As the Cleveland Browns were busy losing a ton of games the last two years, their defense was playing at an elite level led by DC Jim Schwartz and DE Myles Garrett. When the Browns decided to hire Todd Monken as their next head coach, instead of Schwartz, and the veteran coordinator decided to walk away instead of coaching the team, eyes were raised about a possible defensive turndown.
Then Garrett was traded to the Los Angeles Rams and everyone expected Cleveland’s defense to get worse by a lot.
After a Week 1 destruction, fans were calling for Schwartz to return. Instead of falling apart, the Browns defense came together with a lot of pass rush pressure and a team effort to three straight victories, leading to the top spot in the AFC North.
In a video podcast about preseason expectations that were completely off, Cleveland’s defense received a lot of praise:
The Browns defense is far from perfect, but they are far less predictable with DC Mike Rutenberg than they were with Schwartz and seem to be playing a more unified approach without the “easy button” of Garrett. With teams no longer double teaming one guy, running away from Garrett, and scheming against one player, different Cleveland defenders have been able to make an impact.
After Week 1, where Rutenberg failed to play to his defensive backs’ strength in man coverage, not only did the Browns play in 73% man versus the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4, but Cleveland is lapping other teams in the coverage style for the season:
Even the best units usually run zone coverage more than 50% of the time, for a variety of reasons. Man coverage is physically hard for players to run consistently, receivers know their routes and have the ability to separate often, and consistent man coverage can get beat with specific route combinations and often leads to quarterback scrambles being wide open.
None of that has been a major problem for Cleveland because the defensive backfield is very talented, and the pass rush pressure, starting with Jared Verse and Mason Graham, along with blitzers, has sped up the clock on quarterbacks. Speedy linebackers Carson Schwesinger and Quincy Williams have helped contain the quarterback as well.
No Schwartz and no Garrett led to strong convictions that the Browns defense would fall off in 2026. Instead, Rutenberg and the talented players have played at an elite level since Week 1, with more challenges to come.
