CLEVELAND -- Brian Hoyer set a Cleveland Browns record he probably did not want to set in Sunday’s 23-7 loss to the Houston Texans.
Hoyer threw 30 incompletions, the most in one game in team history, according to Elias.
He also had the highest number of incompletions in the NFL this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Only 18 times since 1950 have Browns quarterbacks thrown 25 or more incompletions in a game. Hoyer is on the list twice -- 30 against Houston (he went 20-for-50) and 25 against Jacksonville earlier this season, according to Pro Football Reference.
Jason Campbell's 29 incompletions in a loss in Cincinnati a year ago rank second in team history. Some other outstanding Browns quarterbacks had games when they threw a lot of missed passes. Brian Sipe had 28 in a loss to Houston in 1981, and Hall of Famer Otto Graham also had 28 in a 1952 win over Pittsburgh.
The games with the most incompletions in team history break down this way:
Hoyer -- 30
Campbell -- 29
Sipe -- 28
Graham -- 28
Brandon Weeden (2012 and 2013) -- 27 (twice)
Mike Phipps and Sipe (1975) -- 27 (combined)
Four times the Browns had 26 incompletions in a game, seven times they had 25.
Since 1940, 85 teams have finished games with 30 or more incompletions, with the 1988 Chicago Bears finishing with the all-time high of 38.
Clearly as the NFL has turned more into a passing league, games with more incompletions are becoming more common.
The league has had seven games with 30 or more incompletions since 2010.
The Browns have had seven games since 2012 of 25 or more incompletions.
Hoyer did not specifically address the record, but he did say that he is willing to take an incompletion with a throwaway to avoid a sack. Joe Thomas said earlier this season that is one of Hoyer’s strengths.
“That’s just the way I play,” Hoyer said. “I don’t want to put that (sack) on my offensive linemen. If a sack is a negative play, a throwaway I don’t see as a negative play. Maybe your completion percentage won’t be as great, but no game was ever lost on a throwaway.”