Cleveland Browns Week 11 grades: A win is win no matter how ugly
By John Suchan
Cleveland Browns Defensive Grade: B
The Browns defense has been on that roller coaster all season. They had the fortune to play a Lions team Sunday starting a quarterback who was making his first start in the NFL. Some will be bothered by the long touchdown run late in the 3rd quarter by Detroit that cut the lead at the time to 13-7 but the defense didn’t bend in the end and was a major reason the team got the win.
The defense was very good in the first half of the game. They shut the Lions down on four straight possessions. It also included a well-needed interception by linebacker Malcolm Smith who snagged the pick and halted a serious Lions scoring opportunity.
Cleveland got another big takeaway by Denzel Ward who intercepted a deep pass in the third quarter. The teams’ takeaways are starting to catch up to where they finished with 21 a year ago. Now they have 11 forced turnovers. This category will be important in deciding the victor in the upcoming game against the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday Night.
The Browns didn’t record a sack, usually a department they’ve scored high in, and their best defensive lineman, Myles Garrett didn’t make much of an impact in the game. It was also only the second time this season that the NFL sack leader with 13 of them, didn’t get one. Cleveland didn’t put pressure on the Lions’ new quarterback, which was probably the biggest surprise on the day.