeks later, the browns defeated the denver broncos 17–16 at broncos stadium at mile high, their first win over denver since 1990. following the coaching changes the browns won five of their remaining eight games to finish the season 7–8–1, one win shy of having their first winning season since 2007. mayfield enjoyed a successful rookie season, throwing for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns (an nfl record for a rookie quarterback) despite starting only 13 games.
history of the cleveland browns