In improbable fashion, the Cleveland Browns will enter Week 7 with a 4-2 mark. Cleveland sits atop the AFC North thanks to a stingy defense, special teams coming through in some big spots — particularly in the kicking game — and timely plays from Deshaun Watson and the offense.
But make no mistake, it’s evident the Browns have been led by their defense throughout this stretch.
Cleveland is currently fifth in the league in scoring defense, eighth in pass defense, tied for second in sacks, and fourth in defensive success rate, per SumerSports.
In Cleveland's last win over the Baltimore Ravens, Carson Schwesinger forced a huge fumble by Derrick Henry, and the Browns converted the short field into a game-tying touchdown. Schwesinger had 13 combined tackles in that contest while playing through a sprained ankle, and he forced a fumble for the second straight week.
Following Cleveland's win, Schwesinger expressed how the Browns have been preaching the importance of generating turnovers.
"We talk about the ball's oxygen and that's something that was big in the offseason for me and trying to find ways to get the ball out in the run game," the linebacker said. "So I was able to get one of those, and we were able to obviously get on top of it and get the ball and put the offense in a good position to score and really be able to get the momentum going."
Browns defense can take another leap by turning its takeaway emphasis into results
Cleveland’s defense ranks tied for 18th in takeaways through six games, but that doesn’t mean it can’t step it up a notch going forward. The Browns forced four fumbles in their Week 5 loss at the New York Jets, and last week's crucial fumble forced by Schwesinger on Henry in the win over the Ravens gave Cleveland much-needed juice.
For this Cleveland team to be at its best as presently constructed, Schwesinger, Quincy Williams — who forced three fumbles alone against the Jets — Denzel Ward and the defense are going to have to put the offense in advantageous situations. It's evident that when the Browns turn their opponents over, they put themselves in a position to win.
That played out in that Baltimore game last week, when Cleveland was able to tie the game up and eventually get clutch play late in the game again from Watson and Jerry Jeudy.
Despite the offense's struggles over the course of the game, Watson deserves his props for coming up big in clutch time again. The same goes for Andre Szmyt, who rebounded from a missed kick earlier in the fourth quarter on his game-winning field goal as time expired.
Rest assured, this Cleveland defense is more than deserving of the praise it’s received to this point, and the way Schwesinger and company have continually held tough has been nothing short of inspiring to watch.
As Schwesinger highlighted, it’s clear that defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg has been emphasizing the importance of takeaways. They can turn the tide of a game in an instant.
Add us as a preferred source on Google