The Cleveland Browns - 2000s and 2010s [3] Quiz

Answer: Their playoff game was against a division rival

The Browns dropped a heart-stopper in Pittsburgh, by a score of 36-33. The game was held in Pittsburgh.

Answer: Josh McCown

McCown was absolutely electrifying, giving his heart and soul in an inspiring performance during the October 2015 spectacle. His efforts were rewarded with a stunning overtime win in Baltimore, that also saw the team comeback from being down 21-9 in the second half.

He threw for 457 yards, two touchdowns, and added another one rushing as he scrapped for a ten yard touchdown rush, getting blown up at the goal line but holding on and eeking his way into the endzone. McCown will likely not be a Hall-of-Famer, but you can't question the guy's heart and guts for the game.

Answer: 30

Starting at Tim Couch and ending off with Baker Mayfield, this list is filled with a slew of mediocre quarterbacks, most of which showed very few signs of optimism or potential for actual success. You have names like Brian Hoyer, Johnny Manziel and Derek Anderson who showed some sparks of something, but ultimately failed to sustain any brief success they had.

Then you have guys like Robert Griffin III, Brandon Weeden and Deshon Kizer who just flamed out from moment one and never had a chance.

Answer: False

October 5th, 2003, the Browns went into Pittsburgh and trounced the Steelers by a 33-13 total. This was a revenge game after the Steelers narrowly ended their season in the playoffs on the same field the year prior. It is true, though, that they never defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh in the 2000s and 2010s since Ben Roethlisberger became their franchise quarterback.

Answer: 2007

In 2007, the Browns held a 10-6 record off of the brilliant quarterback play of Derek Anderson. Unfortunately, while 10-6 would normally be more than enough to achieve a playoff berth, the AFC was particularly tough that year and the Browns ended up on the bubble, losing their position as a Wild Card to the Tennessee Titans off an obscure tiebreaker.

Answer: Patriots and Saints

On October 24th, the Browns went into New Orleans, picked off Drew Brees four times, and romped all over the Saints by a 30-17 tally. The 30-17 result doesn't do the game itself justice, as the Saints went into the fourth quarter down 23-3 and were never seriously in the game. Meanwhile, a couple weeks later, after the Browns' bye week, the Patriots came into Cleveland and got blown out by a 34-14 margin. Peyton Hillis ran all over new England's porous run defense for 184 yards and two touchdowns, while the Patriots offense was frequently stymied and their special teams unit made a couple of severe mistakes.

Answer: Peyton Hillis

Ogbonnaya and Baker joined the Browns in 2011 after both were signed off of the Texans' practice squad. Both went on to play meaningful snaps for the team, as Ogbonnaya carved out a solid role in the team's backfield while Baker had himself a couple of nice games. Meanwhile, Duke Johnson Jr was traded to the Texans in 2019. Peyton Hillis played for the Broncos as a fullback before joining Cleveland.

After his time with the Browns, Hillis would later play for the Buccaneers and then the Giants before calling it a career.

Answer: No

Couch threw 67 interceptions and 64 touchdowns in five seasons with the team (1999-2003). His numbers were overall very, very ugly. Of course, it can be argued that his supporting cast was quite poor, but he still didn't make much of what he had.

Answer: 11

Chris Palmer had a brief, unsuccessful two-season tenure with the team, leaving at the end of the 2000 season. He was followed up by Butch Davis (2001-2004), Terry Robiskie (2004), Romeo Crennell (2005-2008), Eric Mangini (2009-2010), Pat Shurmur (2011-2012), Rob Chudzinski (2013), Mike Pettine (2014-2015), Hue Jackson (2016-2018), Gregg Williams (2018) and Freddie Kitchens (2019).

Answer: New England Patriots

In 1994, Belichick led the Browns to an 11-5 record and a wild card victory over the New England Patriots. The next 25 years (an entire generation), were fruitless. The Browns were without a playoff win by the end of the 2010s decade.