The Cleveland Browns’ defense was among the best in team history last season, finishing first in the league in total yardage allowed and passing yardage allowed.
Cleveland’s ability to compensate for it’s offense with its defensive unit has been well noted, especially after the Browns made the playoffs with an 11-6 record.
Now, a new statistic from 2023 shows exactly how fortunate Cleveland was to have such a dominant defense.
ESPN Radio host Matt Fontana shared on Twitter a wild statistic, demonstrating how big of a factor the defense was last year in the Browns’ playoff berth.
How the #Browns made the playoffs with that kind of stat tells you how insane that defense was https://t.co/3qxwmopUEt
— Matt Fontana (@MattFontana83) April 22, 2024
The Browns finished 28th in the league in the number of drives that ended in either a punt or turnover.
To put that stat into context, Cleveland was the only playoff team that had more than three out of every five drives ended in either a punt or takeaway.
The next-closest playoff team was the Pittsburgh Steelers with 58% of their team’s drives ending in futility.
% of drives ending in a punt or turnover
70% – NE
69% – CAR
68%
67%
66% – NYJ, NYG
65%
64%
63%
62%
61% – CLE
60% – LV
59% – WAS
58% – LAC, PIT, ATL, MIN, TEN
57%
56% – DEN
55% – TB, CHI, HOU, CIN
54% – ARI, JAX
53% – KC
52%
51% – NO, IND, SEA
50% – DET, MIA
49% – PHI
48% – GB,…— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 22, 2024
Offensively, Cleveland had two major injuries that accounted for much of their scoring woes as starting quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back Nick Chubb sat most of last season.
In the offseason, the Browns have made several acquisitions to improve their offense, trading for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy and signing backup quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley to provide depth at those positions.
Defensively, Cleveland returns the core of their unit this season.
The defensive backfield returns nearly everyone, and five of the team’s top nine tacklers last season came from this group.
NEXT: Browns Reportedly Spending Time Scouting Key Position
