Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah shines as the Browns topple the Bears

The main storyline emerging out of the Cleveland Browns’ victory over the Chicago Bears focuses on a rookie. Quarterback Justin Fields.

But a better storyline might be what we saw from another rookie to take the field Sunday, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

The rookie, making his second NFL start, turned in an impressive performance on Sunday as the Browns defense throttled Fields in his first NFL start. Cleveland held Fields to just six completions on 20 attempts for a mere 68 yards, and when you factor in the 67 yards lost when Fields was sacked, the Chicago passing game accounted for a single yard yesterday.

Three feet.

Not much.

Fields was sacked nine times by the Browns, with 4.5 of those coming from Myles Garrett as the pass rusher set a franchise record for sacks in a single game. Yet in just his second start, it was the rookie linebacker who was making plays at multiple levels of the field, both against the run and in the passing game.

After the win, head coach Kevin Stefanski summed up his play rather succinctly: “I would have to look at it, but I am going to guess he was running around making plays.”

Well put.

Let’s dive into Owusu-Koramoah’s game against the Bears, starting with what he did against the run, and then looking at how he contributed when Fields put the ball in the air.

Stopping the run game

(Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)

One of the difficulties in projecting Owusu-Koramoah in last year's draft cycle -- although it did not stop me from mocking him to Cleveland in almost every single mock draft I did -- was contemplating the value of an off-ball linebacker in the modern NFL. For many such players, the bulk of their contributions come against the run. But in today's game, passing is king. Still, defenses need to stop the run when offenses keep the football on the ground, and going into a game against a rookie QB making his first start, you might expect a lot of running plays. That's why what we saw from Osusu-Koramoah against the run was impressive: Take this third-down stop of David Montgomery: [video width="960" height="540" mp4="https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2021/09/JOKVideo1.mp4">[/video] Owusu-Koramoah starts this play down on the line of scrimmage, and the Bears try and run a toss in his direction. The rookie linebacker sees the play unfold and left tackle Jason Peters pulling towards him, and you can spot how Owusu-Koramoah fights to get outside and set the edge, before scraping off and chopping down the running back himself. The rookie defender also flashed his athleticism on this tackle for a loss from the first half. The Bears try and run to the left side again, and you can see Osusu-Koramoah fly downhill and make this tackle after starting from depth: [video width="960" height="540" mp4="https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2021/09/JOKVideo2.mp4">[/video] Once more you see the effort from Owusu-Koramoah as he avoids the center climbing towards him and races to the edge, looking to force the running back to cut towards help. But the rookie is not done, as he finishes the play himself with the tackle for a loss. With his instincts for run defense and his athleticism, Owusu-Koramoah is a capable defender against the run. On an afternoon when the Bears were looking to protect their own rookie with a running game, Cleveland's ability to stop the run game played a big role in their victory. And the rookie linebacker played a huge role in that effort.

Slowing down the passing game

(Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports)

Stopping the run is one thing, but in today's NFL, you need to be able to play good defense when the opposing quarterback puts the football in the air. Owusu-Koramoah also made some big plays in the passing game when Fields dropped to throw on Sunday. A play that is getting a lot of attention is his first NFL sack, when he and Garrett combined to bring down Fields before the rookie could get the ball out of his hands: [video width="960" height="540" mp4="https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2021/09/JOKVideo3.mp4">[/video] After delaying, Owusu-Koramoah attacks the passer, meeting at Fields alongside Garrett for the sack, the first of his NFL career. (A quick note on this blitz. It looks as if Owusu-Koramoah and fellow linebacker Malcolm Smith are reading this. Fields opens towards Smith and away from Owusu-Koramoah, and then Smith retreats and looks to get under crossing routes using a "robot" technique. That's when the rookie attacks downhill. Hard to know for sure, but that might be what the Browns are doing on this play). So while that play is getting a ton of attention, these two incompletions were influenced in large part by the rookie linebacker. On this play, the Bears try and run a little swing/spot concept between the running back and the tight end. You'll see Owusu-Koramoah point out the swing route pre-snap, read the eyes of the quarterback -- who is trying to move him off the tight end -- and then disrupt the throwing lane: [video width="960" height="540" mp4="https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2021/09/JOKWheelCurl.mp4">[/video] Then there was this play. Owusu-Koramoah gets isolated on the running back in the flat, and he plays this perfectly: [video width="960" height="540" mp4="https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2021/09/JOKRake.mp4">[/video] First, the rookie linebacker reads the quarterback's eyes, which lead him to the route from Montgomery in the flat. Then, although Owusu-Koramoah cannot knockdown the throw before it reaches the RB -- which would have required a Herculean effort -- he plays this perfectly at the catch point, racking down on Montgomery's arms and dislodging the football from the running back, turning this play into an incompletion. One of the reasons that people viewed Owusu-Koramoah as a highly-ranked prospect coming out was his versatility. Unlike other hybrid defenders of the past, who seemed most comfortable in one aspect of the game or others, Owusu-Koramoah showed an ability while in college to stop the run, while also having the ability to be effective against the pass. The more ways you can contribute is evidence of true versatility, and we saw that on Sunday as the rookie linebacker was critical in Cleveland's dominant defensive performance.

1

1