Browns Defense Should Have Fans Dreaming Big After Stifling 49ers
If defense truly does still wins championships in 2023, the Cleveland Browns may have a February trip to Las Vegas in their future.
Hyperbolic? Maybe. Overreaction to a miraculous, 19-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers? Perhaps. But make no mistake about it, this Browns defense is on a path of meteoric greatness. Defenses that good belong in the same sentence as "Super Bowl."
Coming into Week Six, the 49ers' offense was top three in total yards per game (402.6), rushing yards per game (156.8) and scoring (33.4). Their passing offense was top 10, they were top five in additional categories such as third down conversion percentage and red zone offense. They also had given up a league two, two giveaways through five games.
Kyle Shanahan's offense was a machine. On Sunday he ran into his kryptonite: Jim Schwartz, whose 8-1 record against the offensive prodigy as a coordinator of head coach was well documented this week.
There were reasons to doubt that ownage by Schwartz would continue. Cleveland was missing star quarterback Deshaun Watson, veteran guard Joel Bitonio, obviously Nick Chubb to boot. It didn't matter.
The Browns held San Francisco to a season-low 215 total yards, including just 107 through the air. Brock Purdy, who was the league's top passer, touting a league passer rating of 121.1 and completion percentage over 70-percent, was frazzled all afternoon.
Particularly in the second half, Purdy looked extremely uncomfortable as the likes of Myles Garrett, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Zadarius Smith and Dalvin Tomlinson forced him to speed up his internal clock.
Garrett's status in this league is well known by now, but this was bigger than him. The pressure was unrelenting, with sacks coming from the second level of the defense from the likes of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Sione Takitaki. Tomlinson didn't have a sack but very well may have been the player of the game.
As a group, the defense combined for three total sacks, six QB hits and five tackles for loss, as Purdy dinked and dunked his way to a forgettable 12-of-27, 125 yard, one interception performance.
Mr. Irrelevant was made very much that.
Cleveland's dominance came in many other forms too.
One of the most important metrics game-in-and-game-out is third down defense or in other words, is your defense getting off the field? The Browns held the 49ers to three-of-12 on such attempts.
Here's a wild one: through their first six possessions in the second half, the Browns had held San Francisco to four yards of total offense. That's not a typo.
Of course another feather in their cap is holding the second best scoring offense in the NFL to just 17 points. It's the third time this season Cleveland has held an opponent under 20 points. Through five games, the defense is yielding just 15.4 points per game.
In a way, the tone was set before the two teams even lined up in between the lines after a pre-game brwal broke out between the two teams near mid-field. Perhaps it was act of foreshadowing.
The Browns dragged San Francisco a dark alley, mugged them and left them cold and helpless, coweing in the fetal position. They mucked the game up. And by God, it worked.
No amount of hand wringing would be enough for Schwartz, for his ability to turn this defense around from a year go. His imprint is all over this performance and suddenly, he's got Browns fans dreaming of things they never thought were possible – meaningful February football.
