What is the story about?
It was the same script for the Browns’ defense: get picked apart on the first drive to allow a touchdown (and then the second touchdown given up after the turnover). Following that, though, the defense was on track to pitching another shutout for three quarters like they did against the Ravens last week, before the Titans got a fourth down pass to go their way to help tie the game.
Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on defense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 7 game against the Tennessee Titans.
Defensive Line
- Fresh off of a contract extension, Maliek Collins was the team’s highest-graded defensive lineman by PFF, grading out to a 67.0. Mason Graham in his return game did OK, but didn’t register anything on the stat sheet. Cleveland in general, including Collins and Graham, struggled with some missed tackles.
- Jared Verse, for what it’s worth, was the Browns’ second-lowest graded defender on the day by PFF.
- Adin Huntington had the team’s lone sack.
- Sam Kamara played the third of his three eligible practice squad promotions. We’ll see if he gets a call up to the 53-man roster next week.
Linebacker
- Another solid day for Carson Schwesinger. He was the second-highest graded defender by PFF, and was second on the team with 8 combined tackles.
- It was interesting to see that Winston Reid got a few reps for the first time this year; it made me wonder if it was during the Browns’ goal line stand on the Titans, based on the rep count. Sure enough, Reid was credited as having the fourth down stop on Tony Pollard.
Cornerback
- I’m telling you, this is an insane year that Denzel Ward is having. We’ve always known him to be solid, but sometimes health woes have led to some consistency or less dominant times. Not this year: he looks like the best cornerback in the NFL, and graded out as the team’s top defensive player this week by PFF with a grade of 91.5.
Safety
- Emmanuel McNeil-Warren had his reps scaled back this week, but he still made a big impact with 3 tackles, including one for a loss in which he darted in to make a big tackle.
