Dawgs By Nature
Two communication breakdowns ruin the day on defense.
Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on defense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 9 game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
DL: It wasn’t the Browns’ defensive line that was responsible for the loss to the Chargers. Myles Garrett had three sacks on the day (although all of them came within a four-play stretch), and then the now-departed Za’Darius Smith (77.8), Dalvin Tomlinson (89.1), and Isaiah McGuire (78.8) were the team’s top-three graded defenders, according to PFF.
LB: Even though the Browns’ front seven didn’t appear to be the reason for their downfall against the Chargers, the team still missed their anchor in Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, as Mohamoud Diabate tries to take on a bigger role for these next couple of weeks. Winston Reid and Nathaniel Watson had some snaps, but not a significant amount.
CB: This has been a great, lockdown season for Denzel Ward. And yet, it’s frustrating that two communication errors led to wide-open touchdowns. Was it on Ward or Juan Thornhill? They each took the blame.
S: The Browns’ safety plan this week obviously gets lumped into the negative, due to the Thornhill/Ward situation. And still, it has to be so stunning that with a defensive front that generates as many pressures as Cleveland does, that the defense has one interception all season (and that was from a linebacker).
