Like most things in life, two things can be true while seeming counterintuitive to each other. While the Cleveland Browns are winning games,sitting at 5-2 and at the top of the AFC North, there are regular concerns about the team’s ability to get quick pressure off the edge to impact the quarterback. DE Jared Verse doesn’t have a sack, leading at least one of us to wonder if the Browns should trade the prize piece from the DE Myles Garrett deal
.The concern is indicated by all the NFL trade deadline
rumors connecting Cleveland to pass rushers.
While the narrative that edge pressure is a problem is true, the Browns defense has also been very good and, as a whole, has been getting a lot of pressure, just not in the way that fans are used to with Garrett. In fact, this year’s defense has gotten more sacks and pressures than last year’s, when Garrett was on the way to setting the single-season sack record:
“Four equals one. We say it all the time,” a Browns source tells me. “There’s a rush plan within the game plan. It’s worked on and met about. It’s practiced.”
The Browns’ 20 sacks and 108 pressures to this point outpace the 18 sacks and 81 pressures at the same time last year, when Myles Garrett set the all-time single-season record for sacks… But they’ve gotten more production from the interior of the defensive line. Mason Graham and Maliek Collins have combined for 7½ sacks.
Would it be helpful if Cleveland was able to get quick pressure off the edge? Certainly. It does seem, however, that DC Mike Rutenberg’s plan is about causing havoc, more than creating immediate pressure from just the edge players:
“Our DBs have been really good in coverage,” says a second team source. “Creating pressure with his exotic looks up front and rush stunts, especially with the defensive tackles. Better rush discipline with the group.”
Rutenberg has also quickly adjusted from the blowout loss in Week 1, showing signs of a good coordinator whose focus is to put his players in the best position to succeed:
Removing the Week 1 game against Jacksonville when the Jaguars put up 34 points, the Browns rank fourth in the NFL in total defensive EPA, behind only the Vikings, Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The defense has kept Cleveland in games long enough for the offense to put together five game-winning drives.
In total, 11 defenders have sacks for the Browns so far this season:
- Mason Graham – 4
- Maliek Collins – 3.5
- Isaiah McGuire – 3
- Adin Huntington – 2.5
- Sam Kamara – 1
- Quincy Williams – 1
- Sam Williams – 1
- Mike Hall Jr. – 1
- Carson Schwesinger – 1
- Ronnie Hickman – 1
- Grant Delpit – 1
Somehow, without Garrett or anyone getting a ton of quick pressure off the edge by themselves, Cleveland’s defense continues to be top-notch and is racking up sacks and pressures at a higher rate than last season. Adding a quick pressure player off the edge could make things better, but the key will be whether they fit into the system Rutenberg and company have put into place and found success with already.
Are you surprised by the pressure and sack numbers this year compared to Garrett and company last year at this time?
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