CLEVELAND — There's one thing that felt certain going into this season: the defense was going to look much different this year. From string practices and explosive preseason outings, all that was left to do was prove it in a real game.
On Sunday, in the 100th Battle of Ohio, that's exactly what the Browns defense did.
One of the new additions to the defensive line, Za'Darius Smith, made his presence known immediately with instant pressure on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on the opening drive.
After pressuring Burrow multiple times, another new face, Ogbo Okoronkwo got through the line and sacked Burrow for a loss of two yards, forcing the Bengals to punt on their opening drive.
In fact, the Browns forced seven straight punts. From strong coverage and pass breakups courtesy Greg Newsome II, Denzel Ward and Grant Delpit, to pressures and sacks from the entire defensive front and linebackers, too—the defense showed up drive after drive.
"I had a lot of fun with my guys. We was running around, I was doing a couple of things. Proud of what we did out there," Okoronkwo said after the game. "It worked out exactly how coach Schwartz said. We listen to Coach Schwartz, in Coach Schwartz we trust."
At the end of the day, the Browns sacked burrow twice, Okoronkwo once and Myles Garrett another time. The Browns had a collective 10 QB hits and four total tackles for loss. They held Burrow to 14/31 passing with just 82 yards in the air.
“I feel like it sets the tone. Being able to hit [Burrow] I feel like is sometimes more important than sacks. Sometimes, you can get one sack in a game, but hit the quarterback five times. But we got guys – we’ve got speed guys, we’ve got big guys, all types of guys on our d-line up front, so we’re able to do a great job up front," defensive end Za'Darius Smith said.
#Browns Za'Darius Smith celebrating the win with fans as he walks off the field. pic.twitter.com/VPWsW1YpuF
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) September 10, 2023
The win did set the tone for the Browns and with the big defensive outing, helped the offense get things rolling.
Things weren't easy for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson for much of the game, either. The perpetual drizzle and haze made a passing game difficult, but as the defense continued giving the ball back to the offense, they had time to adjust.
"The defense is going do what they need to do and they kept bringing the energy for us and just kept stacking away. And even though weren’t putting up points early on, they kept coming over there and just, ‘hey, just keep driving it. It’s going to click, it’s going to click.’ And they were always positive," Watson said. "So that’s the beauty of this team is being able to stay together regardless of what’s going on and just put points on the board so we can get that victory.”
After the adjustments, Watson was able to move the ball down the field in different ways and use his mobility to find the end zone on a keeper, marking the first touchdown of the season.
While Watson confessed he'll be focused on correcting some of the mistakes, working on adjustments on some of the under thrown and low passes he made in his first outing, he's letting that be the next focus as the Steelers are next on the schedule.
In the meantime, he, and the rest of the Browns organization, have very good feelings on the defense that did what was promised.
"They’re a fired up group. They don’t take—excuse my language, they don’t take **** from anybody. And you can feel that from Jim Schwartz, and he’s a great addition, not just for the defense, but for this whole team. So those guys are fired up. They bring the swagger, they bring the energy, and I think we’ve seen it today," Watson said.
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