Jaguars defense, Foye Oluokun, set the early tone vs Browns with turnover

The Cleveland Browns picked up three quick first downs behind quarterback Deshaun Watson on their first possession against the Jacksonville Jaguarson Sept. 13 at EverBank Stadium.

But linebacker Foye Oluokun said, in effect, "not today, and not this quarterback."

Oluokun put a quick end to the drive that had reached the Jaguars' 28 with his ninth career interception, igniting a streak of six possessions in a row that ended in a turnover or a punt for the Browns as the Jaguars defense dominated in a 34-10 victory in front of 41,156.

While quarterback Trevor Lawrence had a career-best passer rating (150.6), the defense gave the offense short fields the entire game and sacked Watson five times, ending his seven-game winning streak as a starter against

the Jags.

The Jags scored touchdowns after Oluokun's interception and a fumble recovery by Josh Hines-Allen in the second period, and had a third turnover, a recovery of a Watson fumble by Arik Armsteadearly in the fourth period that was overturned because replay officials ruled Watson's knee was down.

Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker lead pass rush

Four Jaguars players were involved in five sacks, with Hines-Allen and Travon Walker getting 1.5 each. Two others who have battled for a starting outside linebacker job, Ventrell Miller and Branson Combs, each had a sack, with Miller adding another tackle for a loss and leading the team with nine stops overall.

When the third quarter ended, the Browns had only 132 total yards and seven first downs.

Hines-Allen, who has a franchise-best 62.5 career sacks, said he found it odd that the Browns won the coin toss and elected to take the ball.

"I was like, 'okay,'" he said. "So, we got that interception; for me it was like that was the statement right there. This is when the game is going to turn, that fast. We kind of continued to do that … stopped the run, eliminated explosive, created turnovers. That's our recipe for success."

Jaguars stopped the run, again

Oluokun spoke after the game of passing the test against Browns' coach Todd Monken's fondness for run-pass option plays, Watson's mobility and a physical young running back in Quinshon Judkins.

"We felt, key-wise, we were on top of things … communications-wise," said Oluokun, who had four tackles. "We took the ball away. We stopped the run … I like the standard we set."

Cleveland had only 87 yards rushing; Judkins had only 33 yards and a 2.8 per-carry average and the Jaguars, who led the NFL in run defense last year, have now gone 18 consecutive regular-season games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.

The Browns converted only one of eight third-down plays and while Watson was 16 of 22, 46 of his 185 yards came on a garbage-time TD pass to Denzel Boston with 1:52 left in the game.

Cleveland converted only one of eight third-down plays and while Watson was 16 of 22, 46 of his 185 yards came on a garbage-time TD pass to Denzel Boston with 1:52 left in the game.

Oluokun's interception turned early momentum

The Browns appeared to be humming on their first possession and on second-and-five at the Jags' 28, Watson dropped back, took note of Miller blitzing, and tried to hit Jerry Jeudy, who had hooked in front of Montaric Brown and appeared open.

Watson underthrew the ball and Oluokun made a leaping catch, then had a weaving, twisting 22-yard return.

"Ventrell got him [Watson] off his spot," Oluokun said.

And if Watson's hurried throw, Oluokun smiled and said, "catch the ones they throw you."

Watson gave Oluokun credit.

"It was just a guy made a play," he said. "I saw the coverage that brought the blitz late up the middle. They timed it up very well. Got knocked off platform, and [No.] 23 made a good play. That's pretty much how that kind of played out. Then we just couldn't get our rhythm back. Couldn't put drives back to help the defense. And Jacksonville made plays and got points and we didn't. And I think that's where the game kind of got away."

Walker, who moved into the top six all-time on the Jaguars with 29 career sacks, said it's a continuation of the tone that was set last season under coordinator Anthony Campanile, when the defense went from being labeled as soft in 2024 to an angry, greedy bunch of ball hawks.

"We just want to continue to grow off of what we did last year," Walker said. "I feel like that was a great example for how we want this team, this defense, to be the standard for the defense. "I felt like we definitely started a lot faster [vs. the Browns] … and that's something that we want to potentially build on every week from here on out."

Finally, a victory over Deshaun Watson

Watson was 6-0 vs. the Jaguars as a starter with Houston from 2018-2020, and led the Browns to a sloppy 18-13 victory over the Jaguars to open the 2024 home schedule.

That was the only game Watson started in 2024 that Cleveland won. He played only seven games because of an Achilles Tendon injury, which kept him out all of last season.

Would he have some magic left for the Jags?

Nope. And the team wasn't making Watson the focal point beyond facing another mobile quarterback.

"New season, new year," said safety Eric Murray. "That [Watson's streak vs. the Jags] wasn't in the forefront of our minds at all."

Hines-Allen said there is room for improvement, especially with a road game at Denver upcoming.

"We can continue to still be one of the best units in the National Football League," he said. "There were areas where I feel like we can improve from last year. We still want to be the number one rush defense. We still want to create takeaways. Also, we want to do a better job on getting to the quarterback and getting him down. I think it was a good start."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars defense, Foye Oluokun, set the early tone vs Browns with turnover