Written by Jonathan Knight

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

SEAHAWK BALK: Going into Sunday, the Browns had never defeated the Seahawks in back-to-back meetings. Their all-time record against Seattle now stands at 6-11 and believe it or not, things have actually improved for the Browns against the Seahawks in recent years - they’re 4-3  vs. Seattle since 1989 after posting a miserable 2-8 record against the Seahawks between 1977 and 1988.

SNAPPED: The first blocked field goal the Browns permitted snapped a string of 17 consecutive field goals made by Phil Dawson. The second broke a string of 26 straight Dawson had made from 45 yards or less.

HOW MUCH THINGS HAVE CHANGED: The last time the Browns played the Seahawks, a 33-30 Cleveland win in overtime, Jamal Lewis rushed for four touchdowns, Derek Anderson threw for 364 yards, Kellen Winslow Jr. caught 11 passes for 125 yards, and Seattle’s head coach was Mike Holmgren. Hard as it seems to believe, that was less than four years ago.

SPARSE POINTS: The last time the Browns held an opponent without a touchdown was Dec. 6, 2009, a 13-6 victory over Pittsburgh. The last time they won a game without scoring a touchdown was Oct. 11, 2009, when they beat Buffalo by the identical 6-3 score.

THE JOY OF SIX, PART ONE: This is only the fifth time since their return that the Browns have been 3-3 or better after six games. The last time they stood at 3-3 was 2007 and their best mark after six games was 4-2 (2001).

OUT-FOXED: The Browns have now won their last two games carried by the FOX network, but are just 10-14 in FOX games since the network began carrying the NFL in 1994 (keeping in mind, per the league’s TV contracts, they’ve all been home games for the Browns).

THE JOY OF SIX, PART TWO: This was the fourth 6-3 game in Browns’ history. The Browns have won all four, also beating the Giants (1957), Chiefs (1988), and Bills (2009).

LONG DISTANCE: His two successful kicks on Sunday marked the 12th and 13th field goals of 50 yards or longer in Phil Dawson’s career - his second and third this season.

A GOOD OMEN: In each of the previous five seasons the Browns defeated Seattle, they wound up finishing either with a winning record or a playoff berth.

BALL CONTROL: The Browns controlled the football for 42:56, including more than 24 minutes of the second half and all but 2:07 of the fourth quarter. They’re now averaging a time of possession of 31:54 in each game this season.

SURPRISING: The Browns actually have 19 more first downs than their opponents for the season and 104 more total yards.

NOT SO SPECIAL: Brad Maynard had his first disappointing day as the Browns’ punter, with an average of just 38.6 yards per kick with a net of only 30.8. He placed no kicks inside the Seattle 20. It was par for the course on a miserable day for the Cleveland special teams, which were beaten in every phase.

MORE MEDIOCRITY: Under pressure all day, Colt McCoy filed another disappointing performance, notching a quarterback rating of just 59, his lowest total of the season. For the year he’s now at 75.4, ranked 28th in the NFL. In his defense, he received little protection - McCoy was not only sacked five times, but hit another eight.

THE NO-NO NORTH: The four teams of the AFC North now represent the top four defenses in the NFL. Baltimore is tops in the league, allowing just 4.3 yards per play, followed by Cincinnati (4.6) and Pittsburgh and Cleveland (both 4.7). Baltimore is also tops in points allowed per game (13.8), followed by Pittsburgh in third (17.4) and the Bengals in fourth (18.5). The Browns are ninth at 20 points per game.

MORE GOOD DEFENSE: The Seahawks only picked up nine first downs for the game, and two of those came as a result of Browns’ penalties. On their final two possessions of the game, when they had an opportunity to take the lead, the Seahawks gained a total of nine yards.

BRINGING THE “D”: The 137 total yards allowed by the Cleveland defense were the least permitted by the Browns since limiting New Orleans to 127 in a 17-13 win on Dec. 5, 1993.

NO BIG ONES: For the first time all season, the Browns failed to pull off any plays of 20 yards or more. Seattle wasn’t much better, but did notch a 38-yard pass completion (which represented 27% of its total offense for the day), giving Browns’ opponents 21 plays of 20 yards or more for the season. The Browns have only 10.

WHERE WE RANK: Averaging 4.3 yards per play, the Browns’ offense ranks 31st in the NFL, while their 16.2 points scored per game is 27th. Conversely, the Cleveland defense is allowing 4.7 yards per play, putting it fourth in the league, and their 20 points allowed per game puts the Browns ninth.

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