Tag: Dalvin Tomlinson

DT Dalvin Tomlinson has been worth every penny for the Browns

The move has payed off well so far for the Browns

The Cleveland Browns, now on the verge of clinching a playoff spot, had some of the worst defensive tackle play in the NFL during the 2022 season. It was clear that general manager Andrew Berry had to make it a priority to fix that issue before this season. The biggest and most important move he made to correct that was giving veteran Dalvin Tomlinson a four-year, $57 million deal in the offseason.

There were plenty of critics over the size of the deal with some saying he wasn’t a three-down difference-maker sort of player. That couldn’t have been farther from the truth as Tomlinson has played some of the best football of his career with the Browns in 2023. There have been more than a couple of games that have been taken over in stretches by Dalvin Tomlinson.

He has made a massive impact in both phases of the game and already has a career-high 33 quarterback pressures with three games left. Tomlinson also has made his presence known in the run game helping to reshape a putrid run defense from last year.

Being paired up with multiple great pass rushers on the edge and the massive improvement from Jordan Elliott have helped Tomlinson get favorable matchups. Jim Schwartz has found a way to make the most of the talent he has on defense and has Cleveland looking like the best in the league.

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PFF’s 10 highest-graded Browns’ defensive players vs. Bears

The Browns defense, led by Myles Garrett and Dalvin Tomlinson, was fantastic yet again against the Bears at home this weekend.

It was just another day at the office for the elite defensive unit of the Cleveland Browns against the Chicago Bears at home. Once again dominant, they were led by defensive end Myles Garrett and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson.

If the offense didn’t turn the ball over three times, once for a touchdown and another inside the five, this could have been another game with single-digit points allowed.

The Browns’ pass rush had Justin Fields running for his life all day as they totaled a ridiculous 37 pressures in this game. Though Myles Garrett didn’t record a sack he had 11 quarterback pressures alone with a total of 11 different players recording at least one pressure.

Jim Schwartz and his crew have got to figure out how to duplicate this performance on the road where they have struggled as of late. With control of the Wild Card ace, they have to bring their best to Houston next week against the Texans. Here are the top 10 performances from the defense according to PFF.

Browns Studs and Duds: Who showed up and disappeared in loss vs. Rams?

A look at the five most impactful people in the Cleveland Browns loss to the Los Angeles Rams in week 13 of the NFL season.

The Cleveland Browns return to the city without a win from their two weeks out west, wrapping up the trip against the Los Angeles Rams. The team comes back injured and badly bruised. The injuries became insurmountable as they finished the remaining Browns’ stars: Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, and Amari Cooper. The team returns home to lick their wounds as they prepare for the Jaguars and a battle for wildcard positioning. Wide receiver Elijah Moore had his best game as a Brown, and guard Wyatt Teller continues to stack weeks.

The Browns were competitive against a well-coached Rams team for the first three quarters. The Browns stuck to their roots and showed an effective play-action passing attack off the backs of an inefficient run game. The Browns were unable to generate much offense outside of those staple concepts. 

Joe Flacco did an admirable job quarterbacking the Browns after signing with the team’s practice squad just weeks ago. However, the unfamiliarity between the quarterback and offense hamstrung the Browns in obvious passing situations. The Browns will need to spend the week deciding if they want to start Flacco or Dorian Thompson-Robinson on Sunday. Flacco played well enough to beg the question as the Browns are desperate for any offense. 

In this week’s studs and duds, we look at five difference-makers in the loss against the Rams.

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Browns studs and duds: Top 5 players from win over Cardinals

The five best players from the Cleveland Browns victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cleveland Browns shut down the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, dominating with a 27-0 victory. The team’s stars showed out in the shutout against the Cardinals, proving why they are among the very elite of the NFL.

Deshaun Watson looked extremely sharp in his return from the rotator cuff injury that made it nearly impossible for him to throw the ball, as demonstrated against the Colts a fortnight ago. On Sunday, Watson looked fully healthy and back to his normal self, seeking out contact. Wide receiver Amari Cooper jokingly told Watson, “Slide more” in their post-game press conference. The Browns’ defense once again regained their No. 1 ranking in most models after slipping against the Seahawks. It seemed like every defensive starter had a sack or tackle for loss as the Browns held the Cardinals to 58 yards in over 60 minutes.

Here are the five studs that advanced the Browns to victory. There are no duds in 27-point wins.

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Browns Twitter reacts to dominating shutout win vs. Cardinals

Twitter enjoyed themselves after the teams fifth victory of the game

It has been a long time since the Cleveland Browns had shut out an opponent until today as they blanked the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 27-0. The defense was ready from the word go and did not allow rookie Clayton Tune to settle in or find any comfort in the pocket. At the end of the day, they sacked him seven times and forced three turnovers.

Deshaun Watson needed a little bit of time to get going but there were a couple of throws today that were so impressive to watch. His two bombs to Amari Cooper do suggest that he is truly healthy and figuring it out. If this team can give this kind of effort week in and week out they are a force to be reckoned with.

It was against a one-win Cardinals team but it isn’t easy to win in the NFL so when you get a chance to do so you celebrate. Let’s take a look at how Browns’ Twitter reacted to the big win.

PFF’s 10 highest-graded Browns’ defensive players vs. Colts

It wasn’t the defense’s best performance

Coming off an impressive performance against the San Francisco 49ers the defense of the Cleveland Browns had a bit of a letdown defensively against the Colts. They struggled in zone coverage again like against the Baltimore Ravens, it is clear that the team is much more successful when they play man coverage. But it was far from just a bad day as defensive end Myles Garrett had one of the most impressive games of his career.

It’s the second time this year that he took over a game and put up a defensive player of the year type performance. Two sacks, two forced fumbles one of which was recovered for a touchdown, and a blocked field goal.

The Colts came to play and Shane Steichen called an impressive game for their offense. Let’s take a look at the ten best performances for the Browns on defense according to PFF in the 39-38 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

PFF’s 10 highest-graded Browns’ defensive players vs. 49ers

It was another great performance from the Browns defense

It has been a historic start to the season for the Cleveland Browns and their defense, who have thrived under defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. The rebuilt defensive line has been exceptional and elevated both the linebackers and the defensive backs. With the defensive line eating blocks Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has been all over the field showing the freak athlete he is game after game. It doesn’t take long when watch this defense to see that they play fast, aggressive, and smart.

They have been smothering in man coverage with Martin Emerson Jr. taking a big step forward in his second season.

It truly has been fun to watch this defense play and they went up against one of the NFL’s most potent offenses this year and held them under 20 points. Let’s take a look at the 10 players that stood out the most against the 49ers according to PFF and how they graded those players.

Browns: Jim Schwartz has defense off to a historic start in 2023

What a start for Jim Schwartz and his defense

What a start for defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and the defense of the Cleveland Browns through the first five games of the season. They went out and shut down one of the best offenses in football limiting them to only 17 points. The offense needed the defense to help them out with Deshaun Watson and Joel Bitonio, and boy did they deliver.

According to a stat posted after the game by the NFL on CBS, the Browns defense has allowed 1,002 yards total all season which is the lowest number through five games in over 50 years. That stat is also the third-fewest through five games in NFL history a truly historic start.

Andrew Berry rebuilt the defense line in the offseason and they have been terrific so far. Defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson was fantastic against the 49ers and was in the backfield nearly every snap. Ogbo Okoronkwo was a forgotten man after the Za’Darius Smith trade but Ogbo has been great as both a pass rusher and run defender.

Martin Emerson Jr. got his first interception of his career and after another shutdown performance deserves more national recognition. Finally being kept clean with good defensive line play Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has shined as a fast athletic linebacker that erases running angles to make impact plays.

The OBR’s Cody Suek posted another great stat that the Browns have allowed only a 31.2% success rate through the first six weeks of the NFL season. Whatever way you cut it Schwartz’s unit is one of the league’s absolute best and they may be number one.

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PFF’s 10 highest-graded Browns’ defensive players vs. Ravens

It wasn’t the best day for the defense

It wasn’t the best day for the defense of the Cleveland Browns, who made plenty of plays but overall got worn down and struggled to make tackles. The team missed 11 tackles in total according to PFF after tackling had been a strong point in the first three games of the year. Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst provided the only takeaway in this one.

The Ravens were by far the best offense Cleveland has seen and it showed as they were able to run the ball at will against the team. There are some areas to clean up during the bye knowing that Kyle Shannahan and the 49ers offense is awaiting in two weeks.

The team was still able to generate a solid pass rush as the defensive line remained a strength of the team. It was an up-and-down game for the secondary as the Ravens’ offensive scheme was perfect to attack the Browns. Here are the top 10 highest-graded defenders for the Browns against the Ravens according to PFF.

PFF’s 10 highest-graded Browns defensive players vs. Bengals

The defense as a whole had a great game against the Bengals

New defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had his defense ready to play Sunday as they limited the defending AFC North champions to just three points. The Cleveland Browns defensive line just wrecked the Cincinnati Bengals as they had 17 quarterback pressures according to PFF.

Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith both had six pressures a piece as they never let the Bengals offense get into any kind of rhythm. This helped the defensive backs who locked down the great wide receiver group and kept Tee Higgins to zero catches on eight targets. Ja’Marr Chase faired only a little better with 39 yards on five catches.

Grant Delpit stood out the most as he was all over the field making an impact as a pass rusher, run defender, and in coverage. The team just seemed like they bought into what Schwartz was preaching and are playing fast and aggressively.

Here are the ten players that played the best on defense according to PFF.