1984 Cleveland Browns season

The 1984 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 35th season with the National Football League. At the season's mid-way point, head coach Sam Rutigliano was fired after starting 1–7. He was replaced by defensive coordinator Marty Schottenheimer, who went 4–4 to finish the season. Schottenheimer would coach the Browns until 1988, guiding the Browns to a .620 winning percentage in his tenure with the team.

1984 Cleveland Browns season
Owner	Art Modell
Head coach	Sam Rutigliano (fired October 15; 1-7 record) Marty Schottenheimer (interim; 4–4 record)
Home field	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Local radio	WHK
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	TE Ozzie Newsome
Uniform

Personnel

Staff

1984 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office President and Owner – Art Modell Assistant to the President – Ernie Accorsi Head coaches Head coach – Sam Rutigliano Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Joe Scannella Running backs – Keith Rowen Receivers – Joe Daniels Offensive line – Howard Mudd

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Marty Schottenheimer Defensive line – Tom Pratt Linebackers – Dave Adolph Special assistant – Darvin Wallis Special teams coaches Special teams – John Petercuskie Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding

Roster

1984 Cleveland Browns roster

	Quarterbacks 16 Paul McDonald 7 Terry Nugent 10 Tom Flick Running backs 35 James Black 44 Earnest Byner 30 Boyce Green 43 Mike Pruitt 25 Charles White Wide receivers 80 Willis Adams 86 Brian Brennan 83 Ricky Feacher 84 Duriel Harris 83 Glen Young Tight ends 81 Harry Holt 82 Ozzie Newsome 87 Tim Stracka		Offensive linemen 61 Mike Baab C 75 Bill Contz T 64 Joe DeLamielleure G 54 Tom DeLeone C 73 Doug Dieken T 74 Paul Farren T 68 Robert Jackson G 62 George Lilja G 63 Cody Risien T Defensive linemen 99 Keith Baldwin 96 Reggie Camp DE 94 Elvis Franks DE 79 Bob Golic NT 78 Carl Hairston DE 72 Dave Puzzuoli NT		Linebackers 56 Chip Banks OLB 50 Tom Cousineau ILB 51 Eddie Johnson ILB 57 Clay Matthews, Jr. OLB 55 Curtis Weathers Defensive backs 24 Greg Best 49 Clinton Burrell S 29 Hanford Dixon CB 27 Al Gross SS 31 Frank Minnifield CB 37 Chris Rockins 20 Don Rogers FS Special teams  9 Matt Bahr K 15 Steve Cox P/K		Reserve lists {{{reserve_lists}}} Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 3	at Seattle Seahawks	L 0–33	0–1	Kingdome	59,540
2	September 9	at Los Angeles Rams	L 17–20	0–2	Anaheim Stadium	43,043
3	September 16	Denver Broncos	L 14–24	0–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	61,980
4	September 23	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 20–10	1–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	77,312
5	September 30	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 6–10	1–4	Arrowhead Stadium	40,785
6	October 7	New England Patriots	L 16–17	1–5	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	53,036
7	October 14	New York Jets	L 20–24	1–6	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	55,673
8	October 21	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 9–12	1–7	Riverfront Stadium	50,667
9	October 28	New Orleans Saints	L 14–16	1–8	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	52,489
10	November 4	at Buffalo Bills	W 13–10	2–8	Rich Stadium	33,343
11	November 11	San Francisco 49ers	L 7–41	2–9	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	60,092
12	November 18	at Atlanta Falcons	W 23–7	3–9	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	28,280
13	November 25	Houston Oilers	W 27–10	4–9	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	46,077
14	December 2	Cincinnati Bengals	L 17–20	4–10	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	51,774
15	December 9	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 20–23	4–11	Three Rivers Stadium	55,825
16	December 16	at Houston Oilers	W 27–20	5–11	Houston Astrodome	33,676

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(3)	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	387	310	W2
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	5–1	6–6	339	339	W4
Cleveland Browns	5	11	0	.313	3–3	4–8	250	297	W1
Houston Oilers	3	13	0	.188	1–5	3–9	240	437	L2

Game summaries

Week 11 (Sunday, November 11, 1984): vs. San Francisco 49ers

Week 11: San Francisco 49ers at Cleveland Browns

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers (10–1)	6	7	14	14	41
Browns (2–9)	0	0	0	7	7

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium • Cleveland, Ohio

• Date: November 11, 1984
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C); wind 15 miles per hour (24 km/h; 13 kn)
• Game attendance: 60,092
• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier (play-by-play) and Wayne Walker (color commentator)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
SF	Passing	Joe Montana	24/30, 263 YDS, 2 TDs, 1 INT
	Rushing	Wendell Tyler	17 CAR, 87 YDS
	Receiving	Freddie Solomon	5 REC, 105 YDS, 2 TDs
CLE	Passing	Paul McDonald	13/33, 220 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Boyce Green	13 CAR, 38 YDS
	Receiving	Bruce Davis	4 REC, 64 YDS, 1 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SF CLE 1 13:26 49ers 47-yard field goal by Wersching 3 0 1 7:16 49ers 26-yard field goal by Wersching 6 0 2 10:56 49ers Craig 20-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 13 0 3 4:34 49ers Craig 2-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 20 0 3 0:00 49ers Solomon 60-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 27 0 4 10:33 49ers Solomon 2-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 34 0 4 6:56 49ers Ring 5-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 41 0 4 3:38 Browns Davis 18-yard touchdown reception from McDonald, Bahr kick good 41 7 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 41 7

• Point spread: 49ers by 6
• Over/Under: 35.0 (over)
• Time of Game:

49ers	Game Statistics	Browns
23	First downs	10
39–213	Rushes–yards	20–43
263	Passing yards	220
24–30–1	Passes	13–33–1
1–8	Sacked–yards	2–12
255	Net passing yards	208
468	Total yards	251
90	Return yards	125
2–38.5	Punts	6–37.0
1–1	Fumbles–lost	5–3
7–45	Penalties–yards	5–32
35:27	Time of Possession	24:33

Week 12: at Atlanta

Week 12: Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	10	3	0	10	23
Falcons	7	0	0	0	7

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

• Date: November 18
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C), relative humidity 50%, round (wind) 12 mph (19 km/h)
• Game attendance: 28,280
• Referee: Pat Haggerty
• TV announcers (NBC): Gary Gerould (play–by–play) and Reggie Rucker (color commentator)
• [1]

Game information

First quarter ATL (4:13) – Bailey 20 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick) Falcons 7, Browns 0 CLE (11:35) – Davis 33 yard pass from McDonald (Bahr kick) Browns 7, Falcons 7 CLE (14:26) – Bahr 27 yard field goal Browns 10, Falcons 7 Second quarter CLE (6:51) – Bahr 46 yard field goal Browns 13, Falcons 7 Third quarter No scoring plays Fourth quarter CLE (1:49) – Newsome 16 yard pass from McDonald (Bahr kick) Browns 20, Falcons 7 CLE (9:26) – Bahr 20 yard field goal Browns 23, Falcons 7 Top passers CLE – Paul McDonald 13/23, 205 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT ATL – Steve Bartkowski 19/28, 191 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Top rushers CLE – Boyce Green 30 carr, 121 yds ATL – Gerald Riggs 21 carr, 71 yds Top receivers CLE – Ozzie Newsome 5 rec, 97 yds, 1 TD ATL – Gerald Riggs 6 rec, 41 yds Turnovers CLE – 2 ATL – 4

Week 13 at Houston

Paul McDonald threw three touchdown passes, two to Brian Brennan and the Browns defense stifled the Houston offense. The Browns are 3-2 under Marty Schotteheimer and the 27 points were the most their offense has scored this season. "The Browns is a very active team, using all their assets", said Oilers' coach Hugh Campbell.

External links

• 1984 Cleveland Browns at Pro-Football-Reference.com
• 1984 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
• 1984 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
• 1984 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com