The Cleveland Browns ranked 13th in points allowed last season but first in yards allowed. They gave up the fewest passing yards and 11th-fewest rushing yards, recording the fifth-most takeaways. The Browns also allowed the fewest first downs, posting the lowest drive time, and plays and yards allowed per drive. They ranked second in points allowed per drive.
And Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz says that they held things back last year. Going into his second season running the defense, he plans on bringing more to the table. Many believe they had the best defense in the league last season; what else do they have up their sleeves?
“We’re obviously in a different spot (this year) because we have a year in the system, so I think what that affords us is the ability to work on more changeups”, he said this week via Zac Jackson of The Athletic. “We’re a fastball team, right? We do what we do, and we try to do it really well. But there were some things that we sort of held back last year, just from a standpoint that we sort of triaged it and said, ‘OK, what can we reasonably expect to get good at to master in one offseason?’ So, we had to sort of pick and choose, but that now gives us a little bit of time because we don’t have to work on the fastball now. We can add different pitches”.
The Browns can start by getting more of a pass-rushing threat opposite Myles Garrett. He had as many sacks as the next three defenders behind him on the team, with 14. But they do have in Za’Darius Smith a player who has that higher-volume potential.
They also have an impressive group of cornerbacks helmed by Denzel Ward, a mainstay who is still 26. In recent years, the Browns have also added Greg Newsome II and Martin Emerson to the mix. They do have talent up and down the defensive roster, and Schwartz seemed to get the most out of them.
Nevertheless, they allowed 30-plus points five times last season and 25-plus points nine times. Sometimes, that wasn’t on the defense, but there’s definitely room for improvement.
And that is what Schwartz is looking for from his second year running the Browns’ defense. He has never been a complacent coach throughout his history, and he’s not about to start now. He talked a bit about the cyclical turnover that comes with the territory of running a defense.
“Just in general, over my years, it seems like you sort of rotate 20 percent of your schemes every year”, he said. “Some things fall out of favor, some things lose their effectiveness, and then there’s some new things that start trending across the league. So, I mean, that’s just natural, but I do think there’s some things that we can get to that we purposely sort of held back a little bit last year”.
