Week 9: Cleveland (7-1) at Baltimore (6-1)
Huge game, obviously – we’re even in the loss column. Winner takes a solid lead in the division, with Pittsburgh sitting back at 4-3 right now.
Behind Glenn Dixon, we trash the Ravens 37-3, leaving little doubt. We now get a week off, which ought to get Deion Brock healthy and ready to go.
Week 11: Cincinnati (3-6) at Cleveland (8-1)
For the third straight week, Deion Brock is out – and listed as being back in about a week. We’ll stick with young Glenn Dixon, who is improving and has been stellar this year. We post another 200+ yard rushing day, and pound the Bengals 30-3. That makes four games in a row with 30+ points scored, and 9 of 11 on the season.
Week 12: New Orleans (6-4) at Cleveland (9-1)
Another good solid win, 24-9, as we continue our march onward. We look to be in god shape for the division title and a bye week, unless we run off the rails from here. Glenn Dixon has served us well, and now Deion Brock will resume the starting role for us.
Week 13: Cleveland (10-1) at San Diego (5-6)
This turns out to be tougher than we expected, and we need overtime to best the Chargers, 27-24. Gus Stewart and Deion Brock are both solid, and TE Karl Sellers returns to form after coming back from his injury – and posts 91 yards in the air for us.
Incidentally, with four games to play, we can all but write off any 1,000 yard receiving season aspirations – Don Pritchett, who has remained healthy all year, still only has 599 yards on the year, so it just doesn’t seem to be in the cards. We have migrated toward the run a bit this season, it seems, without even altering the game plan. Tough to argue with the results, though.
Week 14: Cleveland (11-1) at Carolina (4-8)
Another solid win, 23-13, and we stay on a pretty nice roll. But we still have two out of three remaining games on the road – so we need to stay solid.
Week 15: Cleveland (12-1) at Cincinnati (6-7)
Another solid road win, 19-7, with another c-note from Gus Stewart and another solid performance from our defense. We have now locked up every possible goal from the regular season – we are 13-1, and we will be comfortably ahead of everyone in the conference for the #1 seed.
Week 16: Tampa Bay (9-5) at Cleveland (13-1)
With Deion Brock nursing a minor injury, I will have Glenn Dixon in for the next couple of games. It will be good for him anyway.
Even with the pressure off, we look great. A 26-0 win over a solid playoff-bound team looks awfully good to me. Dixon is absolutely superb in an essentially mistake-free game (25/33, 301 yards, no interceptions) and our defense is obviously lights out.
Week 17: Cleveland (14-1) at Pittsburgh (9-6)
All expectations were that this would be a huge game for us – but instead, we’re five games ahead of our expected rivals. A win for the Steelers keeps their playoff hopes alive, but they would need help – a loss by either Baltimore or Miami.
It’s not as dominating a win as we have had this year, but we don win 28-23, and deal the Steelers’ fate outside the playoffs. Gus Stewart finishes very strong with a 188-yard game, and we hand 270 rushing yards in total on them. Solid numbers.
Code:
2022 Regular Season Standings
AC North W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Cleveland 15 1 0 .938 441 206 11-1 6-0
Baltimore 11 5 0 .688 375 301 8-4 3-3
Pittsburgh 9 7 0 .563 374 340 6-6 2-4
Cincinnati 6 10 0 .375 283 302 3-9 1-5
AC South W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Jacksonville 9 6 1 .594 350 326 7-4-1 4-2
Houston 6 10 0 .375 275 319 4-8 3-3
Indianapolis 6 10 0 .375 299 372 4-8 1-5
Tennessee 5 11 0 .313 252 341 5-7 4-2
AC East W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
New York J 11 5 0 .688 382 330 8-4 6-0
Miami 10 6 0 .625 368 296 6-6 2-4
Buffalo 7 9 0 .438 269 286 7-5 3-3
New England 6 10 0 .375 221 282 4-8 1-5
AC West W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Oakland 11 5 0 .688 387 306 8-4 5-1
Kansas City 7 9 0 .438 271 320 6-6 4-2
Denver 6 9 1 .406 334 339 4-7-1 1-5
San Diego 6 10 0 .375 289 333 4-8 2-4
NC North W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Green Bay 12 4 0 .750 321 267 9-3 5-1
Detroit 7 9 0 .438 333 358 5-7 1-5
Chicago 6 10 0 .375 369 379 5-7 4-2
Minnesota 5 11 0 .313 271 313 4-8 2-4
NC South W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Tampa Bay 10 6 0 .625 271 309 10-2 6-0
New Orleans 9 7 0 .563 364 310 7-5 2-4
Carolina 6 10 0 .375 315 349 5-7 3-3
Atlanta 3 13 0 .188 239 363 3-9 1-5
NC East W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Washington 11 5 0 .688 373 298 9-3 6-0
New York G 11 5 0 .688 369 320 8-4 3-3
Dallas 9 7 0 .563 312 335 6-6 3-3
Philadelphia 3 13 0 .188 272 350 1-11 0-6
NC West W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
San Francisco 10 6 0 .625 354 308 8-4 4-2
St. Louis 9 7 0 .563 375 393 8-4 6-0
Arizona 8 8 0 .500 281 321 4-8 0-6
Seattle 5 11 0 .313 283 300 4-8 2-4
To the extent you can encapsulate the season with just this information – we were an unusually dominant team. 50+ point scored more than anyone else, and 60+ point fewer allowed than anyone else. Very impressive numbers. Let’s see the rest…
Code:
2022 Summary for Cleveland Browns
Record: 15-1
Winning Pct.: .937
Cleveland Browns Team Rank
Rushes 529 2
Rushing Yards 2519 1
Yards Per Carry 4.76 3
Pass Attempts 446 29
Completions 297 26
Passing Yards 3401 21
Yards Per Attempt 7.62 7
3rd Down Conversions 41.4 17
Points Per Game 27.5 1
Turnovers 16 5 (T)
Turnover Margin +13 6
Opponents Team Rank
Rushes 399 3
Rushing Yards 1443 1
Yards Per Carry 3.61 2
Pass Attempts 548 30
Completions 287 3
Passing Yards 3421 11
Yards Per Attempt 6.24 2
3rd Down Conversions 38.8 6
Points Per Game 12.8 1
Turnovers 29 6 (T)
Week Team Versus Oppnt
1 34 BAL 17
2 16 at ATL 10
3 45 IND 14
4 32 at BUF 21
5 31 PIT 13
6 7 MIA 19
7 31 NYJ 13
8 31 at NED 17
9 37 at BAL 3
11 30 CIN 3
12 24 NOS 9
13 27 at SDO 24
14 23 at CAR 13
15 19 at CIN 7
16 26 TBY 0
17 28 at PIT 23
Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int
2 Brock QB 297 197 2311 7.78 16 3
19 Dixon QB 149 100 1090 7.31 12 5
**Team --- 446 297 3401 7.62 28 8
Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD
39 Stewart RB 322 1738 5.39 15
37 Sims RB 71 271 3.81 1
31 Lee RB 70 220 3.14 2
19 Dixon QB 37 206 5.56 0
**Team --- 529 2519 4.76 18
Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD
39 Stewart RB 74 54 410 7.5 163 3
89 Pritchett WR 91 52 747 14.3 153 5
80 Sellers TE 66 49 566 11.5 145 3
82 Pendleton WR 70 36 555 15.4 68 6
88 Parker WR 36 24 282 11.7 54 1
85 Foug WR 36 24 335 13.9 54 4
86 Bleeck TE 26 23 223 9.6 44 4
**Team --- 445 297 3401 11.4 758 28
Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn
59 Michl ILB 90 23 2.0 4 1 17
51 Adamson OLB 76 25 1.5 4 2 9
20 Eskridge S 75 32 1.0 0 4 16
24 Weed S 67 17 1.0 2 1 9
55 Wallace ILB 65 19 4.0 11 4 8
92 Worsham DT 63 22 5.0 11 0 0
32 Furr CB 42 10 0.0 0 3 8
77 Finch DE 42 14 12.5 27 0 0
28 Enochs CB 37 14 0.0 1 1 8
35 Helmuth S 35 8 0.0 0 2 4
34 Diaz CB 29 3 0.0 1 1 4
99 Heap DT 26 12 1.5 6 0 0
91 Dodge OLB 19 6 0.0 3 0 1
47 Mascorella CB 18 7 0.0 0 0 3
**Team --- 788 241 33.0 81 19 91
Close to the best season yet for Gus Stewart – even as he is suffering some modest ratings decline. His 5.3 yards per carry is tops among major ball carriers in the league, and his total yardage is just about the same as he posted in his triple-award winning 2020 season. Unbelievable, for a 9th year running back. He’s less than 500 yards behind the career rushing leader – and has played fewer than 10 seasons. Wow.
Glenn Dixon threw three picks against Pittsburgh – spoiling a season passer rating over 120. Both he and Deion Brock were excellent this season, though, with final passer ratings over 100. That certainly helps fuel a standout team.
Defensively – we ranked second in yards per carry allowed, and yards per pass allowed. Not bad at all. We didn’t rack up big sack totals, or turnovers, but we are just plain tough to move the ball against. This is a very nice team we have here.