As we are now in the month of September, that means football is upon us. The offseason is long gone, the preseason is complete, and 53-man rosters are in place as coaches prepare for Week 1 opponents.
With all that in the rearview mirror, we get to look at some final power rankings before all that shuffling begins with wins and losses affecting things. The latest rankings are from ESPN and their group of beat writers. They ranked the Browns 31st after an offseason and preseason that was confusing, yet predictable, at times for a team looking to simply improve and develop before a hopefully bigger 2027.
However, within those rankings was a question for the beat writers to have fans follow. When it came to the Browns, it was the Browns' defense
breaking the record for consecutive games without allowing a 300-yard passer.
ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi writes, "The Browns have gone 45 straight games without allowing a quarterback to throw for 300 yards, the longest streak in the NFL since the Colts went 52 games from 2005 to 2008. Cleveland could break the record in Week 8, a road matchup against the Steelers. The defense, though, will have to achieve the milestone without reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and with a new coordinator in Mike Rutenberg."
It will be a tough task without Myles Garrett, but Week 1 will expose this defense and how good it remains. A talented Trevor Lawrence and Jaguars' passing attack that averaged 235 yards per game but had just one 300-yard game. The streak could get to 36, or they get caught off guard; something will have to give.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Beat writer keeping tabs on Browns' defense closing in on record
