Defense stifles QB Jordan Love and Packers’ offense
The Browns’ defense continued its stretch of bottling up offenses and applying pressure to opposing quarterbacks. They limited the Packers’ explosive play ability and stopped the run.
They held the Packers’ run game to 81 net rushing yards, and RB Josh Jacobs to 30 rushing yards on 16 carries. The longest run of the day was for 10 yards by QB Jordan Love. The Browns recorded six tackles for loss, keeping the Packers from gaining positive yardage and moving the sticks.
They also totaled five sacks on Love for a loss of 34 yards, with that pressure coming from across the front seven. DT Maliek Collins led the team with 1.5 sacks, while DE Alex Wright and LB Carson Schwesinger each added a sack of their own. DE Myles Garrett, DT Adin Huntington and DT Mason Graham each recorded half a sack. The Browns had seven quarterback hits alongside the five sacks.
“I feel like we were getting pressure on them all day, put them on the ground, getting hits on him and just trying to frustrate him, and if he didn’t get it out quickly, we were taking him down,” Garrett said. “So, I think it maybe it generated some of those big plays, some of the takeaways that we got, and that’s what we need.”
The Packers found a level of success through the air, as they totaled 149 net passing yards, and Green Bay’s lone touchdown came on a short pass from Love to John FitzPatrick for a 3-yard touchdown. However, the Browns limited the Packers’ ability to rip off multiple explosive plays, as the longest reception of the game came from WR Matthew Golden on a 34-yard pass completion. Love finished the game completing 18 of 25 passing attempts for 183 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“Shoutout to that Browns’ defense, flying around, getting to the ball, limiting yards. We are looking great,” Delpit said. “Shoutout to the offense they got it done, that is a step forward.”
The Browns also recorded their first takeaway of the season, as Delpit picked off Love late in the fourth quarter and returned the interception for 25 yards. His interception set up the Browns’ offense to score their lone touchdown of the day.
“I was able to bait the quarterback a little bit and jump the route. And got the offense the ball back,” Delpit said. “Emphasis on getting the ball back to our offense this week, complementary football.”
Since training camp, the Browns’ defense has emphasized the importance of being able to cause takeaways, including interceptions, to get the ball back to the offense and create game-changing plays as a unit. The interception proved to play a key role in the Browns’ win over the Packers.
“I mean, we’ve been doing everything else pretty well, and we’ve been holding a lot of teams to low yardage and for most part and taking the ball away,” Garrett said. “We had our hand on the football multiple times, and we came up with it when we needed to.”
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