HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 2011 season was the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
' 59th in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) and their 63rd overall. They were eliminated from playoff contention in Week 14 and ultimately finished with a 4–12 record, one win less than in 2010 season, when they finished 5–11 and placed third in the
AFC North The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was created after the NFL realign ...
. This season marked the second season under the leadership of team president
Mike Holmgren Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is an American former American football, football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator wit ...
and general manager Tom Heckert, as well as the first season under head coach
Pat Shurmur Patrick Carl Shurmur (born April 14, 1965) is an American football coach who serves as the offensive coordinator at the Colorado Buffaloes football team, University of Colorado. Prior to joining the staff at Colorado, he most recently served as ...
. The Browns played all of their home games at
Cleveland Browns Stadium Huntington Bank Field is a stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the home field of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), and serves as a venue for other events such as college and high school football, soccer, hockey, and con ...
in
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
.


Off-season


Personnel changes

On January 3, 2011, one day after the 2010 season, the Browns fired head coach
Eric Mangini Eric Anthony Mangini (born January 19, 1971) is an American former professional football coach and current television sports analyst. He served as a head coach for the New York Jets from 2006 to 2008 and the Cleveland Browns from 2009 to 2010. ...
. In two seasons with the Browns, Mangini had a record of 10–22 and a disappointing 2–10 record against division opponents. On January 13, the team hired former
St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...
' offensive coordinator
Pat Shurmur Patrick Carl Shurmur (born April 14, 1965) is an American football coach who serves as the offensive coordinator at the Colorado Buffaloes football team, University of Colorado. Prior to joining the staff at Colorado, he most recently served as ...
to replace Mangini as head coach. Shurmur served as the Rams' offensive coordinator from 2009–2010, and was an offensive assistant with the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
from 1999–2008. This is his first opportunity as an NFL head coach. On January 21, Shurmur made his first addition to the coaching staff, by hiring
Dick Jauron Richard Manual Jauron (; October 7, 1950February 8, 2025) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played eight seasons in the NFL as a safety, five with the Detroit Lions and three with t ...
as defensive coordinator. Jauron, who most recently served as the Philadelphia Eagles' secondary coach, has served as defensive coordinator for the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...
from 1995–98, head coach of the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
from 1999–2003, and head coach of the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
from 2006–09. Jauron replaces
Rob Ryan Robert Allen Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American football coach who is currently an assistant head coach for the USC Trojans. Ryan has served as a defensive coordinator or assistant coach for nine different NFL teams. He was the lineb ...
, who became the defensive coordinator of the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
. On January 25, the Browns hired Chris Tabor as special teams coordinator. Tabor most recently served as the Chicago Bears' assistant special teams coach from 2008–2010. Tabor replaces
Brad Seely Brad Seely (born September 6, 1956) is a former American football coach. Playing career Seely attended South Dakota State University, where he played football and was an All-Conference offensive lineman. He earned degrees in both economics and ...
, who became the special teams coordinator of the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
. On January 31, the Browns added four new coaches to their staff. The Browns hired former
Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...
defensive line coach
Dwaine Board Dwaine P. Board (born November 29, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a defensive end, primarily for the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1988. He was later a d ...
as defensive line coach, former
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
defensive coordinator Billy Davis as linebackers coach, former
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
offensive coordinator
Mark Whipple Mark John Whipple (born April 1, 1957) is an American football coach, who most recently served as offensive coordinator at Nebraska in 2022. Whipple was the head football coach at University of New Haven from 1988 to 1993, Brown University from ...
as quarterbacks coach, and former NFL wide receiver Mike Wilson as wide receivers coach. The rest of the Browns' position coaches were retained from Mangini's staff. The Browns have not hired an offensive coordinator, as Shurmur intends to call the offensive plays for the team.


Scheme Changes

This season marks the Browns' transition into the
West Coast Offense The West Coast offense is an offense in American football that places a greater emphasis on passing than on running. There are two similar but distinct National Football League (NFL) offensive strategic systems that are commonly referred to as ...
of Coach
Pat Shurmur Patrick Carl Shurmur (born April 14, 1965) is an American football coach who serves as the offensive coordinator at the Colorado Buffaloes football team, University of Colorado. Prior to joining the staff at Colorado, he most recently served as ...
and the 4–3 defense of defensive coordinator
Dick Jauron Richard Manual Jauron (; October 7, 1950February 8, 2025) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played eight seasons in the NFL as a safety, five with the Detroit Lions and three with t ...
.


Roster Changes


Free Agency

F The Browns placed the
franchise tag In the National Football League (NFL), the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has on ...
on Dawson


Signings


Trades


2011 Draft class

The Browns did not have a 3rd or 6th round selection. The Browns traded their original 7th round selection but later received a new 7th round selection as a compensatory pick.


Undrafted free agents

* Weatherhead also played for the
Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the ...
of the
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...
.


Uniform changes

On June 16, it was announced that the Browns would be wearing white jerseys for all home games. The Browns had previously worn white at home during the 1950s–1980s and again in the early 2000s. Because the home team for all Browns' away games chose to wear their colored jersey, the Browns wore the same uniform for all 16 games for the first time in franchise history (although the Browns wore their brown jerseys for three preseason games).


Staff


Roster


Preseason


Schedule

The Browns' preseason schedule was announced on April 12, 2011.


Roster Moves

After the third preseason game, all NFL teams had to reduce their rosters to 80 players. On August 28, The Browns released eight players, the majority of them being undrafted free agents. After the final preseason game, all teams had to reduce their rosters to 53 players. The Browns released 25 players and placed two players – RB Brandon Jackson and G
Eric Steinbach Eric Steinbach (born April 4, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and earned consensus All-American ho ...
– on injured reserve. Notable players released include QB Jarrett Brown and DB
Coye Francies Coye Glenn Francies (born November 15, 1986) is a former American football cornerback. Francies grew up in Rancho Cordova, California and played college football at American River, Oregon State, and San Jose State. In the 2009 NFL draft, the Cl ...
.


Regular season


Schedule

Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.


Game summaries


Week 1: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

The Browns began the season with a division game against the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
. The Bengals struck first, with two
Mike Nugent Michael Nugent (born March 2, 1982) is an American former professional American football, football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes football, Ohio State Buckeye ...
field goals and a Jermaine Gresham touchdown reception. Down 13–0, the Browns struck back, with
Colt McCoy Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, winning several award ...
completing two touchdown passes to give Cleveland the lead at halftime.
Phil Dawson Philip Drury Dawson (born January 23, 1975) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns football, Texas Lo ...
gave the Browns an insurance field goal, but late in the fourth, Bengals backup QB
Bruce Gradkowski Bruce Raymond Gradkowski (born January 27, 1983) is an American former professional football quarterback and coach who currently serves as an offensive assistant for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served ...
caught the Browns defense slow out of the huddle and hit A. J. Green for a 41-yard touchdown that proved to be the game winner. With the 27–17 loss, the Browns started the season 0–1.


Week 2: at Indianapolis Colts

The Browns took on the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
in Week 2, with both teams looking to rebound from losses. The Colts moved the ball well early, but had to settle for two
Adam Vinatieri Adam Matthew Vinatieri (born December 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 24 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Vinatieri is the ...
field goals to take a 6–0 lead. The Browns answered with an
Evan Moore Evan James Moore (born January 3, 1985) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL) and current TV football analyst. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college ...
touchdown reception from
Colt McCoy Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, winning several award ...
. The Colts briefly regained the lead on another Vinatieri field goal, but the Browns responded with a
Peyton Hillis Peyton Derek Hillis (born January 21, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks football, Arka ...
touchdown run to take a 14–9 lead into halftime. The Colts added another field goal in the third, but the Browns scored 13 unanswered points in the fourth to put the game away and defeat the Colts 27–19. With the win, the Browns improved to 1–1.


Week 3: vs. Miami Dolphins

The Browns faced the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
without their leading rusher
Peyton Hillis Peyton Derek Hillis (born January 21, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks football, Arka ...
in a Week 3 matchup. The Dolphins took an early lead, converting a
Colt McCoy Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, winning several award ...
interception into a 7–0 lead on a touchdown pass from
Chad Henne Chad Steven Henne (; born July 2, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines foo ...
. The Browns tied the game on a touchdown pass from McCoy to Joshua Cribbs. The Dolphins took the lead again on a
Dan Carpenter Daniel Roy Carpenter (born November 25, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2008 after playing c ...
field goal, and took a 10–7 lead into halftime. The Browns again tied the game in the third with
Phil Dawson Philip Drury Dawson (born January 23, 1975) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns football, Texas Lo ...
's field goal. The Dolphins added two more field goals, and had the Browns down six points in the final minutes. McCoy led the Browns down the field, and hit
Mohamed Massaquoi Mohamed Jah Massaquoi ( ; born November 24, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are ...
on a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Browns a last-minute, 17–16 victory. With the win, the Browns improved to 2–1 and it also became the first season since 2007 to where the team was actually at least a game above .500.


Week 4: vs. Tennessee Titans

With the loss, the Browns dropped to 2–2, heading into their Week 5 bye.


Week 6: at Oakland Raiders

With the loss, the Browns fell to 2–3.


Week 7: vs. Seattle Seahawks

With the win, the Browns improved to 3–3.


Week 8: at San Francisco 49ers

With the loss, the Browns fell to 3–4.


Week 9: at Houston Texans

With the loss, the Browns fell to 3–5. In reaction to this game, Cleveland comedian
Mike Polk Michael G. Polk Jr. is an American comedian, actor, TV commentator, and newspaper columnist, known primarily for his sketch comedy and viral videos. Early life and education Polk was born in Warren, Ohio. After being raised in Newton Falls, Ohio ...
filmed a video at Cleveland Browns Stadium in which he berated the Browns and dubbed the stadium a "factory of sadness", a nickname that has caught on for both the stadium and the Browns themselves.


Week 10: vs. St. Louis Rams

With the loss, the Browns fell to 3–6.


Week 11: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

With the win, the Browns improved to 4–6.


Week 12: at Cincinnati Bengals

After being swept by the Bengals for the first time since 2009, the Browns dropped to 4–7.


Week 13: vs. Baltimore Ravens

With their 7th straight loss to the Ravens, the Browns fell to 4–8.


Week 14: at Pittsburgh Steelers

With the loss, the Browns dropped to 4–9. And as a result they officially clinched 4th-place in the AFC North.


Week 15: at Arizona Cardinals

With the loss, the Browns fell to 4–10 and finished 1–3 against NFC Opponents.


Week 16: at Baltimore Ravens

With their 8th straight loss to the Ravens, the Browns fell to 4–11.


Week 17: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

With the loss, the Browns finished the season 4–12 and last place in the AFC North.


Standings


References


External links


2011 Cleveland Browns
at Pro Football Reference (Profootballreference.com)
2011 Cleveland Browns Statistics
at jt-sw.com
2011 Cleveland Browns Schedule
at jt-sw.com * at DatabaseFootball.com {{2011 NFL season by team
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
Cleveland Browns seasons
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...