Pride of Detroit
If you blinked after the Detroit Lions’ win over the Baltimore Ravens on “Monday Night Football,” you might have missed the week that was: we’re just a few days away from Detroit’s next matchup. For the second week in a row, the Lions face off with an AFC North opponent, this time welcoming the Cleveland Browns to Ford Field.
So we’re back for another installment of “5 Questions,” this time with Chris Pokorny, the Site Manager of Dawgs By Nature, to give us some insight into who deserves credit for the Browns’ dominant run defense, if Joe Flacco at age 40 is the guy Cleveland can count on this season, and which group of pass catchers have been most effective for the Browns this early into the season.
1. The defense for the Cleveland Browns has shown up each and every game so far, and it seems to start with their run defense (-44.3% in defensive rushing DVOA).
Who are those contributors most responsible for the Browns’ success in holding the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, and Green Bay Packers to just 2.3 yards per carry across 75 (!) carries? What does their approach to stopping the run look like in the front seven?
“The degree of consistency has been crazy, as having a stout run defense isn’t something that Browns fans are accustomed to. It’s easy to assume that rookie DT Mason Graham and LB Carson Schwesinger are the difference makers in Cleveland after being drafted so highly, but I think veteran DT Maliek Collins has had a big impact in that area. DE Myles Garrett is known for his pass rushing ability, but he has stepped up his game in the run department as well. Defenders are making clean tackles, and the rotation that Cleveland is deploying is working very effectively. Even the jet sweeps that used to be major weaknesses for the defense, are being held to minimal gains.”
2. While the run defense has absolutely shut down opposing rushing attacks, the pass defense (4.1%, 18th in DVOA) has been more average through the first few weeks.
Myles Garrett is obviously part of generating some pressure up front, but who else is someone for Lions fans to keep an eye on from Cleveland’s pass rush? Some recognizable, homegrown names on the backend of Cleveland’s defense in Denzel Ward, Grant Delpit, and Greg Newsome II–what’s working, and not working, for the Browns in the secondary?
“*The Browns’ other defensive end spot is anchored by a rotation of Isaiah McGuire and Alex Smith, and they generate a decent amount of pressure. I circle back to DT Maliek Collins, though, who has been an all-around monster. Linebackers Devin Bush and Carson Schwesinger are handling their assignments well. The fact that everyone can more than hold their own in the starting 11 has made a big difference—there’s just a great deal of speed and discipline, and teams haven’t been able to gameplan for it well. If I had to guess, the Browns’...
