Grading the Browns defense against the Raiders in Week 4

The Cleveland Browns and their fans are disappointed with their season so far. With a season that started with such high expectations, starting 1-3 is extremely deflating.

There is still a long way to go this season, but the Browns need to start winning some games if they want to make the playoffs. This is going to be more difficult now, as they are entering a more difficult part of their season.

The good news is that the Browns defense is playing above average a majority of the game. The bad news is that they have yet to put a complete game together.

If you take out the last drive of the first half where the Raiders were just trying to get to halftime, they were able to score on four consecutive drives. There are some concerning trends starting to form.

For instance, when the Raiders got a first down on a possession they scored 67% of the time. The defense is not going to be perfect and force a three and out every possession. However, they need to find a way to stop the drive and force a punt or turnover more frequently after giving up a first down.

On the positive side, the defense forced a turnover, which was able to picked up and ran back for a touchdown. They also forced the Raiders to punt four times and only gave up 268 total yards of offense. Myles Garrett was still able to be a complete freak of nature, even while hurt, and recorded two sacks.

All in all, the defense played well enough to win this game. If you factor in their touchdown and missed PAT, the defense was outscored by 14. They should've been able to count on that from the offense.

Final Grade: B-

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