Written by Jonathan Knight

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

THEIR TURN: Going into Sunday, the Browns had defeated the 49ers the last three times they’d played. The Browns still lead the all-time series 11-7, but 18-9 if you include their matchups when they were both members of the All-America Conference.

BAD STARTS: The Browns have been outscored 44-3 in the first quarter this season. In the remaining quarters, they’ve outscored their opponents 104-96.

ADJUSTMENTS: While Frank Gore lit up the Browns for 134 rushing yards and more than four yards per carry on the afternoon, they held him to 31 on 12 carries in the second half - less than three per carry.

NO “O”: The Browns have scored 14 points or less in six of their last 11 games - and in 26 of their past 45 dating back to 2008. Their record in those 26 games is 4-22

OMEN FOR THE NINERS: The last three times the Browns have lost to the 49ers, San Francisco finished the season with the best record in the NFL.

A DIFFERENT TIME: To give you an idea of how different the world was the last time the 49ers had defeated the Browns on Oct. 28, 1990: in that game, Joe Montana led the defending world champion 49ers on a game-winning drive in the final minute after the Browns had tied the contest on a Mike Pagel-to-Ozzie Newsome touchdown pass. Current San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh was the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears and Pat Shurmur was the tight ends/special teams/offensive line coach at Michigan State.

BIG PLAY: The 45-yard touchdown pass to Josh Cribbs was the Browns’ second-longest play of the season, trailing only the 56-yard pass to Mohamed Massoquoi in the opener against Cincinnati.

BOUNCING BACK: Brad Maynard rebounded from his lousy performance against Seattle with a net average of 41 yards per kick and four kicks inside the 20.

GLASS HALF-FULL: To be sure, Colt McCoy’s numbers were padded by some meaningless possessions in the late going, but overall, he notched his second-highest quarterback rating of the season - an 83.1. For the year, he now stands at 76.1, 25th in the NFL.

UNDER PRESSURE: Once again, Colt McCoy was under pressure all day, getting sacked four times and hit another six. By contrast, the Browns’ defense collected just one sack and only one quarterback hit.

LOSSES ON THE LEFT COAST: The Browns have now lost five straight games in the Pacific time zone - their last win was the comeback in Oakland in September of 2006.

UPS AND DOWNS: While his interception percentage is down nicely from last year (4.1% to 1.7%), Colt McCoy’s completion percentage (57%) and yards per completion (9.9) are both down notably from last year (60.8% and 11.7).

LONG DISTANCE: The 52-yard field goal just before halftime was Phil Dawson’s fourth field goal of 50 yards or longer this season and the 14th of his career. It’s already the most field goals of 50 or more yards he’s made in a single season - his previous high was three in 2008.

SILVER LINING: Though his untimely facemask penalty that extended San Francisco’s final drive is what will be remembered, D’Qwell Jackson had put forth another impressive performance, leading the team with 10 tackles - five for a loss. He now leads the team with 65 tackles (50 solo) on the season.

EVEN STEVEN: With the two turnovers on Sunday, the Browns’ giveaway/takeaway ratio is now even for the season.

WHERE WE RANK: Averaging 4.3 yards per play, the Browns’ offense ranks 31st in the NFL, while their 15.3 points scored per game is 28th. The Cleveland defense is allowing 4.7 yards per play, putting it tied for third in the league, and their 20 points allowed per game puts the Browns eighth.

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