Written by Jonathan Knight

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

BAD STARTS: This was the seventh time this season a Browns’ opponent scored a touchdown on its first possession and the fourth time an opponent scored touchdowns on its first two possessions.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DOLDRUMS: With their loss Sunday, the Browns became the 10th team in NFL history to post 10 or more losses in five consecutive seasons. The good news is they still have a long way to go before matching Tampa Bay’s record stretch of 12 straight seasons of double-digit defeats from 1983 to 1994.

ONE-SIDED: This was the Browns’ largest margin of defeat since getting manhandled by Pittsburgh 41-9 in the 2010 finale (and perhaps appropriately, Eric Mangini’s last game as head coach). Conversely, it was the seventh time the Browns had been defeated by 21 points or more in 15 games in Denver.

THE RETURN OF COLT: Sunday marked the first time Colt McCoy had thrown a pass in a regular-season game in over a year, since getting clobbered in Week 13 of last season in Pittsburgh. In his limited playing time, he notched a marginally better passer rating (85.2) than Brandon Weeden (77.5), though was sacked four times to Weeden’s two. And the Browns’ offense proved more efficient with Weeden at the controls, picking up 157 total yards on 38 plays (a 4.1 average). With McCoy in, the Browns managed 76 yards on 24 plays, a 3.2 average.

OFFENSIVE DIFFERENCES: This was the seventh time this season and the third time in four weeks a Browns’ opponent topped 400 total yards. It also marked the seventh time this year the Browns failed to accumulate 300 yards of offense themselves.

A BETTER DAY FOR T-RICH: Trent Richardson’s 5.9 yards-per-carry clip was his best of the season, topping his 5.7 average in Cincinnati in Week 2. He’s now exactly 50 yards away from 1,000.

SACK EXCHANGE: After permitting less than two sacks per game all season, the Browns allowed six on Sunday. And for the first time since Week 5 in New York, they didn’t collect any themselves. Not coincidentally, this season the Browns have sacked each quarterback they've faced except for Eli and Peyton Manning.

LOW POINT: The Browns’ 233 total yards was their lowest output since they collected just 210 in the opener against the Eagles. They’ve now had five games this season in which they accumulated 250 yards or less. Last year this happened only three times.

MILE LOW: The Browns have lost 12 of their last 13 games in Denver. Their last win over the Broncos came in Denver in 1990, when Jerry Kauric kicked a game-winning field goal on the final play to deliver a 30-29 Monday-night victory.

PEYTON’S USUAL PLACE: Peyton Manning continued his mastery over the Browns, pushing his record to 6-0 against Cleveland. With a passer rating of 106.6 on Sunday, this was easily his best performance against the Browns, as he threw for more touchdowns in this meeting than he did in the previous five combined. His career passer rating against the Browns jumped to 80.9.

LOSING YOUR FAN BASE: This was the fourth time this season the Browns played before a crowd of larger than 70,000 - all on the road. They haven’t had a home crowd topping 70,000 since the opening game of the 2009 season. Since then, they’ve played before 11 road crowds of 70,000-plus.

PHIL FANTASTIC ONCE AGAIN: Phil Dawson’s 53-yard field goal in the third quarter was his sixth successful kick of 50 or more yards this season and the 23rd of his career. Sunday’s kick tied for the fourth-longest of his career.

TIDBITS: This was the sixth game this year in which the Browns did not throw an interception...LB Craig Robertson quietly had a breakthrough game, collecting 14 tackles (12 solo)...In addition to their six sacks, the Broncos collected nine quarterback hits and five tackles for a loss. The Browns had zero, two, and three, respectively.

MORE AWESOME DAWSON: With six more points scored on Sunday, Phil Dawson now has 112 for the season, which marks the second-highest total of his career. He needs nine points in the finale to top the total of 120 he tallied in 2007. He’s also two field goals away from matching his career best total of 30 in 2008.

THE SERIES: Denver continued its dominance of the all-time series, pushing its lead to 22-5. The Broncos have won 10 straight and 21 of the last 23 meetings. In their history, the Browns have lost more games to Denver than any other non-divisional opponent.

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