Mike Rutenberg didn’t blink against Aaron Rodgers, and the Browns walked away with the kind of defensive performance that can change the feel of a game.
Cleveland’s defensive coordinator chose to lean hard into man coverage, and not just in a small dose. According to Next Gen Stats, the Browns were in man on 73.3 percent of Rodgers’ dropbacks, the heaviest rate in the NFL so far this season. That is a serious bet to make against a quarterback long known for diagnosing coverage, controlling the line of scrimmage, and firing with elite anticipation.
The message from Cleveland was clear from the start: crowd Rodgers, get after him, and make the Steelers’ receivers win their matchups. Most of the night, that gamble paid off. Rodgers had his moments and the game still came down to the wire, but the Browns’ secondary held up more often than not.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy admitted the approach caught his eye.
"It was a five-man pressure, man-to-man game," McCarthy said. "They established that right from the beginning.
That's the challenge that we went up against all night. It was herky jerky."
The Browns’ defensive backs deserve plenty of the credit. Denzel Ward is already shadowing top receivers more than he has at any point in his career, and Rutenberg kept mixing things up enough to make the plan work. Tyson Campbell spent time on Steelers wideout DK Metcalf, then Ward was put back on him once Metcalf started to get rolling.
Rodgers finished just 1 yard short of ending Cleveland’s streak of 49 straight games without allowing a quarterback to reach 300 passing yards. The Browns also got to him five times and hit him repeatedly, disrupting the timing that makes his game go.
What stands out most is how Rutenberg has handled the defense since Week 1. Cleveland got burned early while leaning more zone-heavy, but he went back to what worked under Jim Schwartz and adjusted the scheme to the personnel instead of forcing the personnel into the scheme.
So far, that has meant a little bit of everything. Rutenberg can disguise coverages and move pieces around.
He can also simply line up and dare the other side to beat him. Against Rodgers, the straight-up challenge worked like a charm.
The defense, like the team around it, is still coming together, and there are still moving parts to manage. Mason Graham’s absence will force more adjustments, and it might open the door for a much-needed Jared Verse breakout. In the secondary, the Browns are playing more aggressively than ever, and rookie safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren may have earned a bigger role in Week 4.
Some coaches stay married to their first idea even when it stops working. Rutenberg went back to the drawing board, built something better for the roster he has, and trusted it against one of the best passers in NFL history. This time, that was enough.
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The Browns entered this draft with a clear idea of what they wanted, even after dealing away their sixth overall pick to Kansas City. Through the first four games, the class has already given Cleveland some early return, with Spencer Fano, KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren all finding ways to contribute right away. Boston has stood out in particular, quickly becoming a key target for Deshaun Watson and giving the offense a young playmaker to lean on.
What has made the conversation more interesting is how uneven the rest of the class has looked by comparison. Several picks have yet to appear in regular-season action, and the Browns are also dealing with at least one player who is not currently with the team because of off-field issues. For a team that has spent years trying to nail the draft, the debate now is not just about whether Cleveland found talent, but how much of this class is actually ready to help right now. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Fans Have 4 Week 4 Games That Suddenly Matter
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So while the Browns keep an eye on the division race, there are four games in particular that could help shape both the path ahead and the value of that future draft asset. A few of those matchups can tilt the standings in ways that affect future opponents, and the Rams record is now part of the conversation too, which gives this otherwise early-season slate a very Browns-specific twist. [Read more 🡒]
Jared Verse Is Facing An Early Browns Problem He Has To Fix
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Verses edge has never been in doubt, and his intensity has been part of what made him such an intriguing addition in the first place. But the emotional weight of the move and the expectations that came with it appear to be part of the challenge now, as Cleveland waits to see whether his production starts matching the reputation that followed him in. [Read more 🡒]