Written by Jonathan Knight

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Useless nuggets of information from Sunday’s Browns game that you can certainly live without…

OFFENSIVE MACHINE: The 475 yards of offense the Browns tallied was their highest total since compiling 554 in the 51-45 win over the Bengals in 2007. It was the second time this season the Browns topped 400 total yards - they also did it in Cincinnati in Week 2.

LATE-GAME LOSERS: This was the only post-4 p.m. Sunday game the Browns will play in 2012. They’d lost their previous six games with 4:00-hour start times dating back to 2009.

BIG PLAYS, PART 1: Mohamed Massaquoi’s 54-yard reception in the third quarter was the Browns’ third play of 50 or more yards this season. The other two were touchdown receptions of 71 and 62 yards by Josh Gordon.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FIELD: Excluding the kneeldown on the game’s final play, the Browns reached Oakland territory on seven of their nine possessions. The Browns only had one three-and-out on Sunday after six the week before.

BIG PLAYS, PART 2: Rod Streater’s 64-yard touchdown pass was the longest play the Browns have allowed this year, the fourth of more than 50 yards.

DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWN: After six weeks of steady improvement, the Browns’ defense slipped on Sunday. They allowed 429 total yards - the fifth time this year an opponent topped 400 - after not permitting more than 321 in their last five games. Despite that, the Browns managed to out-gain their opponent in total yardage for just the second time this year (Week 2 in Cincy).

TIDBITS: The Raiders only ran the ball 17 times in the entire game, but averaged five yards per rush...The two quarterbacks threw for a combined 454 yards in the second half... The Browns only punted twice in the entire game...The first television time out did not occur until the 4:26 mark of the first quarter.

SCORING FLASH: Josh Gordon now has five touchdown catches for the year, the most by any Browns receiver since Braylon Edwards’ 16 in 2007.

90-PLUS: The Browns’ backbreaking 94-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter matched their longest of the season against the Ravens in Week 4, though this one was 14 plays and that one was only 11. It marked the Browns’ fourth drive of 90 or more yards in 2012.

BIG DAY FOR BROWN: In addition to his tide-turning interception in the fourth quarter, Sheldon Brown defended four passes and made five solo tackles.

HIT DIFFERENTIAL: Brandon Weeden was only sacked once, but was hit 10 times. By contrast, Carson Palmer was only hit once and sacked once.

RECEPTION RECORD: With 14 catches, Oakland TE Brandon Myers tied the single-game record for a Browns’ opponent, matching Marvin Harrison of Indianapolis in 1999 (138 yards) and Bobby Engram of Seattle in 2007 (139 yards).

UNBALANCED RIVALRY: Five of the last six meetings between the teams have been played in Oakland. Fifteen of the teams’ 22 meetings have been played on the Raiders’ home field.

BALL CONTROL: The Browns have now picked up more rushing yards than their opponent in their last three games. Not coincidentally, after failing to control the football longer than their opponent in any of their first 10 games, they’ve had the edge in time of possession in their last two.

FLASH HITS THE CENTURY MARK: Josh Gordon became the first Browns receiver to top the 100-yard mark in a game this season. Greg Little was the last to do it, racking up 131 in Arizona last December. This is just the third 100-yard game by a Browns’ receiver in the past three seasons.

IN THE CLUTCH: The Browns were only 3 for 11 on third-down conversions, but picked up first downs on both of their fourth-down attempts. Conversely, the Raiders were 9 of 16 on third-down and also converted once on fourth down.

THE SERIES: The Raiders still lead the all-time series, 13-9. The Browns’ all-time record against the Oakland Raiders now stands at 6-10 - their record against the Los Angeles Raiders was 3-3.

YULETIDE MISERY: Going in, the Browns had lost seven straight December games. This trend was only fitting, since over their history the Browns have lost more games in December (117) than any other month.

BETTER AGAINST THE SILVER AND BLACK: Since their return, the Browns are 5-3 against Oakland. The Raiders are one of only three AFC teams against whom the Browns have a winning record since ’99, joining the New York Jets (3-2) and Miami (4-1).

THE 300 CLUB: Brandon Weeden’s 364 yards passing was a season high and the most by a Browns quarterback in a single game since Derek Anderson also tossed for 364 in an overtime win over Seattle in 2007. It’s the third time this season Weeden has topped 300 yards.

TWO STRAIGHT: Browns hadn’t won back-to-back games since Weeks 2 and 3 of last season.

LOWER THAN AVERAGE: The Browns’ 20 points was the second-lowest total scored by a Raiders’ opponent all season. Oakland entered the game allowing more than 32 points per game.

ANOTHER STREAK SNAPPED: The Browns finally snapped their franchise-record 12-game road losing streak. Their last road victory was in Week 2 of last season in Indianapolis.

FLAGGED IMPROVEMENT: After racking up 219 penalty yards in their previous two games, the Browns were only flagged twice on Sunday for a total of 25 yards, their lowest tallies of the season.

AWESOME DAWSON: Phil Dawson extended his string of consecutive made field goals to 29 before it came to an end with the blocked kick in the third quarter. It was the first allowed by the Browns since Seattle blocked a pair in the Browns’ win in October of 2011.

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