Browns’ defensive snap counts, stats, and PFF notes: Week 7

The Browns’ defense came back to force some turnovers as the game went on.

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on defense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 7 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

• As far as the Buccaneers’ running backs went, Cleveland held them to 20 carries for 51 yards.
• Myles Garrett’s two sacks bring him to seven on the season, on pace for 16 sacks. His forced fumble to start the second half injected some much-needed life into the Browns. It’s crazy how some fans feel he’s not getting to the quarterback enough.
• Per PFF, “Garrett forced nine pressures on the day - two sacks, two QB hits, and five hurries - to go along with a forced fumble and two run stops.” He was the team’s highest-graded defender with an 85.7.
• Emmanuel Ogbah had a mixed game. On one hand, he delivered with 1.5 sacks, knocked two passes down, and had another sack taken off the board. But he also had three penalties called against him.

• Jamie Collins (79.1) and Christian Kirksey (73.7) stepped up to be the Browns’ third- and fifth-highest graded defenders. Kirksey seemed alive at middle linebacker, making one wonder why he was ever moved away from the position in favor of being an outside backer.
• Per PFF, Kirksey “stood out in coverage, allowing just three catches on seven targets, with one interception and a 14.3 passer rating allowed, the top mark among all qualifying Week 7 linebackers.”

• It was a full game for Briean Boddy-Calhoun, who played a mix of cornerback and safety, since Damarious Randall also got some snaps at cornerback. Boddy-Calhoun responded to the playing time with 10 tackles, a break-up, and getting the Browns’ fourth-highest defensive grade from PFF at 78.6.
• Denzel Ward had a lockdown day on WR DeSean Jackson. Ward was the Browns’ second-highest graded defender with an 81.1 by PFF.
• Credit to T.J. Carrie for forcing a fumble this week.

• I don’t know if the safeties particularly stood out this week. I give credit to Damarious Randall for helping play cornerback due to the team being thin there. It should be a one-week thing, as E.J. Gaines may be back soon from his concussion.

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