The Cleveland Browns held Derrick Henry, the NFL’s leading rusher, to just 60 yards on the ground in Sunday’s 41-35 win over the Tennessee Titans. They did so by going big on defense.
Faced with injury issues in the secondary, Cleveland DC Joe Woods opted to roll with extra defensive linemen instead of playing deeper reserves at safety. It’s reflected in the snap counts.
The starting foursome on the defensive line all played more than safety Karl Joseph, who started in place of injured Ronnie Harrison but was on the field for just 42 of the 72 defensive snaps. Reserve DE Adrian Clayborn played 40 snaps, just two fewer than Joseph. That’s behind starters Olivier Vernon (72), Sheldon Richardson (54), Myles Garrett (52) and Larry Ogunjobi (43). Rookie DT Jordan Elliott also played 23 and Vincent Taylor saw 13 reps.
B.J. Goodson played the most of any linebacker with 54 snaps, equating to 75 percent. Malcolm Smith was next at 36. No. 3 safety Sheldrick Redwine played 29.
The offense was more on course with what’s been the norm under Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt, though it’s worth noting No. 3 WR Donovan Peoples-Jones (41) out-repped No. 2 TE Harrison Bryant (39). Credit Stefanski’s smart aerial assault gameplan against the Titans defense for that peculiarity.
Running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt has almost an even split. Chubb played 36 of the 72 snaps, with Hunt one behind at 35. D’Ernest Johnson played two.
Ja’Marcus Bradley saw action on 11 offensive plays in his call-up duty as the No. 4 wide receiver.
Kendall Lamm played exactly one snap on offense. The reserve offensive tackle caught a touchdown pass in his one play. That’s efficiency.
It doesn’t happen often that the two teams run the exact same amount of plays, either.