Browns Digest

Cleveland's Defense Gives Them The Edge On Saturday, But Have One Area To Improve

The Cleveland Browns Defense has been historic on many levels this year but they havent been perfect. There is one area that they can improve that will make an impact

Anthony Moeglin

In this story:

From Week 1 until now, the Cleveland Browns have had the best defense in the NFL. They play a fun brand of football where they are aggressive in coverage with three great cornerbacks and they relentlessly pressure the quarterback. Those two things matched with great linebacker play has made them the best unit in the league.

At the conclusion of Week 18, many of the stats that we knew to be true became official.

  • 270.2 Yards Per Game - First in NFL, fewest since 2014 Seahawks
  • 164.7 Yards Per Game Passing - First in NFL, fewest by Browns since 1977
  • 253 First Downs Allowed - First in NFL, 45 fewer than 2nd place Jets
  • 29.1 Third Down Percentage - First in NFL, fewest since 2019 Patriots

Some of the numbers that were posted by this group this year are historic. But there is one area on the field that they can make a huge jump and that is in the red area.

In the playoffs, teams are going to move the ball on you. It's the 14 best teams in the league so there are no cupcakes. When teams get the ball into the red area, giving up three points instead of seven is the difference in the game.

Going into Saturday, Cleveland ranks dead last in the league surrendering a touchdown to their opponent on 71.3 percent of the trips to the red zone.

Dec 10, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) celebrates after the Jacksonville Jaguars were called for a penalty during the first quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium / Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

For as good as this defense has been, it is amazing to believe that they haven't been able to put a stop to opponents when they get into that area of the field.

Saturday it will be critical to bow up deep in their own end and turn seven points into three on a consistent basis.

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Anthony Moeglin
ANTHONY MOEGLIN

Anthony Moeglin is a northeast Ohio native, who most notably quarterbacked John Carroll University to the NCAA DIII National Semifinals in 2016 after beating the No. 1 team in the country twice in a 4-week stretch. He contributes written and video/podcast content for Browns Digest, as well as serving as the lead football analyst for BuckeyesNow on the FanNation network.

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