1953 NFL Semifinal-Cleveland Browns-27, Washington Redskins-7

Paul Brown and the 1953 Browns

December 27, 1953

Weather-36 degrees, 15 mph S

Cleveland QB Otto Graham completed 19 of 25 passes for 237 yards and 2 TD as the Browns dominated Washington and earned a berth in the NFL Championship, 27-7. Graham completed his first 7 passes and spread the ball to 7 different receivers as the Redskins secondary couldn't keep up with the Cleveland offensive attack. The Browns defense limited the Redskins to 199 yards offense and generated constant pressure, registering 5 sacks and many hits on the Washington quarterbacks.

Cleveland will host the winner of the Philadelphia/Detroit semifinal for the NFL Championship.

Washington Redskins.(7-6-1)-0-0-7-0-7
Cleveland Browns..(12-1)-7-10-0-10-27

Cle-Brewster 8 pass from Graham (Groza Kick)
Cle-Renfro 9 pass from Graham (Groza Kick)
Cle-Groza 14 FG
Was-Justice 20 pass from LeBaron (Dudley Kick)
Cle-Groza 32 FG
Cle-Carpenter 3 run (Groza Kick)

Rushing (season totals in parentheses)
Was-Justice-14-88-0 (143-784-3), Rykovich-7-28-0 (89-295-0), Heath-4-26-0 (92-338-4), Scarbath-1-3-0 (25-99-0), LeBaron-1-2-0 (22-97-2)
Cle-Jagade-12-37-0 (98-381-4), Renfro-11-34-0 (71-386-4), Reynolds-10-32-0 (82-345-3), Graham-7-31-0 (50-174-6), Carpenter-4-7-1 (50-202-4), Jones-1-6-0 (32-34-0)

Passing
Was-LeBaron-18-6-50-1-1 (186-78-1,085-5-19), Scarbath-8-2-36-0-0 (139-48-910-9-12)
Cle-Graham-25-19-237-2-0 (283-186-2,959-13-9)

Receiving
Was-Taylor-4-44-0 (42-818-8), Polsfoot-2-5-0 (15-202-0), Justice-1-20-1 (25-467-3), Rykovich-1-17-0 (9-102-1)
Cle-Lavelli-5-60-0 (50-843-6), Brewster-4-66-1 (36-698-5), Jones-4-46-0 (28-419-0), Renfro-3-34-1 (42-756-5), Reynolds-1-16-0 (10-136-0), Jagade-1-10-0 (21-203-0), Ford-1-5-0 (1-5-0)