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The Browns' defense was on the field for 72 plays this past Sunday against the Colts. The painful part about that was how long they allowed the Colts to sustain drives; Indianapolis would get first down after first down, and there wasn't anything the defense could do about it.
The snap count distributions for the Browns' defenders against the Colts are listed below. [Week 7 offensive snap counts for Cleveland can be found here]
| Defensive Tackle |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Winn | John Hughes | Ishmaa'ily Kitchen | Ahtyba Rubin |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 83% 60/72 plays |
62% 45/72 plays |
43% 31/72 plays |
10% 7/72 plays |
John Hughes: 2 tackles, 1 assist (3 combined). 1 tackle for loss.
Ishmaa'ily Kitchen: 1 tackle, 1 assist (2 combined). 1 quarterback hit.
Billy Winn: 1 tackle (1 combined).
Ahtyba Rubin: 1 assist (1 combined).
Thoughts: Defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin appeared to reaggravate his calf injury against the Colts this past Sunday, which means he only played in part of the team's first series. After that, the Browns went with three rookie defensive tackle for the second week in a row. There are rumors that Phil Taylor might practice this week, but we don't have a timetable yet on when he'd actually be brought up to the 53-man roster.
| Defensive End |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jabaal Sheard | Frostee Rucker | Juqua Parker | Emmanuel Stephens |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 83% 60/72 plays |
53% 38/72 plays |
38% 27/72 plays |
26% 19/72 plays |
Frostee Rucker: 2 tackles, 1 assist (3 combined). 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 3 quarterback hits.
Jabaal Sheard: 2 tackles (2 combined). 1 quarterback hit.
Juqua Parker: 2 assists (2 combined).
Emmanuel Stephens: 1 tackle (1 combined).
Thoughts: There wasn't anything surprising with the playing time distribution at defensive end against the Colts. Statistically, defensive end Frostee Rucker did have one of his better games of the season. Three quarterback hits is great, but it's also the type of statistic I thought I'd see coming from Juqua Parker. Jabaal Sheard continues to have a relatively quiet season statistically.
| Linebacker |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| D'Qwell Jackson | Craig Robertson | James-Michael Johnson | Kaluka Maiava |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 100% 72/72 plays |
53% 38/72 plays |
39% 28/72 plays |
39% 28/72 plays |
D'Qwell Jackson: 5 tackles, 1 assist (6 combined). 1 pass defended.
Craig Robertson: 5 tackles, 1 assist (6 combined).
Kaluka Maiava: 3 tackles, 1 assist (4 combined). 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 1 quarterback hit.
James-Michael Johnson: 1 assist (1 combined).
Thoughts: Maybe I'm just not used to how the Browns' defense operates in the past, but it's pretty consistent that Cleveland operates from their nickel defense more times than not. Kaluka Maiava had his best statistical day of the season, which isn't saying much. All things considered, it was another quiet day for the linebackers collectively.
| Cornerback |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Haden | Sheldon Brown | Buster Skrine | Trevin Wade |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 100% 72/72 plays |
97% 70/72 plays |
62% 45/72 plays |
8% 6/72 plays |
Sheldon Brown: 9 tackles, 1 assist (10 combined). 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery.
Buster Skrine: 6 tackles, 1 assists (7 combined).
Joe Haden: 2 tackles (2 combined).
Trevin Wade: No stats registered.
Thoughts: I could be wrong if I went back and re-watched the tape, but it didn't seem like Andrew Luck targeted Joe Haden very much. The other corners were targeted a lot, but did a pretty fair job in making the initial tackles. Sheldon Brown had what looked to be the biggest defensive play of the game for the second week in a row, but he later missed a tackle on the edge that allowed Vick Ballard to officially seal the game for Indianapolis.
| Safety |
||
|---|---|---|
| T.J. Ward | Usama Young | Eric Hagg |
 |
 |
 |
| 100% 72/72 plays |
100% 72/72 plays |
3% 2/72 plays |
T.J. Ward: 5 tackles, 2 assists (7 combined). 1 pass defended.
Usama Young: 3 tackles, 1 assist (4 combined).
Thoughts: Do our safeties even exist? This has been a very disappointing season in 2012, and one that Cleveland will be looking to address next season in the draft or via free agency. T.J. Ward did have one pass breakup near the end zone when Andrew Luck targeted Reggie Wayne, but I'd like to see Ward come up with a pick there.
History of Snap Counts on Defense:
-Week 1: Philadelphia vs. Cleveland
-Week 2: Cleveland vs. Cincinnati
-Week 3: Buffalo vs. Cleveland
-Week 4: Cleveland vs. Baltimore
-Week 5: Cleveland vs. New York Giants
-Week 6: Cincinnati vs. Cleveland