The Athletic Football Show predicted that the Cleveland Browns will have the best defense in the NFL this season. The Browns had a historic defensive performance during the 2023 season. The defense ranked among some of the best defenses in NFL history last year.
Which defenses will reign supreme in the NFL this season? @robertmays and @QBKlassen give their picks and discuss on The Athletic Football Show.
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— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 8, 2024
Defensive success as viewed by statistics is highly volatile year to year and less predictive than offense is. This is largely due to how reactive defenses are and how important matchups can be.
Hosts Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen believe the Browns will repeat their success under Jim Schwartz. The duo have faith in the defense’s continuity from last year. They think Schwartz will add enough coverage changeups to give elite quarterbacks problems during the deep winter months.
The hosts believe the Browns continued to strengthen the spine of their defense by signing linebacker Jordan Hicks, and defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson. They think the two will help the Browns improve their run defense.
Mays had a behind-the-scenes look at the defenses as he stopped by training camp earlier this week. Mays said the team was impressed by second-year player Siaki Ika.
The Browns defense will have two big tests to start the season. The team begins the season by hosting Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. They’ll then have an encore performance against Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars in Jacksonville. The Browns have two opportunities to set the tone against elite NFL offenses.