Silver And Black Pride
With a league-leading 15 sacks and 22 tackles for loss heading into Sunday’s Week 12 matchup inside Allegiant Stadium, the Las Vegas Raiders are going to have their hands full with Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett.
The defensive end is the tip of a long spear that’s the Browns defense. While Cleveland may sport a similar 2-8 overall record like Las Vegas, the Browns defense is no cupcake and presents a stiff challenge for Chip Kelly’s Silver & Black offense.
Garrett, the imposing 6-foot-4, 272-pound 29-year-old, amassed 10 sacks the last three weeks alone — five against the New England Patriots, one against the New York Jets, and four this past Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens — and powers a Browns defense ranked second overall in yards allowed (2,735) and 18th in points allowed (234). Jim Schwartz’s defense ranks first in passing yards allowed (1,670) and 14th in rushing yards given up (1,065). Thus, Garrett does merit maximum attention.
That said, the Raiders must contend with what’s around and behind the supremely talented defensive end. Garrett’s tag team partner at end, Alex Wright, doesn’t have the prolific sack numbers but he’s making stops behind the line of scrimmage with nine to go along with 24 total tackles and four sacks. And rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger has the range and IQ to make plays all over the field as he leads Cleveland with 85 total tackles with eight stops for loss, 1.5 sacks, and is tied for the team lead two interceptions.
Fellow linebacker Devin Bush Jr. also got in the takeaway mix with a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown last Sunday against the Ravens — Cleveland’s lone touchdown in that 23-16 loss the Browns sustained. Safety Ronnie Hickman has two interceptions on the year (tying Schwesinger for the team lead) while fellow safeties Grand Delpit and Rayshawn Jenkins each have a pick, with cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell each have an interception.
Facing interception/tip-prone Raiders quarterback Geno Smith, the Browns are likely champing at the bit to add to their 14 forced turnovers on the season.
Kelly and Co. have their work cut out for them as the Raiders’ 30th ranked offense (in terms of points scored; 155, 15.5 points per game average) is ranked 21st in third down conversions (47 0f 124; 37.9 percent) and 30th in red zone touchdowns (12 touchdowns on 26 visits; 46.2 percent). The Browns defense is stout on third downs and in the red zone sporting the eighth-ranked third-down defense (46 conversions on 128 attempts; 35.9 percent) and seventh-ranked red zone-defense (15 touchdowns allowed on 29 trips; 51.7 percent).
I was going to start out by noting Las Vegas would be wise to slide pass protection/blocking over to Garrett, however, we’ve seen the team not do this against Denver Broncos rusher Nik Bonitto and the linebacker racked up 1.5 sacks, five total tackles, and two stops behind the line of scrimmage because of that in the Raiders’ 10-7 loss back in Week 10....
