With all of the attention being paid to the way Deshaun Watson performed in the Cleveland Browns’ season-opening loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, it is easy to overlook how poorly their defense played in the 34-10 loss. It did nothing to pick up the struggling offense, allowing the Jaguars to score on their first four possessions and six of their first seven as the game quickly got out of hand.
It was a somewhat surprising performance from a usually elite unit, but it was their first game without Myles Garrett and coordinator Jim Schwartz. Replacements Jared Verse and Mike Rutenberg did not do anything to distinguish themselves in their Cleveland debuts, and the rest of the defense contributed very little.
However, insider Zac Jackson of The Athletic is pushing back on any overreaction about the Browns’ defense, which he said is not as bad as it looked in Week 1.
“The Cleveland defense won’t be a top-five unit again, but it isn’t that bad. But I think the Browns got caught out of position a handful of times and got zinged by Trevor Lawrence and a clearly better team. I’d have to see even minimal competence from the offense and the current quarterback to believe better is possible, but I believe the defense can still be good enough to keep the Browns in a lot of games inside the ‘March to Arch,'” Jackson wrote.
It should be noted that the Browns lost defensive end Alex Wright in the later stages of training camp with a season-ending Achilles injury, and that linebacker Carson Schwesinger did not return to practice until after the final preseason game after sitting out, reportedly with a minor shoulder injury. So, with Rutenberg serving his first game as a lead coordinator, there was bound to be an adjustment period.
The Browns’ offense admittedly did their defense no favors, with Watson throwing an interception five snaps into the season and posting just five first downs, 95 total yards, and another turnover in the first half. But the defense failed to respond to that adversity in any meaningful way.
In the first half, Jacksonville had touchdown drives of eight plays, 59 yards; nine plays, 74 yards; and five plays, 44 yards; plus a field goal drive of 11 plays, 43 yards. The Jaguars took the second-half kickoff on a four-play, 60-yard TD drive, which was followed by a 10-play, 47-yard field goal drive.
Now, the Browns will face a revenge-hungry Baker Mayfield, who will be looking to score as many points as he possibly can for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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