Browns finish 2nd to last in win percentage during 16 game era

The Browns will be part of a new NFL coming soon, a 17 game NFL to be exact. The league meetings this week will feature the NFL owners voting to expand the regular season from 16 games to 17 games. A decision that isn’t supposed to be met with much resistance. It’s all but a foregone conclusion.

So that means the Browns have finished up over 40 years (1978-2020) of 16 games per week and the results weren’t great. Granted not as bad as the Detroit Lions. The Browns finished of the last 42 years with a winning percentage a record of 251-379-2, for a winning percentage of .399.

The Browns’ struggles weren’t as bad as the Lions, however, as they finished 268-410-2 for a winning percentage of .396.

Don’t forget the Browns spent three years (48 regular-season games) inactive.

To make matters worse, the Pittsburgh Steelers had the highest winning percentage during the last 40 years, with a record of 413-265-2 and a percentage of .609. Part of that reason is of course playing the Browns for the last twenty years.

The Ravens, who are 25 years old if you can believe that, went 225-174-1 with a winning percentage of .564, while the Bengals went 290-386-4 for a winning percentage of .429.

It’s a new era for the NFL, entering into their 17 game schedule, but it’s also a new era for the AFC North. While Pittsburgh is on the decline somewhat, the Ravens and Browns are expected to duel one another for the AFC North crown this year, with Pittsburgh hoping to stay in the hunt as the Steelers deal with some difficult choices. The Bengals are also going to be interesting this year, with Joe Burrow healthy and a revamped defense that could prove to be a challenge.

All four teams are either competitive or will be in 2021 and that hasn’t been the case since the divisions were created in 2002.