The Cleveland Browns were one of pro football’s original dynasties, stacking championships and playoff appearances for the first 25 years of their existence.
Along the way, they built a home-field advantage at Cleveland Municipal Stadium that would see crowds in excess of 80,000 of the league’s best fans.
Beginning in 1970, the on-field success was harder to find, but there were still periods with playoff runs, most notably in the mid-1980s when the Dawg Pound made coming to Cleveland a daunting prospect
for opposing teams.
Things have rarely gone according to plan since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, as instead of championships and playoff appearances, the team has stacked seasons of double-digit losses and only a couple of wins in front of the home fans.
Despite that, the Browns still enjoy one of the league’s best home-field advantages, according to a study by Joe Gibbs at Sharp Football Analysis.
The study looked to “determine what venues make life the most miserable for opposing teams by measuring the crowd influence via the one area they truly affect the game: the impact on officiating crews and the subsequent penalty count.”
Some of the key criteria that Gibbs looked at included:
- Home field penalty advantage: Which home teams have the largest net penalty advantage over visiting teams since 2018?
- Offensive pre-snap and offensive holding penalties: Which home crowds impact these penalties the most?
- Home/away penalty per game average: Which teams commit fewer penalties at home than on the road?
After factoring all that in, it turns out the Browns came in at No. 5, ahead of such noted home-field advantage teams like the Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, and Baltimore Ravens:
The Browns recorded the largest home versus road win percentage discrepancy of any team in this analysis.
The catalyst from a penalty perspective was Cleveland ranking seventh at generating offensive pre-snap and offensive holding infractions on opposing offenses.
Those categories accounted for an above average 41.5% of penalties assessed on Browns opponents, which laid the foundation for Cleveland to perform well in a variety of other less important categories we did not detail in the opening preview.
However, the cumulative effect of those statistics propelled them into the top 10.
The 2020 season saw a big decline in opponent penalties overall compared with the surrounding seasons, particularly in the aforementioned offensive pre-snap and offensive holding categories.
The Dawg Pound is as impactful as any home crowd we’ve detailed in this analysis, and this franchise’s shortcomings are in no way a result of lackluster crowd support.
The fact is, the Browns’ home field penalty numbers share some similarities with the Chiefs over the last 15 years.
Bet you didn’t see that one coming!
The Browns have long received the support of some of the best fans in the NFL, and this study shows the fans are doing their part to help the team.
Hopefully, the time is coming when the Browns start repaying that love with some consistent winning.
What are your favorite memories of going to a Browns game and/or the Dawg Pound? Let us know in the comments!
