The Cleveland Browns are fresh off a nail-biting 39-38 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. It was one of the wildest games that Browns fans have watched in recent history, with many highs and lows throughout the course of the action.
Their defense played like the top unit they are at moments but had their worst game of the season. Thankfully the Browns have a man named Myles Garrett who is able to change the outcome of games on his own and is the DPOY frontrunner after his performance.
Cleveland gave up a total of 456 yards to the Colts offense, an offense that has been solid and able to put up points, but one that fails to jump out as a top unit in the league. Indianapolis scored a total of five touchdowns Sunday, two through the air and three on the ground.
Gardner Minshew who has taken over the starting job after rookie Anthony Richardson was lost for the season, was responsible for four of those touchdowns, along with throwing for 305 yards.
They had a lot of ups and an equal amount of downs, but they were able to overcome their downs by responding all game and rolling with the punches. Even after their worst performance of the season, they should still be regarded as the best defense in the NFL. Great defenses have bad days, as we can see they are not immune to that, but they fought and did enough to get a grinding win.
Browns Passing Defense: C+
Some may see this as a very generous grade as Gardner Minshew threw for 305 yards which is the most they have given up all season. Along with the yardage, Minshew had two passing touchdowns including a 75-yard touchdown to Michael Pittman Jr. to give the Colts a lead late in the fourth quarter. However, they get graded at a C+ because of one man... Myles Garrett. Garrett is Superman and he showed up when the team and fans needed him.
Even though they gave up two long touchdown passes and over 300 passing yards, the pass defense made huge plays and forced turnovers to give the team a chance at winning. They tallied four total sacks, three of which resulted in a fumble recovered by the Browns. Along with three passes defended and an interception by Denzel Ward, which led to a Browns field goal.
The defense may have given up a ton of yards and big plays but they made up for it by forcing turnovers and responding with big plays of their own. Yes, they did give up some big plays because from mental mistakes, but they directly impacted the outcome of the game. Garrett had two strip sacks, and both led to a touchdown. Za'Darius Smith had his first sack of the season and it was a strip sack to ice the game and give the Browns a win.
In the end, Cleveland's pass defense may have given up a lot of yards and big plays but they still played at a high level. They had some blunders that will be fixed by Jim Schwartz
Browns Run Defense: C-
Against the run, the defense gave up 168 yards and three touchdowns with a 4.2 average per carry. A very lackluster performance, so you are probably wondering why they are graded at a C-. This is because the numbers for the Colts are inflated by three long carries of 24 yards, 21 yards, and 17 yards.
Take away those runs and the Colts rush for 106 on 37 attempts and take their average down to 2.8 per carry. Of course, these runs still happened, but the Colts weren't exactly running over the defense all game. They were still making tackles in the backfield and setting the line of scrimmage, along with having five tackles for loss. Did the Colts have a great rushing performance? Absolutely, but the Browns weren't allowing big run after big run.
The biggest knock on the defense is that they gave up three rushing touchdowns. Two of them to Minshew who isn't exactly your normal scrambling quarterback, and one to Johnathan Taylor. The 17-yard touchdown run by Minshew is something that the defense can not let happen. Missed tackles and bad angles allowed him to reach the endzone untouched along with an over-pursuit by Juan Thornhill that allowed Minshew to get his second rushing touchdown of the game.
As elite as the defense is they cannot have such crucial missed tackles that directly lead to opponents scoring. That being said, I still believe that for a majority of the game, they didn't allow the Colts to run all over them which is why the run defense is graded at a C-, which may be a little generous but when you look into it, the grade is fair.
Browns Defense Overall Grade: C
C+ is the grade that I believe the Defense deserves for their Week 7 performance against the Colts. Essentially they gave up a lot of yards and big plays but ultimately the plays they made were not just enough but a reason why the Browns emerged victorious on Sunday. The defense is going to be just fine, as long as injuries do not stack up and fans should expect to see them bounce back.