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 special 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, as the teams tied for first with a 9-3 record. The Browns went into the latter game at 9-2, needing only a victory to clinch the division crown, and led 7-0 early in the first quarter and 10-3 in the fourth quarter. But Pat Summerall - yes, that 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. Then in the playoff, Summerall added a 26-yard field goal in a game highlighted by the fact the Giants held Pro Football 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.
The Giants went on to lose 23-17 to the Baltimore Colts in overtime in the league championship contest, later dubbed "The Greatest Game Ever Played."
Aside from the Giants, the only team to beat the Browns in 1958 was those pesky Lions, who gained a 30-10 decision midway through the year.
Read more about this topic: 1958 Cleveland Browns Season
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