The Browns are 9-3 thanks to an effective, efficient offense. And while they earned some serious style points in Sunday’s explosive 41-35 win over the Titans, it hasn’t been packed with thrills on the way to the team’s first winning season in 13 years.
As head coach Kevin Stefanski and his players often note, they’re not about style points. They’re about wins and playing smart, effective football. Based on the record and the season-long grade tallies from Pro Football Focus, they’re very good at that.
The updated Pro Football Focus rankings for the overall units on the season through Week 13 (except the Ravens-Cowboys game on Tuesday) sees the Browns offense ranked No. 3 overall. At 86.9 overall, the offense trails only Kansas City and Green Bay.
The skill position players are faring well, but the strong PFF score comes off the backbone of an outstanding offensive line. The Browns rank first in both run blocking grade (81.1) and pass protection (89.6). In fact, the Browns pass blocking score is more than 10 points higher than the next-best, Green Bay.
The defense is 17th overall, with the coverage grade of 59.0 ranking 20th as the lowest unit score of any Browns group. The special teams are currently 24th on the season.
Cleveland ranks 11th in passing grade, fourth in running and eighth in receiving in PFF’s metrics for the season on offense. Not bad for a new offensive system under a new coaching staff with no preseason!