Useless nuggets of information from Sunday’s Browns game that you can certainly live without…
JUST LIKE ’75: Just as the Browns’ last 11-game losing streak ended with a home win over a favored Cincinnati team, the Browns’ final score in the game came on an interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. In their 35-23 win over the Bengals in ’75, defensive back Jim Hill picked off a pass and returned it 56 yards with less than two minutes remaining to clinch the upset over Paul Brown's 8-1 Bengals.
AWESOME DAWSON: Phil Dawson has now made 18 consecutive field-goal attempts. His last miss was a 55-yard attempt in Cincinnati last November.
CONSISTENTLY STRUGGLING: This was the fourth time in the Browns’ six games and third straight week in which the opposing offense has topped 400 total yards. The Cleveland defense is permitting 425 yards per game for the season.
BACK IN ACTION: In addition to his interception, Joe Haden made an impact in his return, collecting seven tackles (six solo) and three passes defended.
BENGAL BEATDOWN: This was the Browns’ largest margin of victory over Cincinnati since their 34-17 win in 2004. Their previous three wins over the Bengals were all by eight points or less.
RACKING ‘EM UP LATE: The Bengals picked up more than a third of their total yardage for the day on their final three possessions after the Browns built their 17-point lead with just over five minutes to play.
CAN HE PLAY THE BENGALS EVERY WEEK?: In his two games against the Bengals, Brandon Weeden has completed 65% of his passes and a passer rating of 105.2. In his other four games, he’s completed 52% of his passes and has a rating of 53.3.
HARD GOING ON THE GROUND: The Browns rushed for 110 yards as a team on Sunday, but only averaged 3.2 yards per carry. For the season, they’re averaging 3.9 per rush.
DANGEROUS DALTON: In Andy Dalton’s four games against the Browns, he’s completed just under 70% of his passes for 1,050 yards with a sterling passer rating of 104.1. Though he threw for 381 yards on Sunday, his performance was defined by three interceptions after only throwing one interception in his previous three games against Cleveland.
STILL NO DRAWING POWER: Sunday marked the 26th straight home game in which the Browns have failed to draw 70,000 fans. They’re just three away from matching the longest such string in team history, set between 1953 and 1958.
PRODUCTION EXPLOSION: Montario Hardesty rushed for more yards Sunday than he did in the last five games in which he appeared combined.
20-POINT IMPROVEMENT: The Browns have now scored at least 20 points in a game three times this season. They only managed to do it twice in all of 2011.
BIG PLAY: The 71-yard touchdown bomb to Josh Gordon in the second quarter was the Browns’ longest play of the season and their longest since the 76-yard scoring toss from Seneca Wallace to Greg Little in Arizona last December.
ANOTHER SKID SNAPPED: The Browns snapped their AFC North losing streak at 12 games.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD, PART 1: This was the most points the Browns had scored in a game since their 34-14 rout of New England in November of 2010 - 29 games before.
JUST LIKE OLD JOSH: Josh Cribbs’ 60-yard punt return in the third quarter was the longest non-scoring punt return of his career. He’s now averaging 15.4 yards per return on the season - on pace to be the best clip of his career.
INCONSISTENT OFFENSE: Following their productive first three possessions in which they tallied 165 total yards, the Browns only managed 20 total yards on their next seven series, averaging less than a yard per play.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD, PART 2: Sunday was the first time the Browns had scored more than 20 points in a home game since their 24-23 victory over Carolina in November of 2010. Over the 12 home games in between, they averaged 12 points per game.
GETTING HIS MONEY’S WORTH: Josh Gordon is averaging 22.8 yards per catch this season. He leads the team in receiving yardage despite ranking fifth in total catches.
TRIP-UP FOR T-RICH: After lighting up the Bengals for 145 total yards (109 rushing, 36 receiving) in their first meeting last month, Trent Richardson struggled this time around, managing only 54 total (37 rushing, 17 receiving). He had 16 touches on Sunday compared to 23 in the first meeting.
SOMEBODY ELSE HAS A LOUSY DEFENSE, TOO: In their two games against the Bengals, the Browns averaged 31 points, 19 first downs, and 384 total yards per contest. In the Browns’ four other games, they’ve averaged 18 points, 16 first downs and 296 total yards.
THE SERIES: The Browns narrowed the Bengals’ lead in the all-time series to 42-37.
STRIPED STREAKS: Going into Sunday, the Bengals had won seven of the teams’ previous eight meetings and had won three of last four in Cleveland.