The Browns keep hearing the same complaint, even while the results keep piling up: where’s the edge rush?
Cleveland is 5-2 and sitting on top of the AFC North, but the conversation around the defense keeps circling back to quick pressure off the edge. That concern has only grown with DE Jared Verse still without a sack, enough to prompt at least one question about whether the Browns should trade the prize piece from the DE Myles Garrett deal.
And yet the broader picture tells a different story. The Browns are getting pressure. They’re just getting it in a way that looks different from what fans got used to with Garrett.
Through this point in the season, Cleveland has 20 sacks and 108 pressures. At the same stage last year, with Garrett on the way to setting the single-season sack record, the Browns had 18 sacks and 81 pressures.
“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 biggest difference has come inside. Mason Graham and Maliek Collins have combined for 7½ sacks, giving the Browns production from the defensive line interior that has helped make up for the lack of a dominant edge presence.
That doesn’t mean Cleveland wouldn’t welcome more speed off the outside. It would. But the current setup appears to be built around disruption rather than a straight-line race to the quarterback from the edge.
“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.”
Mike Rutenberg has also shown the ability to pivot after the Week 1 blowout loss to Jacksonville, when the Jaguars scored 34 points. Since then, the defense has settled in and looked like one of the league’s better units.
If you take out that Week 1 game, the Browns rank fourth in the NFL in total defensive EPA, trailing only the Vikings, Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That defense has helped keep Cleveland in games long enough for the offense to finish off five game-winning drives.
The sack production has been spread all over the roster. Eleven different defenders have gotten to the quarterback so far:
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
So while the edge-rush concern is real, it’s not the whole story. Cleveland’s defense is still playing at a high level, and it’s doing it without Garrett or a single edge player taking over games on his own. If the Browns do add another quick-pressure threat, the bigger question is whether that player fits the system Rutenberg and the staff have already built into something that’s working.
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Even with the loss, there were a couple of individual bright spots for Cleveland, including Harold Fannin Jr. turning in a career-best day as a receiver. But the bigger picture was hard to miss: Pittsburgh controlled the line of scrimmage, Jaylen Warren ripped off 143 rushing yards, and the Browns were left with the kind of physical imbalance that tends to linger long after one divisional game ends. [Read more 🡒]
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Browns Keep Falling Into The Same Trap In AFC North Losses
The Browns latest AFC North loss followed a familiar script, with a sluggish offensive start and self-inflicted mistakes helping put them in a hole against Pittsburgh. Cleveland fell 27-6 in Week 8, and even though Deshaun Watson finished with 27 completions for 324 yards, the early turnovers and a string of penalties made it tough for the offense to ever find a rhythm.
Penalties have become a recurring problem in these division games, and this one was no exception, with taunting calls among the flags that helped stall drives and swing momentum. Cleveland now has to reset quickly for its next game against the New Orleans Saints, but the bigger issue is harder to ignore: until the Browns clean up the mistakes that keep showing up in AFC North play, the results are likely to keep looking the same. [Read more 🡒]