Written by Jonathan Knight

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

NEW YORKNAIL-BITERS: Some people pop tranquilizers before getting on a plane. Browns fans have learned to medicate themselves before our team plays the Jets. Seven of the Browns’ last eight meetings with the kelly-green New Yorkers and 14 of the past 18 have been decided by seven points or less. Eleven of the teams’ 21 meetings all-time have been decided by three points or less and they’ve now gone to overtime three times. Even more peculiar, of the 15 meetings in Cleveland, 10 have been determined by seven points or less. The loss narrowed the Browns’ lead in the series to 13-8.

LIES, DAMN LIES, AND STATISTICS: A quick look at the box score and it’s easy to determine that the Jets were the better team. But upon further review, essentially the only thing the Jets truly did better than the Browns statistically was literally running more plays. New York appeared dominant, out-gaining the Browns 456-303, while controlling the ball for 47 minutes compared to Cleveland’s 27. While the Jets’ offense was certainly effective and their dominance in time of possession was a key factor in the game, a closer look at these numbers reveal the Browns’ powerful perseverance - in addition to why the game was so close. Though the Browns ran a whopping 32 less offensive plays than the Jets, our guys actually averaged more yards per play (5.1 to 5.0). And though we were out-rushed 172 yards to 101, our average per carry was a half-yard better (4.3 to 3.8). Similarly, the Browns had nine less pass completions and nearly 100 less passing yards, yet were much closer in average gain per pass attempt (5.8 to 6.2).

NEW ALLIES, NEW ENEMIES: This was only the second time in Browns’ history that their head coach faced a team for which he’d previously served as head coach. The other occasion came in September of 1972 when Nick Skorich’s Browns defeated the Philadelphia Eagles. Skorich – who, before Eric Mangini, was the Browns’ only head coach with previous NFL head-coaching experience prior to coming to Cleveland – had been the Eagles’ head coach from 1961-1963.

THE STREAK CONTINUES:  The string of consecutive games in which the Browns have led at some point now stands at 14. 

SUDDEN DEATH: The loss snapped the Browns’ three-game overtime win streak and dropped their all-time record in overtime games to 17-15-1 (including postseason games): 11-6-1 in Cleveland. Their last overtime loss had been to Philadelphia in 2004. 

BALLHOGS: From the moment Phil Dawson gave the Browns a 13-10 lead in the second quarter until Jets kicker Nick Folk ping-ponged his 24-yard field goal attempt off the upright in the third, 15 minutes and 17 seconds elapsed off the clock. The Jets controlled the football for 14:54 of this period, while the Browns held it for just 23 seconds – just long enough for Colt McCoy to take a knee to end the first half. If you add in the Browns’ three-and-out following Folk’s miss and the Jets’ ensuing drive, New York controlled the football for 17 minutes and 29 seconds over an 18 minute, 49 second period, running 36 plays to the Browns’ five.

SUDDEN DEATH BY SIX: The Browns hadn’t lost an overtime game by a touchdown since the surreal loss in Chicago in November of 2001 when the Browns blew a 14-point lead with three minutes left in regulation and lost on a tipped Tim Couch pass that was picked off and returned for the game-winning touchdown in sudden-death. The only other time the Browns lost an overtime game by an offensive touchdown was in 1978 when Terry Bradshaw hit Bennie Cunningham with a 37-yard gadget pass to win at Three Rivers.

MR. CONSISTENCY: After missing his first two kicks of the year, Phil Dawson has returned to his usual consistent self. Very quietly, he’s now made 13 consecutive field goals. He’s almost halfway toward matching his career-best streak of 27 from October of 2003 until November of 2004.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The Browns proved once again that the key play in any series is first down, and the ebb and flow of their offensive production over the course of the five-quarter struggle is reflected perfectly by how they performed on first down.

In the first half, as the Browns averaged a healthy 6.9 yards on first-down plays, they tallied 13 points (three scoring possessions), 12 first downs, and 196 total yards, and only faced third down three times, converting once. Conversely, in the second half and overtime, the Browns averaged just 2.7 yards on first down and consequently tallied seven points (one scoring possession), seven first downs, and 108 total yards, and were three of nine on third-down conversions.

McWALLACE: Now with only one less pass attempt than Seneca Wallace for the season, Colt McCoy’s numbers are strikingly similar to Wallace’s:

            COMPLETION PERCENTAGE:

                        McCoy 64.6

                        Wallace 63

            YARDS PER ATTEMPT:

                        McCoy 7.4

                        Wallace 6.9

            TOUCHDOWN PASSES:

                        Wallace 4

                        McCoy 2

            INTERCEPTIONS:

                        McCoy 2

                        Wallace 2

            TIMES SACKED:

                        McCoy 9

                        Wallace 6

            QUARTERBACK RATING:

                        Wallace 88.5

                        McCoy 85.2

 

BERNIE McCOY?: Since everybody else seems to be doing it, I’m going to succumb to peer pressure. Here are the statistical lines of McCoy and Bernie Kosar after their first four NFL starts:

McCoy: 64 of 99 (64.7%), 734 yards (7.4 yards/attempt), 2 TD 2 INT, 6 sacks – 85.2 rating

Kosar: 47 of 92 (51.1%), 632 yards (6.9 yards/attempt), 2 TD 2 INT, 11 sacks – 71.5 rating

(Bernie’s numbers include his pro debut when he was inserted after Gary Danielson was injured in the middle of a game against New England)

Keep in mind that while neither had truly potent threats at wide receiver, Bernie had a Hall of Fame tight end at his disposal as well as a pair of running backs behind him that would each run for 1,000 yards that year. 

PEYTON’S PACE: Now with 726 rushing yards on the season, Peyton Hillis is on pace to top 1,290 yards for the season. Having accumulated 69% of the Browns’ rushing yards in 2010, he’s now ranked 12th in the NFL in rushing yardage and third in rushing touchdowns. He also comes in 12^th in the league in average yards per game (80.7), and unfortunately, is tied for second in fumbles (five). 

BUT WHO’S COUNTING?: With a duration of 74 minutes and 44 seconds, this tied for the fourth-longest regular-season game in Browns history, second only to the tie with Kansas City in 1989 (75 minutes), the overtime loss to the Bengals last October (74:56), and a marathon victory at Shea Stadium over the Jets on opening day 1979 (74:45). It matched the duration of the wind-swept 13-10 win over the Oilers in Mark Moseley’s debut with the Browns in November of 1986. Naturally, the double-overtime playoff win over the Jets five weeks later (77:02) remains the longest game in Browns’ history. 

COLT BUCKS ANOTHER: For the third straight game, Colt McCoy out-performed an elite NFL quarterback. Much-ballyhooed Mark Sanchez had nearly 100 more passing yards and an additional scoring pass (and ran for another), but McCoy wound up with a slightly better quarterback rating (88.8 to 87.2) – though to be fair, Sanchez’s interception/punt in overtime was likely the difference-maker. On the other hand, McCoy has now not thrown an interception in more than three games, covering 71 consecutive attempts. A year ago, Brady Quinn (who wasn’t a rookie) averaged an interception once every 37 attempts, and Derek Anderson (who also wasn’t a rookie) averaged an interception once every 18 attempts. 

SLOWING DOWN THE TRUCK:While Peyton Hillis was simply on fire in the first half, the Jets did a masterful job of containing him in the second. After picking up 60 yards in 10 carries in the first two quarters, he was held to 22 yards on nine carries in the last three. 

A RARE SIGHT: Mark Sanchez’s improvised scoring plunge just before the half was only the second rushing touchdown the Browns have allowed all year. 

WIDEOUTS LEFT OUT: Of McCoy’s 18 completions, only seven were to wide receivers. In terms of yardage, three of the Browns’ top four pass-catchers for the season are not wideouts (Ben Watson, Hillis, and Evan Moore). 

FUNNY: Ben Watson had more receptions for more yardage than Braylon Edwards. Meanwhile, Peyton Hillis picked up more yards than Shonn Greene on one less carry and tallied 35 more yards on just one more carry than LaDainian Tomlinson, averaging one full yard per carry more.

WHERE WE STAND: Both the Browns’ offense and defense both now rank 24th in the NFL – the offense gaining 5.2 yards per play, the defense allowing 5.4 yards per play. They’re a much more impressive 10^th in points allowed per game (20.2) but just 25^th in points scored per game (19.1).