Browns defense doesn’t allow a touchdown in Week 17 vs Steelers

The Cleveland Browns’ defense had one of its best games of the season against the Steelers in a 13-6 win, not allowing a touchdown. They allowed 291 yards of offense, but the key stats were these: Pittsburgh was 3-of-15 (20%) on third down and 0-of-3 (0%) on fourth down.

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on defense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 17 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Defensive Line

• Myles Garrett didn’t break the sack record, and now has one more week to do so. Some headlines made the point that Pittsburgh seemed more concerned about stopping Garrett from beating them, than actually winning the game. I think that’s a fun way to get under the skin of Steelers fans, but it’s basically the same approach that Pittsburgh took during the first game between these two teams. Garrett was the Browns’ eighth-highest graded player on defense, per PFF, grading out to a 67.3.

• Alex Wright did notch a sack on Aaron Rodgers, although CBS announcer Jim Nantz embarrassingly got excited as he thought it might have been Garrett.

• Shelby Harris had a tipped pass on a fourth down play to help set up the Browns’ last field goal.

Linebacker

• Despite his injury, Carson Schwesinger played 100% of the snaps. I don’t know how wise that is, really — it’s one thing to be a warrior, but there were stretches where he was literally hopping on one foot, and that’s when Rodgers had some of his best passes. That likely impacted Schwesinger’s PFF grade, as he was the team’s third-lowest graded player with a 52.2 grade. He also finished with 9 tackles, ending his streak with 10+ tackles.

• Devin Bush was giving it to Aaron Rodgers after the final stop against Pittsburgh. The former Steeler had another strong game and was the Browns’ fourth-highest graded player, per PFF, grading out to an 81.0.

• Jerome Baker often seems to have a knack for logging a high tackle to snaps ratio. He was the Browns’ second-highest graded player on defense, grading out to an 86.0.

Cornerback

• The Browns’ cornerbacks shut down the Steelers, who were without DK Metcalf. Tyson Campbell was the Browns’ top-graded player by PFF, grading out to a 90.1. Denzel Ward was the third-highest with a grade of 82.9.

• In general, I disagreed with the Steelers approach for much of the game, especially in fourth down situations. They were treating it like they had Metcalf in there, and it led to drive killers instead. Additionally, Pittsburgh gave up on the running game way too much, after having a lot of success with it a week ago.

• Tre Avery filled in for Myles Harden due to injury.

Safety

• Grant Delpit notched a sack on Aaron Rodgers, forcing a fumble that Pittsburgh recovered.

• Ronnie Hickman was the Browns’ worst-graded defense per PFF, grading out to a 48.5, with his run defense and tackling struggling.

• Rayshawn Jenkins had a forced fumble that Pittsburgh recovered. His big blunder was a taunting penalty after a third down stop that extended a Pittsburgh drive.