The Cleveland Fan on Facebook

STO
The Cleveland Fan on Twitter
Browns Browns Archive Brownie Bits: Week 5
Written by Jonathan Knight

Jonathan Knight

brownie elfUseless nuggets of information from Sunday's Browns game that you can certainly live without…

FROM CHAMP TO CHUMP: Sunday brought to an end the Browns’ modest three-season winning streak against the defending Super Bowl champion. After beating the Saints in 2010, Steelers in 2009, and Giants in 2008, the Browns’ record in games against the defending Super Bowl champ now stands at 10-18.

LIT UP: This was the most points the Browns had allowed in a game since giving up 41 to Pittsburgh in the 2010 finale. It was the most total yardage the Browns had allowed since surrendering a whopping 543 to Pittsburgh in October of 2009.

AWESOME DAWSON: Phil Dawson has now made 16 consecutive field-goal attempts. His last miss was a 55-yard attempt in Cincinnati last season. He had a streak of 17 straight snapped last October.

THE DEATH OF A GREAT RIVALRY: After playing 41 times in the Browns’ first 20 years in the NFL, the Browns and Giants have only met nine times in the 42 years since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970.

THE RETURN OF CRIBBS: Josh Cribbs’ 74-yard kickoff return was his longest since his 98-yard touchdown against Pittsburgh in 2009. He’s now averaging 31.2 yards per kick return for the season, on pace to be the best clip of his career.

THE SKID CONTINUES: The Browns have now lost 11 straight games and 14 of their last 15, matching the team record of 11 set in 1974/1975.

NOT-SO-NARROW DEFEAT: This was the Browns’ largest margin of defeat in eight games, since they’d lost to Baltimore by an identical 14 points last December.

FLASH GORDON: The 62-yard pass to Josh Gordon was the Browns’ longest play from scrimmage this season. The 76-yard touchdown toss from Seneca Wallace to Greg Little in Arizona last December was the only play of 2010 that was longer than Gordon’s catch Sunday.

THIRD-DOWN BOTTOM FALLS OUT: The Browns converted on three of their first four third-down situations, then failed on their final eight.

CLEAR ADVANTAGE: The Browns’ average field position following New York’s six kickoffs was their own 32. The Giants’ average after the Browns’ five kickoffs was their own 16.

MORE HARM THAN GOOD: For the third straight game, the Browns tallied more penalty yards (91) than rushing yards (84). For the season, they’re now averaging 70 penalty yards and 78 rushing yards per game.

PRETTY PUNTING: Though they only placed one kick inside the 20, Reggie Hodges and the Browns’ punting game had a sterling day, averaging 48 yards per kick with a terrific 45.3 net average.

THREE TIMES BETTER: As a team, the Giants averaged 7.1 yards per rush and tallied nearly three times as many rushing yards as the Browns (243 to 84).

CONTRASTS: Greg Little, who led the team in receiving yardage going into the game, did not catch a pass on Sunday. Jordan Norwood, who’d caught only four passes all season, caught nine on Sunday.

A STEP FORWARD: Despite the two costly interceptions, Brandon Weeden still had a nice day statistically, completing 63% of his passes and averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. His 84.3 passer rating for the game was his second-best thus far and raised his season tally to 64.5.

FOURTH-DOWN FORTITUDE: The Browns’ two successful fourth-down conversions were their first of the season. They converted on 10 of 18 fourth downs last year.

T-RICH TALLY: Trent Richardson tallied 128 total yards on Sunday, trailing only the 145 he managed in Cincinnati.

PACKING THEM IN: Sunday’s crowd of 79,911 at MetLife Stadium was the largest the Browns had played before since the colossal 90,487 at FedEx Field for the Browns’ loss to the Redskins in 2008.

LONG TIME WITHOUT COMFORT: The Browns’ 14-0 advantage on Sunday marked their largest lead in a game since they led the Colts by 15 points in the fourth quarter of their Week 2 contest last season.

FIVE DOWN: This is the third time the Browns have started 0-5, joining 1999 (they finished 2-14) and 1975 (they finished 3-11).

SACKLESS: For the first time all season, the Cleveland defense did not record a sack. Even more incredibly, the Browns also did not manage a single tackle for a loss. Conversely, the Browns did not allow a sack for the first time this year.

CONSISTENT IF NOTHING ELSE: This was the third time in the Browns’ five games the opposing offense has topped 400 total yards. The Cleveland defense is averaging allowing 423 per game - a near 100-yard drop from last year’s average of 332.

ON THE OTHER HAND: The Browns’ offense has topped 350 total yards in three of their five games.

EARLY STRUGGLES: On Sunday the Browns snapped a six-game string of not scoring a touchdown in the first quarter.

ROAD WOES: The Browns have now lost 10 straight road games. They’re now only two away from tying the franchise record of 11 set between 1974-1976.

PASSING PEYTON: Trent Richardson has scored four rushing touchdowns this season, already surpassing Peyton Hillis’ team-high total for all of last season.

FINALLY, A BIG QUARTER: The Browns hadn’t scored two touchdowns in any quarter since Week 2 of last season in Indianapolis. They hadn’t scored two touchdowns in the first quarter of a game since November 28, 2010 against Carolina.

THE SERIES: The Browns lead the all-time series 27-21-2. They’ve lost five of their last six games to the Giants. They haven’t defeated the Giants in New York since 1985.

BALL CONTROL: The Giants had an 11-minute edge in time of possession on Sunday, controlling the football for the majority of each of the game’s quarters.

The TCF Forums