Browns achieve milestone in victory

10.15.2008

The Browns played a great game on Monday night in routing the defending Super Bowl champion -- and previously undefeated -- New York Giants 35-14 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Now we know just how great it was.

The club announced Wednesday morning that according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Browns are just one of four teams since 1963 whose offense did not allow a sack, commit a turnover and register a punt in a game.

That is football's version of a perfect game in baseball.

All this from a Browns offense that had been struggling and was without its leading pass catcher, Pro Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow.

The three other teams in the last 45 years that have done it are the San Francisco 49ers in a 55-17 manhandling of the Detroit Lions on Dec. 19, 1993; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 27-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 1, 1998; and the New York Jets in a 37-14 triumph over the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 19, 2004.

The 1993 49ers, 23-13 losers to the Browns early that season in Cleveland's last Monday Night Football victory before the one over the Giants this week, went on to finish 10-6, capture the West Division title and advance to the NFC Championship Game.

The 1998 Buccaneers, under first-year head coach Tony Dungy, finished just 8-8 but went on to make it to the NFC title game the following year.

The 2004 Jets went 10-6, earned a wild-card berth and made it to the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.