What is the story about?
The Browns’ defense allowed 299 passing yards against Aaron Rodgers, keeping that 300-yard streak alive by the literal thinnest of margins. The pressure kept coming from a variety of spots, sacking Rodgers five times and frustrating him for much of the day.
Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on defense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Defensive Line
- Cleveland suffered unfortunate injuries on the defensive front with Mason Graham exiting early, and Mike Hall also laboring. Hall returned and graded as one of the team’s worst defenders by PFF (30.3), but also had a bit of a heroic sack to prevent points.
- Isaiah McGuire continues to be the most effective defensive end on the team. He logged another sack and was the highest-graded defender by PFF, grading out to an 82.3.
Linebacker
- Quincy Williams has sold me after these last two games, I hope he can keep it up as a quality addition.
- Carson Schwesinger was the third-highest graded player on defense by PFF, grading out to a 69.2.
- One snap, one tackle for Easton Mascarenas-Arnold.
Cornerback
- Denzel Ward is having a hell of a season. This time, he added an interception that really helped shift the early momentum of the game after Pittsburgh has a long opening drive.
- Tyson Campbell played all but one snap, so hopefully that is good for his long-term prospects if staying healthy.
- Aftee a couple solid efforts, this was a dropoff in production for Myles Harden. He was the lowest-graded defender by PFF, grading out to a 25.3.
- I’ve preached several times how I love how this coaching staff comes up with a different game plan per opponent;
Safety
- How about Emmanuel McNeil-Warren? After playing 25% of the snaps in the first three games, it jumped to 50% this week, and he played the center field role great to bust up a couple passes. Those will be interceptions at some point. He was the Browns’ second-highest graded defender by PFF, grading out to a 70.4.
