Force Turnovers from Jimmy Garoppolo
One note from the first three games the 49ers have played: the Steelers and defensive coordinator Keith Butler made 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo noticeably uncomfortable. Even though they weren’t able to pull off the win in San Francisco, the Steelers forced Garoppolo into two interceptions and forced two fumbles from 49ers running backs.
Garoppolo has thrown at least one interception in each of the 49ers’ three games this season. Last year, Garoppolo threw a hat trick of picks in the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings. Since signing his record deal with San Francisco during the 2018 offseason, Garoppolo has recorded a 10-7 touchdown to interception ratio. The Browns need to capitalize on his inefficiencies and turn them into points.
San Francisco’s saving grace against the Steelers was Pittsburgh’s utter lack of any offensive consistency. Despite tacking on four turnovers, Pittsburgh only scraped together six first-half points. Fortunately for the Browns, they showed in Week 4 that they can score, and creating turnovers will only make it easy for Baker Mayfield and the offense.
Having an extra day to hopefully get cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams off of the injury report could be big for Cleveland. The Browns’ backup secondary has played well for two weeks under defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, but it seems like only a matter of time before the Browns’ unbreaking back line of defense finally snaps.