If there's been one positive to the Cleveland Browns' season, its been Myles Garrett and the rest of the team's defense. While they weren't able to generate enough takeaways to make up for the teams' lackluster offense, they kept opponents to fairly low scoring in most games - and even managed to make Patrick Mahomes look human in Week 15.
Garrett has, of course, been the head of the snake for the defense. His 14 sacks are now tied for first overall in the league, and he continues to be one of the best pass rushers in history with the Browns. He even made new history in Week 17 despite the loss, which just goes to show how little he conceded despite the game clearly getting away from Cleveland early.
Let's take a look at the rest of the defense and how they graded out against a shorthanded Miami Dolphins offense.
Defensive line: A
When you have a pass rusher who records his fourth straight season of 14 or more sacks, you have to give the entire line an A. Aside from Garrett, though, Isaiah McGuire had a sack, and the line overall put tons of pressure on Tyler Huntley the entire contest. While he still got off over 200 passing yards and a touchdown, he faced a lot of pressures in the pocket.
Read more: Grading the Browns offense from Week 17 against Dolphins
The line has seen some interesting growth over the last few games. Rookies Jowon Briggs and Mike Hall Jr. had a decent amount of snaps against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15, but didn't get much run in Week 16 or 17. Hopefully, they get a final shot at proving their value to the line in Week 18.
Corners: B+
This was a great game from Martin Emerson Jr. and Denzel Ward. Ward, who did leave the game with a shoulder injury, continued to lead the league in deflected passes with 19 headed into the game, and he went to work alongside Emerson until he got hurt. With him out, Cam Mitchell did a solid job defensively and even managed to get the jump on a sack during the game.
Miami managed to put up 20 points in this game, which is fairly low. Had the Browns had a competent offense - or if they were even trying to win - it probably would have been a contest. Once again, the corners and defensive line for the Browns were trying to do everything in their power to keep the game close, all for it to end in a loss.
Safeties: B
Grant Delpit in particular stood out amongst the safeties for the Browns in Week 17. He was all over the field and seemed to have a good feel for exactly where Huntley was trying to place the ball. He tallied nine total tackles on the day, which was a team high.
Other than Delpit, Ronnie Hickman also looked solid throughout the game and managed to tack on six total tackles himself. Had Juan Thornhill looked better in this one, the group would have received a better overall grade.
Linebackers: A
Since Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah went down with a neck injury in Week 8, its been a golden opportunity for Jordan Hicks, Mohamoud Diabate, and Devin Bush to step up in his place. In Week 18, they were completely locked - especially Bush, who had three tackles for a loss in the game.
It's unclear how much of this unit can be kept together because of free agency. Bush seems like the exact type of defender that another team might try to pry away with a lucrative deal if Cleveland's unable to work some cap magic.