Myles Garrett and more: 5 significant defensive plays from Browns 2023 playoff season

BEREA — The Browns season is a week into the rearview mirror. However, there remain memories from a remarkable season that will last for some time in the minds of those who witnessed it.

An earlier focus was on five significant plays by the Browns offense. Today, the focus is on five significant defensive plays.

Some were legitimately spectacular plays. Others were routine plays, just made at the most high-stakes moments of the game.

There's one play that won't be on the list. It's not that it wasn't legitimately both significant and spectacular, but it also can go under a different classification, which is where it will be looked at soon enough. However, the player who made that play still found his way on this list, starting with another play from that same game.

Myles Garrett strip sacks Gardner Minshew, which Tony Fields II turns into a TD

The 39-38 Week 7 win over the Indianapolis Colts was a strange confluence of opposites. It was both the worst all-around regular-season performance by the Browns defense as a whole. And yet, defensive end Myles Garrett may have had one of his best games ever that day. Garrett had seven solo and two assisted tackles, a blocked field goal and two sacks, both of which led to forced fumbles that set up Browns touchdowns. It's the second one of those that gets the nod here, because it turned directly into a score. The Colts were in second-and-16 from their own 5 with 1:50 remaining in the half, holding a 21-17 lead. Instead of running the ball to navigate out of the negative field position, Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen elected to drop quarterback Gardner Minshew back to pass. Garrett, lined up on the left end of the Browns defensive line instead of his traditional right end spot, first abused tight end Drew Ogletree before getting past right tackle Blake Freeland to hit Minshew and force a fumble in the end zone. After a brief scrum, linebacker Tony Fields II fell on the football for the Cleveland touchdown. That helped the Browns take a 24-21 lead with 1:42 remaining in the half. Garrett earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the Colts game.

Greg Newsome II's first career interception (nearly) pulls Browns even with Baltimore Ravens

Droughts often end when you don't see them coming. Cornerback Greg Newsome II had played two-and-a-half seasons for the Browns and was still looking for his first interception when Week 10's road game at the Baltimore Ravens arrived. The first problem for Newsome was getting on the field, as he had missed the previous week's win over the Arizona Cardinals with a groin injury that knocked him out of Week 8's loss at the Seattle Seahawks. However, Newsome managed to get healthy enough to face the Ravens, who spent essentially the entire game leading. Most of that time was actually spent with Baltimore leading by as many as 15 points. The Browns, though, cut the deficit to 31-24 with 8:57 remaining when the Ravens got the football back. On their second play from the Baltimore 27, QB Lamar Jackson dropped back to pass and looked to his right. Browns defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo pushed right tackle Patrick Mekari back and got his arms up as Jackson threw. The ball appeared to bounce off Okoronkwo's facemask, up in the air and into the hands of Newsome, who was at the Ravens 34. Newsome took off down the left sideline 34 yards and into the end zone for an easy pick six with 8:16 remaining in the game. Tie game, right? Uh, no, because Dustin Hopkins missed the point-after kick to keep the Browns down 31-30. Hopkins made up for it 8:12 later when he kicked a 40-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to help Cleveland escape with a 33-31 win.

Myles Garrett sacks Joe Burrow to put an exclamation point on season-opening statement

The season-long tone for both the Browns defense and Garrett was set in the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. The capper to that performance on a rainy day in Cleveland came with roughly 10:30 remaining and the Browns leading 16-3. The Bengals were faced with a fourth-and-4 from their own 31 and elected to go for it. Garrett was lined up on the left side of the Browns defensive line, opposite right tackle Jonah Williams. Neither Williams nor running back Trayveon Williams, who tried to come help block Garrett, stood a chance. Garrett blew past them, sacking quarterback Joe Burrow for a 13-yard loss. Three plays later, Deshaun Watson threw a 3-yard TD pass to tight end Harrison Bryant, then ran in the 2-point conversion to set off a wild celebration. The Browns limited Burrow, who was hampered as well by a preseason calf injury, to a career-low 82 passing yards while he was sacked twice.

Cameron Mitchell gets Justin Fields' foot to stop the Bears QB a foot short

Rookie cornerback Cameron Mitchell had a big hand, literally, in jump-starting the Browns' fourth-quarter comeback in Week 15 against the Chicago Bears. That's because he was able to get a hand on Bears QB Justin Fields on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Bears came out with a tight bunch to the right side of the formation out of the break between the third and fourth quarter to try and pick up the fourth-and-1 from the Browns 33 while holding a 17-7 lead. Mitchell was lined up head up on Darnell Mooney at the middle of the bunch, and stayed there as the outside receiver went in motion left. On the snap, Mitchell got sucked into the action of the play, which was going to the left. Fields, though, reversed to the right on the bootleg and ran toward the first-down marker. Mitchell was pushed backwards by Mooney, who was thinking he was getting the Browns rookie out of the play. Instead, it put Mitchell in position to at least recover enough to get near Fields, which was what he was able to do a foot shy of the first-down marker. That opened the door for the Browns to outscore the Bears 13-0 in the final quarter to steal a 20-17 win.

Ronnie Hickman gets the playoff-clinching party started with pick six vs. Jets

There was a path to the Browns' Week 17 win over the New York Jets going a different, less-fun way. Or, at least, in a more stress-inducing way. The first quarter started out with both teams marching right down the field and putting up matching touchdowns, then the Browns going down and getting another one, but missing the extra point for a 13-7 lead. They then created a fumble by the Jets on the subsequent kickoff, but failed on a fourth-down pass into the end zone to add more points. That gave New York some momentum, momentum that rookie safety Ronnie Hickman quickly snatched away. Hickman stepped in front of a pass from Jets quarterback Trevor Siemian intended for Hickman's former Ohio State teammate, Garrett Wilson, and intercepted the pass. Hickman returned the pick 30 yards for a Browns touchdown. Riley Patterson made his PAT this time, giving the Browns a 20-7 lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter. The Jets never got within 10 points of the Browns the rest of the game as Cleveland celebrated its third playoff berth since 1999 with a 37-20 win.

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: 5 key Browns defensive plays from 2023 NFL playoff season