Cardinals @ Browns · Week 13

WEEK 13 · FINAL

THE READ

Cardinals beat Browns, 26-22

Arizona's 26-22 win over Cleveland was decided by execution more than scheme—the Cardinals gained 410 yards to the Browns' 278, forced 5 sacks to 1, and coughed up nothing while Cleveland turned the ball over once. Sam Darnold completed 30 of 46 passes for 303 yards and a touchdown, extending a run of 7 straight games over 250 yards through the air, while Shedeur Sanders managed 17 of 29 for 250 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The advanced numbers explain the gap better than the final score does—Arizona's expected win rate based on points alone is 46.4 percent while Cleveland's is 26.0 percent, a gap that reflects not just today but the teams' actual strength relative to their opponents. Cleveland's ground game, held to 28 yards, offers the starkest picture of why the 1-11 Browns fell short.

Sierra Vaughn Analyst

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Cardinals	-0.6	+2.8	-3.4	-10
Browns	-5.5	+1.5	-7.0	-7

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Cardinals — in the hunt · 8-7 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Jaylen Rivers The insider

Arizona's ground game did what Cleveland's couldn't: Arizona forced the issue on the field while the Browns managed just 28 rushing yards, and that's the game right there.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Sam Darnold

Cardinals

30/46, 303 yards, 1 TD

Shedeur Sanders

Browns

17/29, 250 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Josh Sweat

Cardinals

2.5 sacks

THE STORY SO FAR

🔥 Sam Darnold has now cleared 250 passing yards in 7 straight games.

🔥 Marvin Harrison Jr has now cleared 100 receiving yards in 4 straight games.

🧊 Quinshon Judkins — 92 overall — was held to 16 rushing yards, against an average of 49.

📉 Jeremiah Smith is still searching for it: 55 receiving yards a game across his last three, against an average of 83.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Cardinals 410, Browns 278 Cardinals

On the ground Cardinals 107, Browns 28 Cardinals

Through the air Cardinals 303, Browns 250 Cardinals

Pressure Browns 1 sacks, Cardinals 5 Cardinals

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 13 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 64% · Rush 36% · 26.7 scored, 30.1 allowed

9.0 yds/att 56.2% completions 5.2 yds/carry 383.7 yds/game 2.1 giveaways/game 6.6% sack rate last 5: 3-2

Primary weapon: Marvin Harrison Jr WR — 27% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY MODERATE

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 60 · Aggressive Balance 86 Ball security 40 Back usage 31% QB runs 2.3/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 2.1 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 90 WR 84 TE 99 RB 90 OL 84 DL 85 LB 77 DB 87

Best: Trey McBride TE 99 Fastest: Jeremiyah Love HB 94 SPD 4 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

Browns · his last 1 game

BJ has 1 game on the record so far — not enough to call it a tendency.

impaid.w

Cardinals · his last 8 games

Throws it

Pass / run66% / 34% Points for / against27.5 — 31.8 Margin-4.2 Giveaways a game1.5 Sacks taken6.4% of dropbacks Lead backJeremiyah Love · 11.9/g Top targetMarvin Harrison Jr · 27% QB carries2.5 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Cardinals receivers vs Browns secondary 84 v 88 BROWNS

Browns receivers vs Cardinals secondary 87 v 87 EVEN

Cardinals line vs Browns front 84 v 88 BROWNS

Browns line vs Cardinals front 83 v 85 EVEN

Cardinals backs vs Browns run defence 90 v 88 EVEN

Browns backs vs Cardinals run defence 88 v 82 BROWNS

Cardinals passer vs Browns secondary 90 v 88 EVEN

Browns passer vs Cardinals secondary 89 v 87 EVEN

TOP PERFORMERS

Sam Darnold QB Cardinals 303 pass yds

Shedeur Sanders QB Browns 250 pass yds

Marvin Harrison Jr WR Cardinals 106 rec yds

Michael Wilson WR Cardinals 79 rec yds

Jeremiah Smith WR Browns 78 rec yds

Harold Fannin Jr TE Browns 76 rec yds

Jeremiyah Love HB Cardinals 61 rush yds

Denzel Boston WR Browns 58 rec yds

Josh Sweat REDG Cardinals 2.5 sacks

Budda Baker SS Cardinals 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

CARDINALS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Sam Darnold QB	30/46	303	1	0	1	23	91.1

BROWNS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Shedeur Sanders QB	17/29	250	1	1	5	58	83.9

CARDINALS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Jeremiyah Love HB	14	61	4.4	0	5	27	17
Tyler Allgeier HB	11	43	3.9	1	1	11	17
Sam Darnold QB	3	3	1	0	0	0	5
Marvin Harrison Jr WR	0	0	0	0	2	0	0

BROWNS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	LNG
Quinshon Judkins HB	14	16	1.1	1	0	8
Shedeur Sanders QB	4	11	2.8	0	0	6
Dylan Sampson HB	1	1	1	1	0	1
Jeremiah Smith WR	0	0	0	0	1	0
Denzel Boston WR	0	0	0	0	1	0
KC Concepcion Jr WR	0	0	0	0	1	0
Harold Fannin Jr TE	0	0	0	0	1	0
Jerry Jeudy WR	0	0	0	0	1	0

CARDINALS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Marvin Harrison Jr WR	6	106	17.7	0	20	1	23
Michael Wilson WR	9	79	8.8	1	14	0	14
Trey McBride TE	4	36	9	0	7	0	10
Jeremiyah Love HB	4	28	7	0	20	0	18
Tyler Allgeier HB	4	24	6	0	14	0	15
Isaiah Horton WR	1	2	2	0	0	0	2

BROWNS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Jeremiah Smith WR	6	78	13	0	18	1	23
Harold Fannin Jr TE	5	76	15.2	0	22	0	24
Denzel Boston WR	1	58	58	1	55	0	58
KC Concepcion Jr WR	2	30	15	0	5	1	18
Tommy Tremble TE	1	3	3	0	0	2	3
Jerry Jeudy WR	1	3	3	0	1	0	3
Quinshon Judkins HB	1	2	2	0	1	0	2

CARDINALS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	CMP ALW
Mack Wilson Sr MIKE	6	0.5	0	2
Cobie Durant CB	5	0.5	0	2
Budda Baker SS	5	0	1	3
Josh Sweat REDG	4	2.5	0	0
Will Johnson CB	3	0	0	4
Zaven Collins LEDG	3	1	0	1
Cody Simon WILL	2	0	0	0
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson FS	2	0	0	2
Kaleb Proctor DT	2	0	0	0
Walter Nolen III DT	1	0.5	0	0
Max Melton CB	1	0	0	0
Darius Robinson DT	1	0	0	0
Maxwell Hairston CB	1	0	0	1
Kitan Crawford SS	1	0	0	0
Andrew Wingard FS	0	0	0	2

BROWNS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD	FF	CMP ALW
Tyson Campbell CB	8	0	0	1	7
Grant Delpit SS	7	0	1	0	3
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah WILL	6	0	1	0	4
Carson Schwesinger MIKE	6	1	0	0	1
Chau Smith-Wade CB	5	0	0	0	4
Jared Verse REDG	5	0	0	0	0
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren FS	5	0	2	0	5
Quincy Williams WILL	4	0	0	0	2
Denzel Ward CB	3	0	0	0	3
Alex Wright LEDG	1	0	0	0	0
Quincy Rhodes Jr LEDG	1	0	0	0	0
Mason Graham DT	1	0	0	0	0
Mike Hall Jr DT	1	0	0	0	0
John Walker DT	1	0	0	0	0

CARDINALS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Chad Ryland K	4/4	2/2	39

BROWNS

nothing recorded

RECENT FORM

Cardinals

W 30–23 vs Vikings WK 12

W 33–27 vs Bengals WK 11

L 24–30 vs Bears WK 10

Browns

L 20–25 vs Steelers WK 11

L 10–20 vs Jaguars WK 10

L 14–37 vs Rams WK 9

TEAM STATS

Cardinals		Browns
410	TOTAL YARDS	278
303	PASSING YARDS	250
107	RUSHING YARDS	28
1	SACKS ALLOWED	5
5	SACKS MADE	1
0	GIVEAWAYS	1
1	TAKEAWAYS	1

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 CARDINALS — 0 BROWNS

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