The 80's were not as bad as many recall. I mean, of course, compared to the 70's, they paled big time, of course. But compared to other teams typical decade, they weren't even all that bad.
Mostly, throughout the 80's, we mostly still had relatively good defenses, and rushing games and O-lines. It was the QB and playmaker positions that were bad.
We only had 3 losing seasons, and made the playoffs 3 times. We even won a few playoff games. Do you think Cleveland fans would trade a decade like that for any since the 1960's, other than the Kosar/Marty era? Other than those years, our 80's decade was better, by A LOT, than any of the Browns decades other than the mid to late 80's. But the dearth at QB was bad....really bad. It was so bad it was "Browns-like."
Cliff Stoudt. Yuck. Mark Malone. Ouch. Bubby Brister....dumber than a bag of hammers. Do you remember when he came back, when (I think) he was with the Broncos? He said, something to the effect, that he remembers that cold air coming off the lake when he played in Pgh. The "lake?" Understand he LIVED in Pgh for SEVEN years, crossing how many bridges over the three rivers and he didn't know they were RIVERS and not lakes. And he still managed to have a 14 year career in the NFL. Amazing.
1980 1980 NFL AFC Central 3rd 9 7 0 .563
1981 1981 NFL AFC Central 2nd 8 8 0 .500
1982 1982 NFL AFC Central 4th[T][3] 6 3 0 .667 Lost First Round (Chargers) 31–28
1983 1983 NFL AFC Central 1st 10 6 0 .625 Lost Divisional Playoffs (Raiders) 38–10
1984 1984 NFL AFC Central 1st 9 7 0 .563 Won Divisional Playoffs (Broncos) 24–17
Lost Conference Championship (Dolphins) 45–28 Louis Lipps – Offensive Rookie of the Year
John Stallworth – Comeback Player of the Year
1985 1985 NFL AFC Central 3rd 7 9 0 .438
1986 1986 NFL AFC Central 3rd 6 10 0 .375
1987 1987 NFL AFC Central 3rd 8 7 0 .533
1988 1988 NFL AFC Central 4th 5 11 0 .313
1989 1989 NFL AFC Central 2nd 9 7 0 .563 Won Wild Card Playoffs (Oilers) 26–23
Lost Divisional playoff (Broncos) 24–23
