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Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on defense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 8 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Defensive Line
| Pos | Player | Plays | % | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Plays | % | Stats |
| DL | Myles Garrett | 62 | 87% | 1 tackle (1 combined). 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QH. |
| DL | Emmanuel Ogbah | 61 | 86% | 2 tackles (2 combined). 1 TFL. |
| DL | Larry Ogunjobi | 60 | 85% | 2 tackles (2 combined). |
| DL | Trevon Coley | 34 | 48% | 2 tackles, 1 assist (3 combined). |
| DL | Brian Price | 14 | 20% | 1 tackle, 1 assist (2 combined). |
| DL | Chris Smith | 10 | 14% | No stats registered. |
| DL | Anthony Zettel | 9 | 13% | 1 tackle (1 combined). 1 TFL. |
| DL | Chad Thomas | 3 | 4% | No stats registered. |
- Myles Garrett logged another sack, good for his eighth of the season and staying on pace for 16 sacks. But that was the only time Cleveland got to Ben Roethlisberger all game — in fact, it was the only time Big Ben was hit (besides on his quarterback sneaks).
- Rookie Chad Thomas played three snaps.
- Larry Ogunjobi had a strong Week 1 against the Steelers, but was a non-factor this time around, finishing with just two tackles.
Linebacker
| Pos | Player | Plays | % | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Plays | % | Stats |
| LB | Christian Kirksey | 71 | 100% | 5 tackles, 2 assists (7 combined). 1 pass defended. |
| LB | Jamie Collins | 71 | 100% | 4 tackles, 7 assists (11 combined). 1 TFL, 1 forced fumble. |
| LB | Genard Avery | 53 | 73% | 1 tackle (1 combined). |
| LB | D'Juan Hines | 1 | 1% | No stats registered. |
| LB | Ray-Ray Armstrong | 1 | 1% | No stats registered. |
- Jamie Collins and Christian Kirksey each played every snap. Collins forced a fumble on RB James Conner, but Pittsburgh was able to recover it. Kirksey’s two-game streak with interceptions came to an end.
- Genard Avery also was not able to match his Week 1 performance, as the team sees diminishing returns from him with the higher volume of snaps he plays.
Cornerback
| Pos | Player | Plays | % | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Plays | % | Stats |
| CB | Denzel Ward | 71 | 100% | 5 tackles, 2 assists (7 combined). 1 TFL, 1 pass defended, 1 fumble recovery. |
| CB | T.J. Carrie | 57 | 80% | 7 tackles (7 combined). |
| CB | Briean Boddy-Calhoun | 55 | 77% | 2 tackles, 1 assist (3 combined). |
| CB | Denzel Rice | 1 | 1% | No stats registered. |
- Although it was not a shut down day for Denzel Ward, I thought he had one of the better performances on defense, along with Briean Boddy-Calhoun. Ward had a tackle for a loss, knocked a pass away, and recovered a fumble. Here is what PFF had to say about Ward:
Rookie cornerback Denzel Ward had an up-and-down day and was often covering Steelers’ Brown. Ward tackled Brown for a loss on a wide receiver screen and also broke up a slant intended for Brown. However, Brown also picked up a third-down conversion catch against Ward and was also flagged for a defensive holding penalty on Brown running a go route.
- T.J. Carrie tried punching the ball out from Roethlisberger on a quarterback sneak, but his knee was down before the ball came out.
- Denzel Rice played a stray snap on defense somewhere.
Safety
| Pos | Player | Plays | % | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Plays | % | Stats |
| S | Damarious Randall | 70 | 99% | 4 tackles (4 combined). 1 pass defended. |
| S | Jabrill Peppers | 40 | 56% | 3 tackles, 1 assist (4 combined). |
| S | Derrick Kindred | 38 | 54% | 5 tackles (5 combined). 1 interception, 1 pass defended, 1 forced fumble. |
- So close — Damarious Randall read the Steelers’ screen pass touchdown correctly and could’ve had a pick six or at least a knockdown, but he was just a hair too late.
- Derrick Kindred logged the second interception of his career and forced his first fumble. He also missed the deep coverage on Antonio Brown’s wide open touchdown grab.