Show description

They ran up 175 points on their way to a perfect 5-0 record. On top of that, they worked on it every day in training camp. To say that the Browns were ready for their NFL debut would have been an understatement. In the past, if the "Eagle Defense" did run up against some trouble, the explosive Philadelphia offense was usually there to put enough points on the board for a win. That was, however, when the offense had all their main weapons healthy, which was not the case prior to the opening game against Cleveland.

After Groza made the score 37-0 with his third field goal, the huge crowd had seen enough and began to leave with extreme confidence in their new football team. Just when the crowd thought there was nothing left to cheer about, defensive back Ray Terrell proved them wrong. In one final desperate attempt to get some points on the board, Walt McDonald let loose with a long pass that Terrell intercepted on the Cleveland 24. He then took off down the sideline, and didn't stop until he scored the final touchdown of the game just as the clock hit zero.

He was New York's head man since 1931, and could match wits with the best of them, which he proved in his first two meetings with Paul Brown. Owen and his top scout had watched the Browns' win over the Eagles, and went to work on a way to stop their offense. What they came up with was a 6-1-2-2 alignment, also called the "Umbrella Defense". It called for six linemen, one linebacker in the middle, and four defensive backs. The trick of this defense was that the ends would drop off into pass coverage to protect the flats, while the backs would spread out to cover more of the secondary.