Nashville, TN – This week’s game marks the 69th all-time meeting between the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns. In the previous 68 outings, the Browns own a 36-32 advantage, including separate nine- and six-game winning streaks by the Browns. However, the Titans have taken five out of the last eight battles.
The Browns took the most recent clash at Nissan Stadium on December 6th, 2020. Although the Titans outscored the Browns 28-3 in the second half, it still was not enough to overcome Cleveland’s 38-7 halftime lead. The Browns won by a final score of 41-35. Ryan Tannehill passed for 389 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.
The last time the two clubs met at Cleveland Browns Stadium was the 2019 season opener (Sept. 8), which the Titans won 43-13. Marcus Mariota completed three touchdown passes, two of which went to tight end Delanie Walker.
Running back Derrick Henry contributed 159 total scrimmage yards, and rookie wide receiver A.J. Brown notched 100 receiving yards in his debut. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans’ defense totaled three interceptions, five sacks, and a safety—a first in franchise history for the defense with that combination.
The two franchises met for the first time in 1970, when as a part of the AFL-NFL merger, the Browns moved from the NFL Century Division to the AFC Central, where they would compete with the Oilers/Titans as divisional foes for 32 seasons. The series was interrupted after the 1995 season as a result of the former Browns moving to Baltimore to transition as the Ravens.
Cleveland was granted A new team to begin play again in 1999. The latest version of the Browns kept the old team’s name, records, and logos and was once again a member of the AFC Central until divisional realignment in 2002 sent them to the AFC North and the Titans to the AFC South.
The clubs have played one playoff game, a 24-23 Wild Card win by the Oilers in 1988. Allen Pinkett scored two touchdowns within a 15-second span of the second quarter, and Warren Moon rallied the Oilers with 10 fourth-quarter points for the win, capped by Tony Zendejas’s 49-yard, game-winning field goal with 1 minute and 54 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
On October 5th, 2014, the Browns recorded a historic comeback against the Titans at Nissan Stadium, erasing a 25-point deficit to win 29-28. It was the largest road comeback in NFL history.
Most Recent Games
2016 Week 6 • Oct. 16, 2016 • Browns 26 at TITANS 28
Marcus Mariota passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns and adds 64 rushing yards. Kendall Wright catches eight passes for 133 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown. The Browns score 13 points in the final 2:07, but a second onside kick goes out of bounds to seal the Titans’ victory.
The Tennessee Titans sacked rookie quarterback Cody Kessler six times, but Kessler has 336 passing yards with two touchdowns.
2017 Week 7 • Oct. 22, 2017 • TITANS 12 at Browns 9
Ryan Succop’s fourth field goal of the day, a 47-yarder with less than two minutes remaining in overtime, provides the victory in a game in which neither team reaches the end zone. Titans safety Kevin Byard becomes the first NFL player since 2011 (Eagles safety Kurt Coleman) to record three interceptions in a game, victimizing DeShone Kizer twice and Cody Kessler once.
The Browns defense stops the Titans from scoring in the third quarter on a first-and-goal from the one-yard line. In overtime, the Titans defense forces two three-and-outs leading to the game-winning kick.
2019 Week 1 • Sept. 8, 2019 • TITANS 43 at Browns 13
Marcus Mariota opens the season with three touchdown passes, while the Tennessee Titans defense contributes three interceptions, five sacks and a safety—a first in franchise history for the defense with that combination. All three interceptions come in the fourth quarter and lead to Titans touchdowns.
Delanie Walker accounts for two touchdowns, and Derrick Henry adds a career-long 75-yard touchdown reception on a screenplay. Cameron Wake records 2.5 sacks and a safety, while Logan Ryan posts an interception and 1.5 sacks.
2020 Week 13 • Dec. 6, 2020 • BROWNS 41 at Titans 35
The Cleveland Browns score 38 points in the first half, including 28 points in the second quarter, to take a 38-7 lead into halftime. The Titans rebound to outscore the Browns 28-3 in the second half. In a game featuring the NFL’s top two rushing offenses entering the game, the Browns (No. 1) rush for 118 yards and the Titans (No. 2) rush for 60.
The Tennessee Titans lose despite 389 passing yards, three touchdowns by Ryan Tannehill, and 182 receiving yards by Corey Davis (one touchdown). Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield throws four touchdown passes in the first half. The Browns total 458 net yards to the Titans’ 431.
