There were some question marks with the defense of the Cleveland Browns as they struggled against teams on the road. They were being gashed in the run game and struggled to figure out running quarterbacks away from Cleveland. This week, however, defensive ends Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith were dialed in.
The score doesn’t show exactly how dominant they were, one of the touchdowns scored was on special teams as well as the other Texans scores game when Jim Schwartz pulled his starters. The pass rush of Smith and Garrett was nasty and left the Texans looking for answers and leaving their quarterbacks under pressure all day long.
Over 30 pressures on the quarterback again this week and the cornerbacks who are finally healthy were as locked down as they have been all year. Here are the top 10 performances according to PFF on the defensive side of the ball.
DE Za'Darius Smith
Overall: 92.2
Pass Rush: 91.3
Run Defense: 64.5
DE Myles Garrett
Overall: 90.9
Pass Rush: 91.8
Run Defense: 79.0
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Overall: 80.1
Run Defense: 76.0
Coverage: 71.8
Greg Newsome II
Overall: 76.9
Coverage: 77.9
Run Defense: 63.8
CB Denzel Ward
Overall: 74.3
Coverage: 81.1
Run Defense: 37.6
S D'Anthony Bell
Overall: 73.3
Coverage: 67.3
Run Defense: 69.1
CB Cameron Mitchell
Overall: 67.7
Coverage: 74.9
Run Defense: 57.1
S Ronnie Hickman Jr.
Overall: 59.8
Coverage: 59.6
Run Defense: 59.7
LB Matthew Adams
Overall: 59.6
Pass Rush: 85.6
Coverage: 47.5
S Tanner McCalister
Overall: 59.3
Coverage: 60.5
Pass Rush: 55.6
