Week 15 saw the best and worst of the Cleveland Browns as the team sunk to 3-11 on the year despite a very solid outing from their defense against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
No sacks doesn't mean that the Browns had no pressure on Mahomes and the Chiefs' hobbled offensive line in Week 15. On the other end of those defensive schemes, though, the secondary did struggle in some moments as their injuries and, in Rodney McLeod's case, age started to show through.
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These are positive takeaways after the defense basically crumbled against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14, and especially positive with so many young players currently on defense who need a real evaluation ahead of 2025 and a certainly busy draft season for Cleveland.
Defensive line
Grade: B
Close, but no cigar on several pressures from the defensive line in Week 15. Myles Garrett remained the top rated Browns player by PFF grade with a 90.0 grade after continuously pressuring Mahomes in the pocket and making sure that the Kansas City superstar didn't ever get fully comfortable in the pocket.
In addition to him, Isaiah McGuire was solid in his pressures on Mahomes and did a good job of stuffing the Chiefs' runners at the line of scrimmage. That's why he was second in overall PFF grade after Week 15, with a grade of 79.7 overall. Jowon Briggs, the rookie EDGE for the Browns, also had a great game.
The D-line is just missing sacks to tie together these solid outings, but they showed out despite the loss.
Linebackers
Grade: C+
Before the game, it was assumed that the Browns would really try to attack Kansas City's weaknesses on defense, specifically their linebackers which have struggled against talented tight end rooms and receivers shooting across the middle of the field all season long. Instead, the Chiefs actually attacked this, and Noah Gray thrived.
Jordan Hicks has done an admirable job this season after Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah went down with a neck injury and he had to pick up his reps in the rotation. However, Cleveland's missing the pop that Owusu-Koramoah brought to their defense, and unfortunately, Hicks couldn't do much more other than assist in stopping runs that weren't stuffed in Week 15.
Tack on the fact that Mohamoud Diabate had to take on special teams duties on Browns punts, and it just felt like they were stretched thin all afternoon.
Cornerbacks
Grade: C
There was one play that stood out for the cornerbacks in the Week 15 loss, and it was their lack of effort in even trying to contest or tackle rookie receiver Xavier Worthy on his 21-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Denzel Ward and McLeod were especially brutal on the play, jogging to catch up with one of the fastest players in the NFL.
The only player who had an excuse to not tackle him was Myles Harden, who was being blocked downfield. Even he tried to wrangle himself free to get a tackle, but it was all for nothing. The secondary, and specifically the cornerback room, in Week 15 was lackluster, but they did help to hold Mahomes to just 159 passing yards - they just couldn't hold him to zero scores.
Safeties
Grade: B-
Juan Thornhill was the highest rated safety in Week 15 by PFF with a score of 83.3 from PFF. He was solid in help coverage in the secondary and nearly had two picks against Mahomes. He, alongside Grant Delpit, were better options down field at times than the CBs should should have been glued at the hip to their man.
This makes for another great sign for the Browns - if they can continue to get a high level of production out of Thornhill and Delpit for the rest of the season, it makes their free agency decisions easier as they look to possibly retool their secondary through FA and the draft.