NFL

Hey all. Just wanted to share some statistics I found while looking at the 2023 Browns defense so far this year. Keep in mind the Browns have already had their bye week while a few teams have not.

The Browns defense...

• Has given up 2433 total yards which is over 200 less than 2nd place.

• Have the lowest passing yards against (1437) and Lowest Passing TDs against (9)

• Has the lowest QB Rate against (71.6) and completion percentage against (55.3%)

• Has the highest expected points contributed at 88.61.

• Has the highest sack percentage (11.1%) and #2 in pressure percentage (27.6%)

• Has the highest tackles for loss at 64

• Has the lowest 1st downs allowed (126) which is 37 fewer than 2nd place.

• Allow ONLY 3.2 3rd down conversions per game.

• Has Allowed only 32 out of 126 3rd downs to be converted for a 3rd down conversion percentage of 25.3%. The NFL record is the 2019 Patriots at 24.1%. The next lowest percentage is the Cowboys at 32.8%

• Has allowed the lowest percentage of offensive drives to end in a score (21.7%)

Now for the craziest stats...

• The Browns defense has faced the 2nd most drives against them in the league (Giants #1 with 1 more game). While the Browns have faced the 2nd most drives total, the Browns defense have the LEAST amount of total plays against them by 40(!) plays.

• Offenses against the Browns defense have the 9th BEST average starting field position in the league

• Per Drive teams only have 4.3 plays, 18.8 yards, 2:01 time of possession, and 1.24 points against the Browns.

So essentially, teams usually have good starting field possession and the most opportunities to score on the Browns, but can rarely even get a first down let alone score.

Some other pretty mindblowing miscellaneous stats...

• The Bears have allowed more completed passes than the amount of passes attempted vs. Browns

• The Browns defense only allows 14.6 completed passes per game

• 13.6% of the TOTAL points scored against the Browns have been defensive touchdowns from turnovers.

• Browns defense has kept opposing QBs under 150 passing 5 times (Burrow 82, Tannehill 104, Purdy 125, Tune 58, Pickett 106)

• Browns defense is on pace for 2442.9 total passing yards against. The 1985 Bears defense allowed 2816 in 1 fewer game. 143 yards per game to 176 yards per game.

I don't really know the historical significance of any of these stats so if anyone wants to contribute anything interesting it would be greatly appreciated. Also to note, the Browns run defense has been good but not great. They have been gashed for some big plays, which makes the total yards number even more crazy. All these numbers are being put up with a fairly bad offense that doesn't move the ball extremely well and turns the ball over a lot.

Side note: The Browns remaining schedule also features remaining games against the Bears, the Jets, and the Bengals all in Ohio in December. The Broncos game has a high of 40 degrees so weather should start to factor in with some of these games.

Side note #2: I got most of these stats from Pro Football Reference and I am not a statistician so if anything is wrong don't sue me.