Anytime you can hold the opposing offense to less than a hundred net yards regardless of the opponent it is quite the accomplishment. The defense of the Cleveland Browns had the most dominant performance I can remember. Holding the Arizona Cardinals to less than two yards per play is as impressive as it comes. Turnovers from linebacker Sione Takitaki, defensive tackle Shelby Harris, and cornerback Denzel Ward certainly helped.
The defensive line didn’t allow rookie Clayton Tune to settle in at all as he was constantly under pressure all day long. Cleveland had 25 total quarterback pressures and sacked Tune seven times with defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson getting three himself.
The way the defensive line is playing makes the defensive backs’ jobs so much easier as they know they don’t have to hold the coverage all day. Denzel Ward is playing like a top-ten corner after a down year and Martin Emerson Jr continues to show he is the real deal in his second season.
Here are the top 10 defensive players from the shutout win according to PFF on Sunday.
LB Sione Takitaki
Overall: 93.0
Run Defense: 61.9
Coverage: 92.8
DT Shelby Harris
Overall: 91.8
Pass Rush: 92.2
Run Defense: 75.3
CB Cameron Mitchell
Overall: 91.3
Coverage: 90.4
Run Defense: 87.1
DE Myles Garrett
Overall: 89.6
Pass Rush: 90.0
Run Defense: 61.4
DE Za'Darius Smith
Overall: 87.9
Pass Rush: 85.1
Run Defense: 68.1
CB Denzel Ward
Overall: 86.1
Coverage: 87.8
Run Defense: 62.3
DT Dalvin Tomlinson
Overall: 85.4
Pass Rush: 76.4
Run Defense: 75.1
S Grant Delpit
Overall: 84.7
Coverage: 84.5
Run Defense: 71.4
DE Ogbo Okoronkwo
Overall: 83.0
Pass Rush: 72.2
Run Defense: 76.2
LB Anthony Walker Jr.
Overall: 77.8
Run Defense: 63.4
Coverage: 74.9
