How Jim Schwartz and the Browns tore Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers offense apart

The Browns’ defense took Kyle Shanahan’s beautiful 49ers offense to the woodshed last Sunday. Here’s how they did it — and why other defenses can’t.

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The San Francisco 49ers had a feeling that they were running into a buzzsaw last Sunday in the Cleveland Browns’ defense.

“He is one of the most talented guys I think anyone’s seen,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said of Browns edge-monster Myles Garrett last Wednesday. “And the style they play on defense is very similar to ours. They rush the passer every play and then react to everything else. Him combined with [Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Jim] Schwartz’s scheme and the guys around him, it’s a problem. It’s obvious why they’re a top defense right now.”

Shanahan had equal praise for Cleveland’s defensive backs.

“Very good. When you have the D-Line they have, the downhill linebackers, you better have some good corners, and they have very good ones. They play a lot of man-to-man coverage. They’ll mix in some zone. But, when you play that much man-to-man and you’re also the number one pass defense in the league, you’ve got to have some good corners.”

Jim Schwartz also understood the challenges of the 49ers’ top-ranked offense and all the shifts and motions presented.

“But I think probably the biggest thing that stands out is they have so many multipurpose players, multi-position players,” Schwartz said last Thursday. “I think a common thing is people say positionless players. These guys aren’t positionless. They have multiple positions. [Christian] McCaffrey can be a wide out. He can be a running back. Deebo can be a wide out. He can be a running back. [George] Kittle can be a tight end. He can be a wide out. [Kyle] Juszcyk can be a fullback. He can be a tight end. He can be a wide out. He can carry the ball.

“They put a lot of I won’t say stress, but they make it where you just can’t defend one thing. They can be in 21 personnel, two backs, tight end and two wideouts, and they can make you defend twelve alignments, eleven alignments, empty alignments, two back alignments. And they’ll all use their wide receivers to block. Their wide receivers do an outstanding job of blocking. So we’re going to have to play our game and accentuate our guys. We have some multipurpose players that can do a lot of things. It’s going to be a great matchup. This is NFL football at its finest. This is an outstanding offense, a good defense. We’ll be ready for it.”

So, everybody knew what they were in for. The Browns were the NFL’s top defense in DVOA, and outside of a few hiccups against the Ravens in Week 4, they’ve maintained a historic pace all the way through the young season.

After Cleveland’s 19-17 win over the 49ers on Sunday, that pace fortified itself.

How bad was it for the 49ers’ offense, and how good was it for the Browns’ defense? Quarterback Brock Purdy came into this game with an EPA of 51.96 — by far the best in the league. Tua Tagovailoa ranked second at 42.28. Against the Browns, Purdy’s EPA was -8.0. And Purdy was completely shut down in the ways in which he’s succeeded all season long. The failure rate against Cleveland’s defense was that much more shocking in comparison.

Before this game, Christian McCaffrey’s average yards before contact per attempt was 1.80. His average yards after contact was 3.35. Against the Browns, McCaffrey had -0.18 yards per carry before contact, and 4.09 yards after. So, when he was able to get out of the vise the Browns’ fronts had him in at and behind the line of scrimmage, McCaffrey represented himself pretty well. But getting there was a challenge at times.

After watching the tape on Monday, Shanahan concluded that his offense was mostly outmatched.

“I mean, they played aggressive man coverage. We knew that going into it. They had a couple of pressures that got us, we had a couple mistakes that got us in really negative situations. We had two drives in that game that didn’t have a negative play. That was the first drive that we scored a touchdown and it was the last drive where we ended up missing that field goal. We got in some negative situations where we had second-and-long and third-and-long. And then with that pass rush and the tight coverages, that makes it really tough on a quarterback. So I think just as a team wholly, just getting into some of those bad situations made Brock’s job a lot tougher. But he mixed it up throughout the game, did a good job.

It was tough on film going in, and it was tough during the game, too.”

It was, so let’s go to the film to see what the Browns did to Shanahan’s normally impeccable creation.

Watch: Browns players podcast interviews JOK and Ogbo Okoronkwo about NFL Africa and more

The Cleveland Browns released the latest episode of the Dawgs Only podcast. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo discuss their outreach projects in Africa and fashion with Anthony Walker Jr. and Rodney McLeod Jr.

The Cleveland Browns released the latest episode of their player-run podcast “Dawgs Only.” The podcast featured Anthony Walker Jr. and Rodney McLeod Jr. hosting Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Ogbo Okoronkwo. The podcast does a great job of showcasing who the players are as human beings. Owusu-Koramoah and Okoronkwo share their experiences with NFL Africa, a program created by NFL great Osi Umenyiora to foster the growth of football in Africa.

The two remain close to the continent as Owusu-Koramoah’s extended family lives in Ghana and Okoronkwo’s extended family in Nigeria. The two discuss their cultures, food, and styles, including Owusu-Koramoah’s global south-inspired pregame fits. 

Okoronkwo is no slouch when it comes to fashion. He knows how to throw fits. The Pharrell Williams-inspired artist is quite the dapper Dan. He worked at New York Fashion Week as a photographer for Essence last winter. Okoronkwo is a photographer in his spare time. The defensive end is in New York City during the bye-week for his second gallery show

The Dawgs Only podcast does a fantastic job of showing fans the face inside the helmet. Their prior episode included Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, and Wyatt Teller. The podcast is a must-listen for any Browns fan. Check out this episode on YouTube. 

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The NFL’s All-Underrated Team: One Secret Superstar for all 32 teams

From Matt Milano to Denico Autry to Tyler Lockett to Tony Pollard, here are the NFL’s most underrated players by team.

Why are great players underrated in any sport?

There are all kinds of reasons. In football, it could be that the guy playing your position is even better than you are, and he’s been doing it longer. Maybe we only have the attention span for one great player at your position Maybe you’re on a team that doesn’t get much national praise, or you’re part of a unit that… well, stinks… and you’re one of the few bright spots. Or, you’re just getting started on the ascent, and the world hasn’t quite caught up yet.

No matter the reason, there are many NFL players who ply their trade at an exceedingly high level, and they’re not given their proper due. Here, we look to rectify this in 32 individual instances with the most underrated player for every NFL team. Some of these guys have been doing it the right way in the shade for a long time for their teams; a few are new in their uniforms.

No matter why, all 32 of these NFL players deserve more love than they get, and here’s why. Here is every NFL team’s most underrated player.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated). 

The new Cleveland Browns could put frowns on the faces of enemy quarterbacks

With defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and a posse of new pass-rushers, the Cleveland Browns could put frowns on the faces of opposing quarterbacks.

After three seasons with Joe Woods as their defensive coordinator, the Cleveland Browns made a change with the January hire of Jim Schwartz, who has a long NFL history as a head coach and defensive coach. The primary mission the Browns seemed to have this offseason was to bring more quarterback sacks, hits, and hurries from the defensive line, and that’s something that will be needed if this team is to be truly competitive. In 2022, per Pro Football Focus, Myles Garrett was responsible for 18 of the team’s 37 sacks, eight of the team’s 23 quarterback hits, and 47 of the team’s 118 quarterback hurries.

Not the ratio you want.

So, in addition to mixing things up with the Schwartz addition, the Browns got decicive in free agency, adding former Minnesota Vikings linemen Za’Darius Smith and Dalvin Tomlinson, as well as ex-Texans edge-rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. They also selected Baylor defensive tackle Siaki Ika with the 98th overall pick in the third round, so this amounts to a wholesale change in the Browns’ ability to get after the quarterback with more guys than just Garrett.

“I think as you guys hear Jim talk, he’ll talk about being an attack-style front,” general manager Andrew Berry said at the scouting combine. “So, guys that really do get up the field, penetrate, really use either quickness or power to create disruption behind the line of scrimmage. So that’s the general picture that you’ll get from our defense.”

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Browns new additions have picked their jersey numbers for 2023

The new additions have their numbers as offseason workouts begin.

It has been a good start for the Cleveland Browns this offseason with a productive free agency period, adding players like wide receiver Elijah Moore and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. With the team reporting to phase one of the offseason on Monday the new players have selected their numbers with the draft coming next week.

A few players have also changed their numbers, some at the request of new players wanting their old numbers. The long road to the 2023 NFL season is underway in Berea as several players spoke with the media on Tuesday including head coach Kevin Stefanski. Next up in the offseason is the draft that kicks off next Thursday with the Browns not picking until the third round, here’s a look at the new player’s numbers.

Who could be the first Browns player to wear the number 0?

Who will be the first Browns player to sport the number 0?

The NFL owners voted to allow players to be able to wear the number 0 on the playing field, beginning this season. So now the question has to be asked: which player for the Cleveland Browns will look the best wearing the new digit? New additions to the roster, like wide receiver Elijah Moore, have the obvious advantage, as they do not have to buy out their remaining jerseys the way that current players do.

However, there are current players on the roster for the Browns that would look phenomenal wearing the number 0 in the brown and orange. Here are four players that would look phenomenal sporting the newly allowed number for the Browns.

PFF has Browns new pass rusher as most underrated free agent signing

Cleveland has had a great offseason so far.

The biggest task facing the Cleveland Browns this offseason was rebuilding the defensive line for new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. At the start of the NFL free agency period, they added two talented players at the line in defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, and are now receiving praise for one of those moves being underrated.

PFF’s Brad Spielberger listed the six most underrated signings this year, and the Browns’ deal with Okoronkwo made the cut. The team has struggled to find a consistent presence opposite Myles Garrett and may have finally found it. For this reason, it does make sense to categorize it as an underrated move.

Okoronkwo took some time to come into his own but last season for the Texans as he got more playing time he played well. He’s explosive off the line of scrimmage with more power than you would expect to win as a rusher in multiple ways. He also understands how to shoot gaps in the run game and doesn’t get push around often. PFF is spot on in calling this an underrated signing across the NFL.

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Ogbonnia Okoronkwo considered the Texans’ biggest loss in free agency

The Houston Texans’ allowing Ogbonnia Okoronkwo to walk is considered to be their biggest free agency loss.

The Houston Texans have done well to acquire free agent talent.

The Texans fortified their offensive line trading for guard Shaq Mason, added key linebackers with Cory Littleton and Denzel Perryman, provided a lieutenant from DeMeco Ryans’ San Francisco 49ers tenure with safety Jimmie Ward, and gave their new quarterback a target with Dalton Schultz.

According to Brad Spielberger from Pro Football Focus, as well as the Texans have done in free agency, their best player they let get away was defensive end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo.

It’s a bit puzzling as to why Houston didn’t do more to try to keep Okoronkwo, but perhaps they did and he just wanted to go elsewhere. After a slow start heading into the team’s Week 6 bye, Okoronkwo exploded out of the gate from Week 7 on, with his 88.5 pass-rush grade ranking sixth among edge defenders from that point on.

Okoronkwo’s 22.9% pass-rush win rate ranked seventh and his 17.5% pressure percentage ranked eighth among edge defenders over the same span, and he became a starter for the first time in his career in Week 11 without a drop-off in down-to-down efficiency. He may not be a 1,000-snap player, but the value of 500-700 snaps at this level is worth quite a bit, and Cleveland may have landed a steal here.

Defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire said on Dec. 15, 2022, that Okoronkwo brought “pure energy” to the unit.

“He’s energy, pure energy,” said Cesaire. “If you look at him, he’s always got a smile on his face. He loves the game. You can tell he really loves the game. The way he rushes, the way he attacks the line of scrimmage. He’s not the biggest guy on the field, but he’s got the biggest heart. He’s a guy that you trust and rely on each play.”

The Texans have significantly addressed all positions on the roster through the first wave of free agency, save for quarterback, receiver, and defensive end.

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The best bargains and most underrated players in 2023 NFL free agency (so far)

Everybody wants to talk about the big-name signings, but here are the best bargains of the 2023 free agent class so far.

There are people in the NFL — especially people who have endured one or more instances of top-heavy free-agency spending — who will tell you that if you want to contend for a Super Bowl, the bottom third of your roster will be just as important as the top third at some point in time. Yes, you want optimal performances from the best and brightest, and if you get it, that’s great. But one of your star players will probably miss time with an injury. Another star might be involved in a contract dispute. And it’s entirely possible that the big-ticket free agent your team brought in for the gross national product of Estonia is actually a bad fit for what his new coaches would like him to do.

It happens all the time. To counter all of these little nightmares, it’s wise to find the best bargains in any free-agent cycle — those players who may not be marquee names, but whose performances on the field makes them important to you.

Especially when things go wrong up top.

There are still quite a few talented players on the open market, so we’ll be adding to this list as we go… but for now, here are the free agents either re-signing in their old homes or going to new locations who will impact their rosters much more than you may think.

New pash rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo is happy to be in town

The edge rusher is happy to get this opportunity.

When legal tampering began on Monday the first outside move of the Cleveland Browns was to sign pass rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo from the Texans. Pairing the young rusher with Myles Garrett is very intriguing. On Wednesday Ogbonnia Okoronkwo had this to say about joining the Browns.

“Really excited to join the Cleveland Browns. I am looking forward to adding to an already talented roster, while playing opposite Myles Garrett, and to be coached by Coach Schwartz in his system, where I’ve seen multiple players find success in it. I can’t wait to get going and the goal is to bring a Super Bowl to the city of Cleveland”

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