GREAT
JOSH
GORDON’S
SEASON TO
REMEMBER
I
n another gloomy Browns season, there was one bright light for fans. Josh Gordon burst on to the scene after serving a
two-game suspension, shattered team records and was named first-team All-Pro. Big, fast and strong, he was a handful
for defenses, who never could quite figure out how to slow him down. He became the first Browns player to lead the
NFL in receiving yards, finishing with a team-record 1,646 yards on 87 receptions. Gordon’s 261 yards receiving against
Jacksonville on Dec. 1 set a club record, breaking the record 237 he set just the week before against Pittsburgh — and making
him the only receiver in NFL history with back-to-back 200-yard games. Gordon’s per-game average of 117.6 receiving yards
led the league and ranks sixth in NFL history. He set another NFL record by gaining 774 yards over a four-game stretch
from Nov. 17 to Dec. 8. Whoever quarterbacks the team next year, you can be sure he’ll be looking for No. 12 early and often.
GORDON
87
Receptions
T-11th in NFL
1,646
Receiving yards
1st in NFL
117.6
Yards per game
1st in NFL
18.9
Yards per catch
2nd in NFL
9
Touchdowns
T-14th in NFL
A.J.
Green
Bengals
1,646
Josh
Gordon
Browns
Antonio
Brown
Steelers
1,499
Calvin
Johnson
Lions
1,492
Demaryius
Thomas
Broncos
1,430
1,426
2013 NFL
leaders
receiving yards
Gordon led the league despite
playing two fewer games than
Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown.
Yards Year
Josh Gordon 1,646 2013
Braylon Edwards 1,289 2007
Webster Slaughter 1,236 1989
Mac Speedie 1,146 1947
Kellen Winslow 1,106 2007
1
2
3
4
5
Elite company
Gordon eclipsed Braylon Edwards’
single-season franchise receiving record
in his 10th game, six fewer than Edwards.
The single-season receiving top five:
Three for the money
Another impressive element of Gordon’s
season is that he had 10-plus catches, 200-
plus yards and at least one TD from each of
three quarterbacks. Here is the breakdown:
217
YARDS
BRIAN HOYER
14 Receptions, 27 attempts
JASON CAMPBELL
42 receptions in 82 attempts
769
YARDS
Completion Touchdown Targeted incompletion
660
YARDS
31 receptions in 45 attempts
BRANDON WEEDEN
Campbell Weeden
Hoyer
Going long
Gordon finished the season
with 30 catches for more than
20 yards. Here’s a look at the
longest:
95 YARDS / TOUCHDOWN
In a 32-28 loss to the
Jaguars, Gordon catches a
pass at the 23 and runs 77
yards for the score.
80 YARDS / TOUCHDOWN
In a 27-26 loss to New Eng-
land, Gordon grabs a 9-yard
pass, stiff-arms CB Aqib Talib
and races the remaining 71
yards to the end zone.
74 YARDS / TOUCHDOWN
In a 41-20 loss to Cincinnati,
Gordon catches a pass 35
yards downfield and races
the rest of the way for a TD.
47 YARDS / 3 TIMES / 1 TD
Gordon caught his first
pass of the year at the 15 and
went in for the score in a 31-
27 win over the Vikings. He
also had 47-yarders in a 23-17
loss to the Chiefs and 27-11
loss to the Steelers.
PLAIN DEALER GRAPHIC BY TONY BRIGGMIN AND DENNIS MANOLOFF; GORDON PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN KUNTZ. ©2014
For more on Gordon’s great season, go to cleveland.com/gordon
