Led by head coach Paul Brown, Cleveland finished with a 12–1–1 record, winning the Western division and the AAFC championship for the second straight year.
As in 1946, quarterback Otto Graham led an offensive attack that featured fullback Marion Motley, ends Dante Lavelli, and Mac Speedie.
After a number of coaching changes and roster moves in the offseason, including signing punter Horace Gillom and fullback Tony Adamle, the Browns began with a 30–14 win over the Buffalo Bills, the first of five consecutive victories.
Cleveland finished with a 12–2 regular-season record and won the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) championship in 1946, the league's first year of play.
[4] Cleveland chose fullback Dick Hoerner in the 1947 AAFC Draft, but he signed instead with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League.
[8] Quarterbacks Halfbacks Ends Tackles Centers Head coach Assistants Rookies in italics (8) 37 Active, 0 Inactive Cleveland held its training camp at Bowling Green University, as it did the year before.
A 14-yard run by fullback Marion Motley set up a 25-yard touchdown throw by quarterback Otto Graham to end Mac Speedie.
[9] Following the victory, the Browns faced the Buffalo Bills in the regular-season opener at Cleveland Stadium to begin their defense of the AAFC championship.
[12] Fullback Marion Motley ran for 111 yards on five carries and scored two touchdowns, including a 50-yard run at the beginning of the second half.
[12] Tommy Colella scored a touchdown on an 82-yard punt return, and Bill Lund ran back an interception 28 yards for another.
[12] Quarterback Otto Graham was replaced by Ermal Allen, who threw for two of the Browns' touchdowns and intercepted a pass while playing on defense.
[15] Groza kicked through two field goals and five extra points in the game, putting him in third place in scoring in the AAFC behind Motley and New York's Spec Sanders.
[16] The Yankees threatened a comeback in the final minutes when Lou Sossamon blocked a Groza field goal try and New York recovered, advancing the ball to Cleveland's 25-yard line.
[18] The Browns opened the scoring with a Groza field goal in the first quarter followed by a touchdown run from Motley, his sixth of the season, to go up 10–0.
[20] The 49ers were built around a group of players including quarterback Frankie Albert, end Alyn Beals and back Norm Standlee.
[21] After forcing a punt, Cleveland got the ball back and scored on a pass to Lavelli set up by a Motley run and two completions to Speedie.
[21] A crowd of 43,167 people was on hand to watch the Browns play the Bills, Buffalo's biggest-ever home attendance figure.
[23] In the second period, Cleveland tied a professional football record when Graham, pinned at his own one-yard line, threw a screen pass to Speedie.
[23] Buffalo scored its only points in the fourth period when George Ratterman connected with Al Baldwin for the quarterback's 16th touchdown of the season.
[24] The Dodgers' missteps gave the Browns a 13–12 victory, extending their lead over the 49ers for the best record in the AAFC after San Francisco lost to the Yankees.
[22] Chet Adams opened the scoring for the Browns with a 44-yard field goal; he and Lou Saban shared kicking duties in the game after Groza pulled his leg muscle during pre-game warmups.
[25] On the ensuing possession, Albert had the ball stripped by Cleveland's Weldon Humble, and the Browns took over and scored their first touchdown on a Graham pass to Lavelli.
Cleveland was helped by an adjustment Paul Brown made in his receivers' routes; the coach had Lavelli and Speedie run toward the middle of the field instead of trying to get open near the sidelines, as they had done in past games.
[27] After Sanders' three touchdowns, New York's Buddy Young added a fourth in the second quarter, widening the Yankees' lead to 28–0.
[29] Speedie sealed the victory for the Browns when he intercepted a backward lateral pass by Dons quarterback Chuck Fenenbock and ran it back 12 yards for a touchdown with four minutes left in the game.
[30] He kicked all four of the Browns' extra points and played a bigger role than usual as an offensive and defensive tackle because of an injury to Ernie Blandin in the second quarter.
[32] The Browns and Yankees had played to a 28–28 tie the previous month, but the championship game did not feature much scoring because of an icy field.
[32] A stop by the defense in the second quarter as the Yankees reached the Browns' five-yard line forced New York to kick its lone field goal.
[33] Gillom's booming punts – his five kicks averaged 45 yards – also helped the Browns stop New York's dangerous return game.
[33] Graham and Speedie were named first-team selections when the Associated Press put together a combined AAFC and NFL All-Pro list.