Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns took a major step back on defense in 2024.
A year after making a playoff run on the backs of quarterback Joe Flacco and one of the best defensive seasons since 2000, the defense fell to No. 25 in DVOA.
There were many contributors to the decline, from the season-ending injury to linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to tackling issues in the secondary, an inability to get off the field on third downs, and a lack of turnovers. The defense was tasked every week with trying to clean up after a historically bad offense, which helped lead to the 18th season of double-digit losses since 1999.
The schedule did the Browns no favors, either, especially when it came to the level of play from the quarterbacks the defense faced each week.
In an odd quirk, the Browns faced a team’s No. 1 quarterback almost 94 percent of the time in 2024, according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, which was the highest in the league. That is compared to the league average of 76.4 percent.
The only time Cleveland faced a backup quarterback came in Week 17 against the Miami Dolphins, when Tyler Huntley was filling in for Tua Tagovailoa. That still did not help, of course, as Huntley was 22-of-26 for 225 yards and a touchdown as he “outdueled” Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Looking at the rest of the AFC North, the Cincinnati Bengals faced a team’s top quarterback only 64 percent of the time, but were still shredded on a weekly basis. The Pittsburgh Steelers were right at the league average at 76.6 percent, while the Baltimore Ravens were at 81.6 percent.
This year’s schedule is full of tough matchups as well, as in addition to the annual home-and-home meeting with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, the Browns will face Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers, Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers, and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills.
Cleveland’s quarterback situation should be better this year, which will help, but for a defense that talks a lot about how good they can be, they need to get back to putting those words into action, no matter who the opposing quarterback is on a given week.
