Fun with Numbers

Everyone likes numbers right? Every once in a while I like to see what story the numbers tell. Some of them may surprise you. Some of them you may already know. Sometimes they explain a lot. Let’s have some fun-

950- Trent Richardson finished the season with 950 yards rushing. He broke Jim Brown’s rookie rushing record, but didn’t get to that infamous 1,000 yard mark. He carried the ball 267 times and averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Now, I don’t have access to Richardson’s contract details, but I would be surprised if there wasn’t a bonus of some sort for hitting 1,000 yards. Between the injuries and that 8 carry Colts game, you would think that another 14 carries would have been possible along the way to get Trent to 1,000 yards. Next year I guess.

24th- The Browns offense ranked 24th in scoring this season. Since their return in 1999, the Browns have finished higher than that only twice. In 2007 they were 8th, and in 2002 they were 19th.

.281- Looks like a batting average no? Actually it is Pat Shurmur’s winning percentage in Cleveland. Since the team returned, three coaches have been given exactly 32 games to coach- Shurmur, Mangini and Palmer. Palmer had 5 wins, Shurmur 9 and Mangini 10. The highest winning percentage among ‘new’ Browns’ coaches? It’s not Romeo, even though he had the best single season since ’99. Try Butch Davis with a .414 winning percentage.

11- The Browns finished the season with 11 players on the disabled list. 8 of those were defensive players. 4 were linebackers.

+3- Cleveland finished the season with a turnover margin of +3. They had a +7 in one game against the Steelers.

.333- Changing gears a bit, .333 is the worst free throw percentage for the season among active Cavaliers. Can you guess who it is? Would you believe Luke Walton? Walton is 4 for 12 on the season at the free throw line. Obviously that is not many attempts, but he is playing 15 minutes a game. Next on the list? Omri Casspi is shooting .556 (15 of 27)! Can’t understand how a guy that is supposed to be a shooter can have this kind of free throw percentage. Even Tristan Thompson is over 63% nowadays.

14- Games Daniel Gibson has missed this season due to injury. Doesn’t it seem like this should be a higher number? Gibson played in 35 games in last season’s abbreviated schedule, or a little more than half. Only twice in his seven year career has Gibson played in more than 75% of the team’s games in a season.

.471- A very telling stat. This is the Cavaliers’ opponents shooting percentage. Highest in the league. For contrast sake, the Cavs are shooting .423 good for 29th in the league. When you break the game down into the simplest form, it’s about getting buckets. Right now the other team is getting them way easier than the Cavaliers.

100%- I wanted to end on a positive. The Browns had three offensive linemen play every snap this season. Joe Thomas, Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz. That’s outstanding. More than that though, those three have played every snap of their careers. Each started their first game as a rookie and haven’t left the field for an offensive snap. Mitchell for 1 season, Mack for 4 and Thomas for 6. Oh, and Mack’s total includes playing one game with appendicitis and playing the week following his appendectomy.