The Cleveland Browns had a ton of issues in 2024, which isn’t surprising considering the team went 3-14, started four different quarterbacks, scored an NFL-worst 15.2 points per game, surrendered 66 sacks, and had the worst turnover differential in the league.
There is a lot of work to be done to ensure that type of season doesn’t happen again, and one analyst recently revealed a different glaring concern that the team has to clean up this coming season.
Kelsey Russo recently wrote an article for Cleveland.com and pointed out how poor Cleveland’s defense was at getting off the field last season.
“The biggest number: 36.2 percent. After leading the league in defensive third down percentage in 2023, the Browns dropped to eighth in the league in 2024 with a defensive third down rate of 36.2 percent. It’s an area of focus for Schwartz to see improvement in during the 2025 season, as they want to stop opposing offenses from gaining a first down and ultimately to get them off the field. Through pressuring the quarterback and stopping the run, in the Browns’ attack front style, the defensive line can limit an opposing offense’s ability to move downfield and limit the conversion of third downs,” Russo wrote.
It’s an interesting stat that Russo pointed out, and certainly isn’t something that has gotten brought up enough this offseason.
The defense has gotten a bit of a pass since last year’s offense was so bad and put them in many unfavorable situations, but the reality is that there was still plenty of room for Cleveland’s defense to do better.
Za’Darius Smith was the only player other than Myles Garrett to record more than three sacks on defense last year, and he was dealt at the trade deadline.
Getting more pressure on the quarterback would go a long way toward ensuring this defense can get off the field on third down more often in 2025, and the hope is that Cleveland’s first two draft picks (Mason Graham and Carson Schwesinger) can help out with this issue right away.
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