Browns show off a culture change on defense in 24-3 opening win
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
The Browns have defeated Joe Burrow before, of course, but this one felt different.
It was a season-opener at home, where the Browns had started a new year 1-0 only one time in 24 previous seasons. It was a chance to set a tone, to verify that all this talk about a new defensive attitude was more than just talk.
New pass rusher Za’Darius Smith hit Burrow and deflected his pass on the very first play of the game. And from there, it just got worse for Burrow.
The Browns’ relentless defense hit Burrow 10 times, sacked him twice, disrupted his timing, confounded his offensive line, locked down his receivers and made a rainy day miserable for the Cincinnati Bengals and their franchise quarterback.
By the end of the Browns’ eye-opening 24-3 win, Burrow had suffered his worst game as a pro, if not his entire athletic career. It was Burrow’s fifth loss in six games against the Browns.
A few days after getting a $275 million contract that made him the highest-paid player in NFL history, Burrow was held to 82 yards passing, six first downs, and 2 of 15 on third downs before exiting with 5:15 to play in the game. The only things coordinator Jim Schwartz’s defense did not do in a breath-taking debut was make a turnover or score points, which happened a lot in preseason.
Coach Kevin Stefanski wasted no time in praising Schwartz in his initial post-game comments.
“The story of the day is our defense,” Stefanski said. “And I just gave Coach Schwartz the game ball because that defense was outstanding.”
The Browns' defense had a lot to celebrate in a 24-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. (Cleveland Browns)
Smith set the tone and contributed four hits on Burrow total. Myles Garrett added a sack and four hits. Ogbo Okoronkwo had a sack, and even safety Grant Delpit was credited with a hit on his former LSU teammate.
On the back end, cornerbacks Denzel Ward, M.J. Emerson and Greg Newsome held the Bengals’ trio of star receivers to 49 yards with 7 receptions on 20 targets.
Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who incited the Browns’ secondary by calling the Browns “elves” this week, was held to 39 yards on five catches.
“It’s frustrating because I called them elves and we just lost to some elves,” Chase said.
The overwhelming defensive performance made up for some shoddy moments for the offense. Quarterback Deshaun Watson promised offensive “fireworks.” His 2023 debut was a dud on that count.
Stefanski game-planned some downfield shots early on, but Watson had trouble making connections with open receivers Amari Cooper, Marquise Goodwin, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Elijah Moore. There was a little of everything – overthrown balls, balls that hung and were broken up, balls in the dirt.
“It was a tough day throwing the ball,” said Watson, who was 16 of 29 for 154 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked three times.
The game started under a misty rain that was supposed to move out as the afternoon wore on. But the forecast proved wrong and the rain impacted the game more than the Browns anticipated. Watson said overcoming that adversity was gratifying.
“We wanted to test the weather out, see if we could really throw,” said Watson “The ball was heavy, the ball was wet. So once the ball is in the air, regardless of how it comes off the hands or not, it’s going to slow up a little bit. There’s going to be other opportunities for us to be able to capitalize, so we can’t get frustrated.
“Not just for us, for Cincinnati, too. They couldn’t throw it either.”
Watson’s best play was an adjustment he made at the line of scrimmage that resulted in the Browns’ first touchdown. They had second-and-10 at the Bengals’ 13 with 17 seconds left in the first half and no timeouts. Watson had a choice of two plays and one of the choices was a quarterback draw that coordinator Alex Van Pelt added to the play list on Saturday afternoon.
Watson checked to the QB draw and he flowed to the left edge of his line, played off a block by pulling right guard Wyatt Teller and a block by Cooper, and scampered in for the touchdown.
“It was actually [supposed to be] a pass and then they checked on defense, so I checked and it was the right call,” Watson said. “Sometimes we have to plays, three plays and you know Kevin, like we said before, he gave me the keys to be able to check to the right play. I saw the perfect look and they did what we wanted to do and we got in the end zone.”
As the field got wetter, Stefanski relied on old faithful, Nick Chubb, to settle things down. Chubb finished with 106 yards on 18 attempts, including four runs of 10 yards or more.
“I mean, it’s Nick Chubb,” Watson exclaimed. “He’s the best in the world, best in the league. I wish he could have gotten into the end zone a couple times, but he’s going to have more opportunities for us.”
Watson also bullied his way in on a 2-point conversion after throwing a 3-yard TD toss to tight end Harrison Bryant late in the fourth quarter for the final points.
Another highlight of the game was new kicker Dustin Hopkins easing everyone's mind with a perfect 3 for 3 day on field goals of 42, 34 and 43 yards and one PAT.
“It’s nice to start off well with a new team,” Hopkins said.
The only downer was a knee injury that knocked out right tackle Jack Conklin early in the game. It sounds like it could be a season-ending injury.
“You hope, but that doesn’t look good,” Stefanski said. “I feel absolutely awful for Jack.”
Rookie Dawand Jones came in and played flawlessly in his NFL debut.
But the story of the day was the Browns’ defense. How many games has the defense actually won for the Browns in recent decades? Like wins at home, you can count them on one hand.
“It was a hell of a dress rehearsal with these guys,” Garrett said. “They have a very explosive offense and they have very skilled players in each position. So this was a big one for us to see where we’re at and we really showed what we can do. We set the bar high, and this is the standard we got to continue to improve from here.”
