Cleveland Browns studs and duds from Week 3 loss to the Rams

Stud: Steve Wilks

Steve Wilks had his work cut out for him on Sunday night due to all of the injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Wilks was without his entire starting secondary and Christian Kirksey, leaving the Browns defense with five backups as starters against the talented Rams defense.

But even with all of the injuries, Wilks used a great game plan and play-calling to keep the Rams offense in check and helped give the defense opportunities to make plays.

Wilks was sending out several different personnel packages and aligning them in ways that forced Jared Goff to make difficult pre-snap reads. If he did not make the correct initial read, the Browns were able to generate enough pressure to cause problems for Goff.

The alignments Wilks put together also created problems for the Rams rushing attack. The Browns were covering all gaps pre-snap, forcing the Rams to run off the edge instead of being able to attack the middle of the defense. The Browns had good run support on the edge, which caused the Rams run game to sputter.

The Rams were still able to pick apart the Browns secondary, especially with Kupp. But for the hand Wilks was dealt, he did a phenomenal job of finding holes in Sean McVay’s offense and taking advantage of it.

The Browns offense continued to be inconsistent and needed the defense to step up on Sunday night. Wilks had a great game plan and kept the Browns in the game, even with the Browns offense only scoring 13 points.