At times on Sunday, the Denver Broncos were able to just run the ball at will on the defense of the Cleveland Browns. The defense continued to struggle in the first quarter and Denver’s coach Sean Payton schemed up a great gameplan to attack Cleveland’s run defense.
Jim Schwartz and company have got to figure out why the unit has had so many slow starts and find a way to eliminate them. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was fantastic in this game, his best as a pro, he was all over the field making plays all day. He was playing fast and confident downhill in run defense and even added a sack that happened so fast I almost missed it watching live.
It sounds like Myles Garrett may have avoided major injury after the shoulder injury he sustained on Sunday. The team badly needs Denzel Ward back after an awful showing from Greg Newsome II who played his worst game as a pro.
Here are the top 10 defensive performances in Denver according to PFF.
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Overall: 93.6
Run Defense: 91.2
Coverage: 90.3
DE Za'Darius Smith
Overall: 79.9
Pass Rush: 64.5
Run Defense: 70.5
DE Alex Wright
Overall: 74.8
Pass Rush: 65.2
Run Defense: 74.0
LB Sione Takitaki
Overall: 69.0
Run Defense: 51.7
Coverage: 83.9
S Ronnie Hickman Jr.
Overall: 63.3
Coverage: 62.5
Tackling: 77.2
DT Maurice Hurst II
Overall: 62.5
Run Defense: 73.0
Pass Rush: 58.7
LB Tony Fields II
Overall: 60.4
Coverage: 76.9
Run Defense: 48.3
DT Shelby Harris
Overall: 59.1
Pass Rush: 60.3
Run Defense: 69.1
S Juan Thornhill
Overall: 58.6
Coverage: 55.2
Run Defense: 66.0
DE Myles Garrett
Overall: 58.4
Pass Rush: 63.4
Run Defense: 71.1
