At long last, the Cleveland Browns put one in the win column Thursday with a 21-17 victory over the New York Jets.
The Browns snapped their winless streak. Where does it rank in NFL history?
The 19-game streak is over ... though they STILL haven’t won on a Sunday since 2015.
David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports
It was the first win for the Browns since December 2016 when Robert Griffin III led Cleveland to a victory over the San Diego Chargers in Week 16 to avoid an 0-16 season.
The win over the Jets didn’t quite snap a losing streak for the Browns. They already did that in Week 1 when they tied the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-21. But the team’s winless streak came to an end before it landed a spot in the record books.
Cleveland’s 19-game winless streak was one of the worst in NFL history
The Browns broke their 17-game losing streak with the tie, but they still went 19 consecutive games without a win. In the Super Bowl era, only the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions, and Houston Oilers had longer losing streaks.
1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 26-game losing streak
2007-09 Detroit Lions: 19-game losing streak
1972-73 Houston Oilers: 18-game losing streak
2015-16 Cleveland Browns: 17-game losing streak
2016-17 Cleveland Browns: 17-game losing streak
2008-09 St. Louis Rams: 17-game losing streak
1982-83 Houston Oilers: 17-game losing streak
If we went back before the Super Bowl era, the list would include the 1942-45 Chicago Cardinals (29), 1961-62 Oakland Raiders (19), 1960-61 Washington (17) and 1927-29 Dayton Triangles (17).
Two other teams had longer winless streaks. With three ties added to its name, that 1960-61 Washington team went 23 straight games without a win. That number matches the 1922-25 Rochester Jeffersons.
The Browns had two separate 17-game losing streaks since 2015
Before their Thursday win over the Jets, the Browns hadn’t won since Dec. 24, 2016. But before that streak happened there was another long stretch of losing. In 2015, the Browns, led by Johnny Manziel, beat the Jim Tomsula-led San Francisco 49ers 24-10 in a Week 14 showdown between two of the worst teams in the NFL at that time.
Cleveland ripped off 17 straight losses before they beat the San Diego Chargers on Christmas Eve 20-17. That was special because the Browns got their only victory of the 2016 season, but they also pulled off a hilarious feat by winning a game in which they were sacked NINE times.
Please don’t start another losing streak, Browns.
The Browns still haven’t won on a Sunday since 2015
Cleveland’s first win of 2018 came on a Thursday, and the team’s only win in 2016 was on a Saturday. So the last win on a regular NFL Sunday was the win way back in Week 14 of the 2015 season against the 49ers.
At that point in time, Mike Pettine was the coach of the Browns and Manziel was the starting quarterback.
After that, the Browns have rattled off 33 consecutive losses on Sundays. The losing streak ended with the tie against Pittsburgh, but they’re still at 35 consecutive Sunday games without a win.
So there’s still one more winless streak to snap, Browns. There’s 10 straight Sundays to get it done.
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