Written by Jonathan Knight

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

SETBACK TO THE SILVER AND BLACK: Going into Sunday, the Browns had won four of their last five meetings and seven of their last nine against the Raiders. That string of success followed a 16-year stretch in which the Browns lost 10 of their first 11 games against the silver and black. Oakland now leads the all-time series 13-8.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: The Browns are now 3-6 all-time in Oakland. They were 3-2 against the Raiders in Los Angeles, winning the last three times they played there.

NO-DOUBT DAWSON: Phil Dawson has now made 17 consecutive field goals. His last miss was on Dec. 5 of last season in Miami when a 47-yard attempt hit the left upright.

GOING NOWHERE: Of the three Browns players who carried the football on Sunday, Colt McCoy had the best yard-per-carry average at 4.0. Montario Hardesty was just 3.2 and Peyton Hillis was a pathetic 2.3. For the year, the Browns are averaging only 3.3 yards per carry as a team. Their opponents are averaging 3.9.

MASTERFUL MAYNARD: Browns’ punter Brad Maynard once again did an admirable job, averaging a net of 46.2 yards per kick while pinning four kicks inside the Oakland 20 with no touchbacks.

JUST FOR KICKS: Jacoby Ford’s runback score in the second quarter was the first time the Browns had allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown since Nov. 17, 2008 in Buffalo when Leodis McKelvin returned a kick 98 yards for a score. Ford’s was the second-longest kick return ever for a touchdown by a Browns’ opponent, topped only by Tim Brown (not that Tim Brown) of Philadelphia, who ran back a kick 105 yards for a score on Sept. 17, 1961.

TWO FOR ONE: Though the Browns ran two more offensive plays than the Raiders, (68 to 66) they averaged a full yard less per play (5.0 to 3.9).

MORE ACTION JACKSON: D’Qwell Jackson continued his impressive season, leading all defensive players with nine tackles (all solo), including two tackles for loss. He leads the team in tackles with 49, 36 solo. Next-best is T.J. Ward with 26, 20 solo.

BEAT IN ALL PHASES: For the game, the Browns defended only one pass and managed only one hit on the quarterback. Conversely, the Raiders defended seven passes and hit Colt McCoy seven times. The Browns did manage six tackles for a loss, while the Raiders only tallied four.

McAVERAGE: Colt McCoy continued his incredibly average season with a typical 75.7 quarterback rating, right on par with his season score of 78.1. Currently McCoy’s rating ranks 28th in the NFL. By contrast, Kyle Boller, who entered the game in the second quarter and hadn’t taken a snap all year, managed a 79.5 for the day.

GIVING UP THE BIG ONES: The Browns only compiled one play of 20 or more yards (the 23-yard pass to Josh Cribbs early in the second quarter), while the Raiders had four. For the season, the Browns have only 10 plays of 20 yards or more, while their opponents have 20.

STILL GETTING HIT: The Browns’ offensive line has only allowed nine sacks, tied for fourth-best in the league, but has allowed 31 quarterback hits, which ranks it 23rd.

TRIPLE THREAT: Greg Little, Ben Watson, and Mohamed Massaquoi now each have more than 200 yards receiving for the season. Little leads the team in receptions with 20, while Massaquoi leads in yardage with 224.

THE AFC DEFENSE DIVISION: Interestingly, the top three ranked defenses in the NFL in terms of yards allowed per play are all from the AFC North: Baltimore and Pittsburgh are both at 4.5, while the Bengals are 4.6. The Ravens, Steelers, and Bengals are also all in the top five in points allowed per game.

WHERE WE RANK: Averaging 4.5 yards per play, the Browns’ offense ranks 31st in the NFL, while their 18.2 points scored per game is 27th. Conversely, the Cleveland defense is allowing 5.1 yards per play, putting it eighth in the league, and their 23.4 points allowed per game puts the Browns 15th.

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