'Biggest stat in football': Browns defense eyes takeaways against stingy 49ers offense

BEREA — There's been a whole lot to like about the Browns defense over their first four games. Their relative dominance can be found in a litany of statistics.

The stats, though, can also point to the one area in which they've come up short.

"I think we’ve still got to get those takeaways, and I think that's been a big emphasis," cornerback Denzel Ward said Thursday. "So definitely getting those takeaways, but I don't think we need to do anything crazy, just continue to be ourselves and go out there and play our game, play our ball, and I think everything else will take care of itself."

The Browns have forced exactly three turnovers entering Sunday's game against the undefeated San Francisco 49ers. What's even more amazing is they're 0-2 in the two games in which they've created takeaways.

Safety Grant Delpit had the team's lone interception, as well as a fumble recovery, in a Week 2 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst Jr. recovered a fumble during a Week 4 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

That's been the extent of their takeaways roughly a quarter of the way through the season. A year ago, they had four takeaways through four games on their way to 20 for the season.

The struggle to get takeaways became so acute a year ago that All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett went on a mini-rant on the subject after a Week 11 loss to the Buffalo Bills. A year later, the Browns haven't forgotten about the importance of taking the ball away.

"That's probably the biggest stat in football that helps teams win," linebacker Sione Takitaki said. "So I feel like we just got to do better as a whole, keeping the ball and then as a defense taking it away, and we work on that every day as a team, so we'll continue to get after until it's right."

Sunday would be a good time for the Browns to start creating some. However, the 49ers seem like the exact wrong team against which a defense could look to improve its takeaway total.

San Francisco is tied for first in turnover margin at plus-7, compared to the Browns being 29th at minus-7. The 49ers have lost two fumbles — one in a 30-7 season-opening win at Pittsburgh and the other Sunday night in a 42-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has yet to throw an interception in 136 passes this season. He threw four in 233 combined regular-season and playoff pass attempts as a rookie last season.

"I wouldn’t say taking a chance wouldn’t work," Ward said. "We just got to do our job and execute our assignments and I feel those takeovers (blended turnovers and takeaways) will come. He’s done a great job of taking care of the ball and not throwing any interceptions. But, like I said, we got to just be in great position and find ways to attack the ball and put ourselves in those positions to take it away."

There's even more reason to believe the defense's ability to take the ball away will be a crucial piece to any hopes the Browns have of being the first team this season to beat the 49ers. Their own turnover problems, with 10 giveaways, is just the start of the issues.

Another is a quarterback uncertainty centered around Deshaun Watson's bruised right shoulder, which could leave the Browns starting P.J. Walker. That's on top of a running game that's been spinning its wheels since losing Pro Bowler Nick Chubb to a season-ending knee injury in Week 2.

Not that the defense is putting that weight upon it any more than what's already there preparing for the 49ers offense.

"We got to be ready to go defensively no matter who's at quarterback and, yeah, we'll be fine," linebacker Anthony Walker said. "We can't worry about that. We know that whoever's out there, we believe in them. They got our support, but we got to worry about what we have to do on defense first."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns defense eyes takeaways against 49ers team doesn't turn it over