Due to compressed schedule this week, the article is streamlined to just star treatment with thorough detail on pressure, packages, and scheme on the defense podcast with Sarah Ellison.

Star Treatment

Jason Pierre-Paul

  • (Q1, 14:24):  He was held by LT Wills but no flag was thrown on PM14 to RB Chubb
  • (Q1, 2:49):  He stood up pulling TE Njoku to turn RB Chubb inside for RM0
  • (Q2, 1:09):  He beat RT Conklin inside for pressure shared with Oweh as Brissett threw incomplete to RB Hunt nearly intercepted by Bynes
  • (Q2, 0:43):  On 3rd/20, he bulled RT Conklin for pressure as Brissett threw PR4 (-5 + 9) [4] to Hunt to force punt
  • (Q3, 5:52):  He turned the right edge inside vs. pulling LG Bitonio as Clark crashed off the edge for tackle with B. Washington assist
  • (Q4, 10:34):  He foiled the pulls of both RG Froholdt and C Pocic to force Chubb inside but missed tackle and dragging resulted in RR12
  • (Q4, 9:53):  He was blocked by LG Bitonio as part of Chubb RL22
  • (Q4, 3:12):  He knocked down Brissett’s pass at the LoS off pressure from Queen
  • (Q4, 3:10):  He was blocked by RG Froholdt on Chubb RR5
  • (Q4, 2:33):  On 3rd/2, he bulled then shed RT Conklin inside to flush Brissett left on what would eventually become PR7 (5 +2) [5] to WR Bell

He made a number of edge-setting wins, pressure, and his 3rd PD in 3 games.  Jason had contributions to 2 drive-ending plays.

Justin Houston

  • (Q1, 1:50):  He beat RT Conklin and help from RG Froholdt to flush Brissett who threw to TE Njoku PM10 (4 + 6) [4]
  • (Q2, 1:01):  After ATS, he chased down Brissett for a late S-1
  • (Q2, 0:53):  On the next play, he beat LT Wills outside for S-9 and dislodged the football which was recovered by C Pocic
  • (Q3, 12:04):  On 3rd/13, he beat RT Conklin outside for initial pressure forcing Brissett to step up where Campbell delivered SF-12 recovered by Oweh
  • (Q4, 2:18):  On 3rd/12, he beat LT Wills inside by getting him to lunge. He failed to bring down Brissett but flushed him left and Oweh chased him OOB to bring up 4th/5

Justin had contributions to 2 drive-ending plays and was on the field for 2 turnovers and 4 sacks among just 14 snaps.  The Browns averaged 2.3 YPP in his snaps.

Odafe Oweh

  • (Q2, 12:42):  On 3rd/19, he worked off the block of LT Wills to tackle Chubb RL5
  • (Q2, 9:01):  Off initial pressure from Madubuike, he disengaged from RT Conklin for a clean-up QH as Brissett threw incomplete.  RTP flag was thrown, but subsequently picked up.
  • (Q2, 1:01):  He beat TE Bryant then RB Hunt outside to eventually flush Brissett which led to Houston’s clean-up S-1
  • (Q3, 12:04):  He disengaged from LT Wills to recover SF-12 by Campbell
  • (Q4, 10:34):  He missed the tackle at 5 on RB Chubb RR12
  • (Q4. 2:45):  On 3rd/5, he beat LT Wills outside with speed/shoulder dip for QH as Brissett threw to WR Peoples-Jones PR37 (29 + 8) [5].  There was no flag for late QH.
  • (Q4, 2:18):  On 3rd/12, he chased Brissett out of bounds for RL7 off initial pressure from Houston to bring up 4th/5

Odafe lived on the edge with 2 near-RTP calls on QHs.  He also contributed to 3 drive-ending plays.

Patrick Queen

  • (Q1, 14:24):  He was blocked by C Pocic and RG Froholdt as Brissett threw to Chubb PM14 (-2 + 16) [2]
  • (Q1, 10:37):  On 3rd/5, he touched down TE Njoku on PR4 (4 + 0) [5]
  • (Q2, 14:06):  He penetrated through a double pull from C Pocic and LG Bitonio to tackle Hunt RL-5
  • (Q2, 13:24):  On the next play, he penetrated through the left B-gap to tackle Hunt RM-4
  • (Q2, 8:55):  On 3rd/18, he assisted Pepe Williams to knock TE Njoku OOB PR7 (-1 + 8) [5]
  • (Q3, 13:23):  He was initially blocked by Chubb when blitzing through left A-gap but recovered for S-5 off pressure from Bynes
  • (Q4, 10:54):  He was blocked by LG Bitonio in L2 on Chubb RM12
  • (Q4, 9:53):  He was blocked by TE Forristall on Chubb RL22
  • (Q4, 9:26):  He was blocked by RT Conklin to lead Hunt RR6
  • (Q4, 3:12):  He provided initial pressure through right A-gap as Pierre-Paul knocked down Brissett’s pass
  • (Q4, 3:10):  He pursued for an athletic take down of Chubb RR5 near right sideline on otherwise well-blocked play
  • (Q4, 2:38):  He assisted Hamilton on take down of TE Bryant shovel reception for PM1 (-2 + 3) [3]

Patrick had 3 tackles for loss and 7 defensive wins among his team-leading 11 tackle contributions.  I did not score him for a missed tackle.  A common thread in the successful Browns run plays was getting a player to block Queen effectively.  Block shedding remains an area for improvement.

Defensive MVPs:

  1. Justin Houston
  2. Jason Pierre-Paul
  3. Patrick Queen