Behind several new Browns records and spectacular play by a few players including Myles Garrett and Kareem Hunt the Browns earned an ‘A’ in several areas
When the Cleveland Browns took the field Sunday to face the Chicago Bears, there were many questions surrounding its defense and exactly what we were to expect moving forward. That defense had given up a lot of yards, especially in the secondary in the first two games of the season.
There was speculation surrounding Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods and what he would need to do to stop the conversation as it pertained to his job security.
Well much of those negative vibes, at least for this week came to a sudden halt as the Browns defense came to play and dominated the Bears in 26-6 drubbing. Cleveland’s defense only gave up 47 total yards of offense in the whole game. The Browns on the other hand had 418 yards of total offense. Amazing!
The Browns defense also registered nine sacks, which was three more then the number of first downs that the Bears were able to get all game.
Let’s go and look a little more closely at each part of the teams’ performance from Sunday and give them our grade for the game.
Special Teams Grade: A
“In Phil We Trust”, was a common saying back in the day for Browns fans as it reference the Browns great former place kicker Phil Dawson, who played with the Browns from 1999-2012 because Dawson never missed field goals and could be counted on by the Browns and its faithful fan base to score points in some very lean years of Browns football. That saying might now be “In Chase We Trust”, for new Browns place kicker Chase McLaughlin
On Sunday McLaughlin was outstanding, kicking a First Energy Stadium record 57 yard field goal. He also connected on three more field goals to help the Browns extend their lead and pull away from the Bears.
The Browns have had a series of mishaps with trying to find a reliable place kicker over the last several years. Will McLaughlin’s stellar play continue? He certainly looks the part and the fans walked away from this game appreciating his efforts.
The Browns return game was good Sunday as well. Rookie returner Demetric Felton continues his impressive start to the season. In this game he had seven returns for 103 yards including a nifty 24 yard run back.
Myles Garrett and the Defense Grade: A
The Browns defense really stepped up in the victory over the Bears. They registered nine sacks on the day. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett had 4.5 of those, which is a record for a Brown defender in a game.
I’ve never seen Garrett so animated throughout the game. As a spectator at the stadium, I was amused how Garrett was constantly trying to get the crowd into the game and after making sack after sack as he was playing to the crowd and cameras like I’ve never seen. He was excited and that got his teammates pumped up to play inspiring ball.
One of those players was rookie linebacker Jerimiah Owusu-Koramoah who was all over the field and finished with four tackles and a half sack. There were several pass deflections made by the Browns defenders Denzal Ward, Greg Newsome and Ronnie Harrison Jr. as the Bears struggled to find any type of rhythm on offense.
Chicago only had 47 total yards of offense and netted just one yard of passing all game. That type of defensive stat line hasn’t occurred by a Browns team since 1946, which happens to be the retro uniforms the team was wearing to honor the start of the Browns franchise. So very eerily fitting to have that occur for this game.
Offense Grade B
While the game was never in doubt and the Browns won handily 26-6 over the Bears, the Browns did have a few issues at the beginning of the game that were somewhat concerning, especially for our offensive line that seemed to struggle more than usual on this day.
On the Browns first two opening offensive possessions, they were halted on 4th down attempts, in which the offensive line struggled. I questioned Browns coach Kevin Stefanski a few more times throughout the game because of some of his play calls, but nonetheless the Browns pulled away later in the second half.
The game was tight until the final Browns drive of the first half when quarterback Baker Mayfield connected with tight end Austin Hooper on a nice 13 yard play in the endzone. It gave the team a bit of momentum going into the break.
The second half included several more runs by the Browns powerful running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt who combined for 165 yards on the ground. It was Hunt too that really was on fire as he was very energized and animated as well and that led to his impressive 29 yard scamper late in the game to put the game out of reach.
The other big headline coming into the game was Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and his first game back since last season due to injury. Beckham was outstanding as he grabbed five passes for 77 yards. He certainly seemed to shake off the cobwebs and looked very much on the same page with Mayfield.
Cleveland totaled 418 yards of offense on 78 total plays and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes of the game clock. All very impressive. The Browns now have had games of 457, 355, and 418 yards of total offense. Mayfield used to play at Oklahoma in college and these offensive numbers are more reminiscent of those days.
So not a bad day at the office at all for these Browns. Now they’ll take their 2-1 record on the road to face the Minnesota Vikings. With a much better defensive performance like this past Sunday, the Browns are gaining some nice momentum.