Browns offense near top of teams scoring touchdowns on 4th down despite 5 starting QBs

For some, professional sports are quite simple. Wins and losses and traditional statistics tell the story. For others, professional sports are anything but simple. Causality, advanced statistics, and every detail matters.

This Cleveland Browns detail might not interest the former much, but the latter will find the nuance amusing.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has been known to rush on fourth downs since taking over the team. There are a number of reasons why Stefanski is choosing to be aggressive, including the fact that he has five starting quarterbacks and had the worst completion percentage in the NFL last year.

Cleveland was tied for fifth for most fourth-down attempts in 2023 with three of the NFL's worst teams (Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals) and the aggressive Detroit Lions above them. The Browns offense converted on 50% of those attempts in the middle of the field.

Of the four teams that attempted more than Cleveland, only the Lions had a better conversion rate at 53.3 percent.

Interestingly, the Browns offense scored 10% of their touchdowns, including the one against WR. David Bell captured above, on fourth down:

It's important to note that the percentage doesn't necessarily mean a team was overly successful on fourth down, just that a higher percentage of touchdowns came on that drive. The Los Angeles Chargers' number speaks to the team's offensive struggles last season and their need to take as many chances as possible.

Heading into 2024, Cleveland hopes they won't have to rely as much on fourth-down touchdowns. Instead, much like Super Bowl participants, the goal would be to get that number closer to zero.