Written by Jonathan Knight

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

TACKLED BY THE TEXANS: The Texans have now taken a 4-3 lead in their brief series history with the Browns, having won four of the last five meetings. The Browns’ last win over Houston came in November of 2007.

HOLDING UP IN HOUSTON: Now 1-3 against the Texans on the road, the Browns’ all-time record in the city of Houston stands at 17-13.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: When both Arian Foster and Ben Tate topped the century mark in rushing yards on Sunday, it marked the first time the Browns had permitted two 100-yard rushers in the same game since Lenny Moore and Alan Ameche of the Baltimore Colts did it on Nov. 11, 1956.

NOT SURPRISING: In each season the Browns have lost to the Texans, they finished the year with at least 10 losses.

MORE EARLY TROUBLES: The Browns have now been outscored 58-6 in the first quarter this season. It’s now been nine games since they scored a first-quarter touchdown: when Mohamed Massoquoi threw a 29-yard scoring pass to Brian Robiskie against Baltimore in Week 16 of last season.

THE MIRAGE REVEALED: Houston’s was the best offense the Browns have faced all season, currently ranked 11th in the NFL at 5.9 yards per play. And it showed, as the Texans rolled up nearly 400 total yards, an average of six per play. In fact, the Texans are the only Cleveland opponent in 2011 currently ranked in the top half of the league in total offense. In their other seven games, the offenses the Browns faced are currently ranked between 18th and 29th - perhaps explaining the Browns’ defense’s “sudden” improvement this season.

EMBARRASSING: The meager 172 total yards the Browns collected on Sunday marked their lowest total since they were held to 169 on Nov. 29, 2009 in a 16-7 loss in Cincinnati.

ANOTHER BEATING: Read this and try not to cry: Colt McCoy was sacked four times and hit eight times on Sunday. Matt Schaub was not sacked and hit three times. And Schaub actually attempted one more pass than McCoy on the day.

MORE FROM MR. 50: With two more long-distance kicks, Phil Dawson now has six field goals of 50 or more yards this season and the 16 in his career.

DEPENDING ON DAWSON: If you feel like Phil Dawson has scored an unnatural chunk of the Browns’ total points this season, there’s a reason. Dawson has accounted for 39.5% of the Browns’ total points in 2011, compared to 35.8% last season. He’s got a shot at matching his all-time high of 46.6% in the train-wreck season of 2008 and his clip of 43.1% in 2005.

RUSHING DEFICIT DISORDER: The pathetic 44 rushing yards the Browns’ tallied on Sunday was a season-low. For every rushing yard they picked up, the Texans picked up six.

MIDPOINT MISERIES: This is the fourth consecutive season the Browns have held a losing record at the season’s midpoint and the eighth time in the last nine years. The lone occasion the Browns have been above .500 after eight games since the rebirth was 2007, when they stood at 5-3. They were 4-4 in both 2001 and 2002.

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: The three teams the Browns have beat have a combined record of 3-22. The five teams they’ve lost to have a combined record of 27-14.

ROAD RAGE: The Browns have now lost 18 of their last 23 road games.

ONE YEAR IN: Playing in his 16th career game on Sunday, Colt McCoy now officially has a full season of starts under his belt, and his numbers reflect the ups and downs of the past year:

312 of 530 (58.9 completion %)

3,340 yards (6.3 yards per attempt)

16 TD 15 INT (2.83 interception %)

75.7 quarterback rating

Record: 5-11

 

How do those numbers compare to other recent Browns’ quarterbacks after their first 16 starts?:

Paul McDonald

296 of 582 (50.9 completion %)

3890 yards (6.68 yards per attempt)

13 TD 28 INT (4.81 interception %)

59.7 quarterback rating

Record: 5-11

 

Bernie Kosar

239 of 439 (54.4 completion %)

2952 yards (6.72 yards per attempt)

13 TD 9 INT (2.05 interception %)

76.8 quarterback rating

Record: 8-8

 

Tim Couch

261 of 457 (57.1 completion %)

2866 yards (6.27 yards per attempt)

18 TD 14 INT (3.06 interception %)

76.2 quarterback rating

Record: 3-13

 

Derek Anderson

311 of 548 (56.8 completion %)

3993 yards (7.29 yards per attempt)

30 TD 21 INT (3.83 interception %)

82 quarterback rating

Record: 9-7

 

 

Notice that McCoy's numbers are almost completely identical to Couch’s, particularly considering McCoy is also essentially playing for an expansion team.

NATURE TAKING ITS COURSE: The Browns have failed to score 20 points in 12 of their last 13 games. In that stretch, they’re averaging only 13.4 points per game and allowing 21.

WELL OFF THE PACE: With two more big plays on Sunday, the Browns now have 15 plays of 20 yards or more for the season, while they’ve allowed 29 (Houston collected four on Sunday).

GO FIGURE: The Browns are actually dramatically better on fourth-down conversions (9 of 14, 64.3%) than they are on third-down conversions (53 of 128, 41.4%). And interestingly, the Browns are better than their opponents in both categories: 44 of 113 (38.9%) on third down and 4 of 8 (50%) on fourth.

MORE MIDPOINT MISERIES: The Browns are on pace to score just 238 points this season, which would be their lowest tally since scoring 232 in 2008.

NEFARIOUS NOVEMBER: The Browns have lost 10 of their last 13 November games. They haven’t won a road game in the month of November in three years.

WHERE WE RANK: Averaging 4.3 yards per play, the Browns’ offense ranks 31st in the NFL, while their 14.9 points scored per game is 29th. The Cleveland defense is allowing five yards per play, putting it tied for sixth in the league, and their 21.2 points allowed per game puts the Browns tied for 12th.

 

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