Cleveland Browns Week 9 grades: With Odell Beckham gone, unified team gets an A
By John Suchan
Cleveland Browns Defensive Grade: A
Let’s hear it for the boys! I mean the Browns defense.
After making all of Cleveland sweat at the start of the game because the Cincinnati Bengals had glided down the field without any turbulence, cornerback Denzel Ward came to the rescue, stole a pass intended for Ja’marr Chase, and rumbled 99 yards the other direction for a big score. It was the beginning of several impressive plays where the Cleveland defense turned the Bengals over.
The Browns have struggled in the takeaway battle on Sundays as of late. They had only recorded seven turnovers on the year and on Sunday, they got three. John Johnson III was a part of two of those as he scooped up a fumble and ran toward pay dirt. He also grabbed a third-quarter tipped ball and nearly scored on his run back of the interception.
Cleveland also turned Cincinnati over on downs early in the second quarter that resulted in a quick touchdown as a result. Quarterback Baker Mayfield found wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones streaking down the center of the field for a beautiful 60-yard touchdown as well.
The front four defensive linemen, like Myles Garrett and Malik McDowell, caused a lot of uneasiness for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Garrett got to Burrow 1.5 times so that he now has a league-best 12 sacks on the year.
The Browns corners, like Ward, Greg Newsome II and Troy Hill all knocked away passes to the Cincinnati receivers. Hill even got into the sack game as he chased down a flustered Burrow twice. Not to be overlooked on the day, veteran linebacker Anthony Walker recorded a whopping 14 tackles on the day. A nice day’s work indeed.
In the end, the Browns gave up only two touchdowns on the day and the first one happened at the start of the contest. In the last three games, the defense has settled in on the season and has only given up 16, 15, and 14 points.