Myles Garrett and the rest of the Browns defensive line dominated Cincinnati
It has been well covered this offseason on the amount of talent general manager Andrew Berry collected around Myles Garrett on the defensive line for the Cleveland Browns. Sunday was the first season to see all of that talent together on the field and they did not disappoint. The team kept Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow under pressure and uncomfortable from the first snap when Za’Darius Smith hit him as he threw the ball incomplete.
The weather played a factor but according to PFF, Joe Burrow was pressured on 17 of his 33 dropbacks Sunday. That means the Browns’ defense pressured Burrow over half of the time he dropped back to throw. The Bengals were clearly trying to get rid of the ball quickly to try and neutralize the pass rush and if they weren’t there would’ve been even more pressure.
It was truly impressive to watch as Jim Schwartz was creative moving players around and creating mismatches to create pressure. He trusted his defensive backs who also played well in the blowout win. Let’s take a look at more of the numbers from the Browns’ defensive line.
Myles Garrett had a ridiculous get off rate
According to ESPN’s Next Gen Stats, Myles Garrett had a get-off rate of 0.58 seconds against the Bengals. The get-off rate is the time from when the ball is snapped and the defensive player moves off the line of scrimmage and nearly a half second after snap is ridiculous.
This was the best get-off rate since Myles Garrett in Week Two of last season showing how much of a freak athlete Garrett is. It’s preaching to the choir but with a supporting cast like this, it truly could be the year Garrett pushes for the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Jim Schwartz got creative moving Garrett around
One criticism of former defensive coordinator Joe Woods was his lack of creativity and moving players around to create mismatches. PFF’s Steve Palazzolo pointed out that Myles Garrett got four snaps as a rushing inside linebacker and it resulted in three incompletions and a sack.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz came into the season opener with a great game plan and he moved players around to consistently confuse the Bengals all game long. If this continues as the season goes on the fans will continue to believe Schwartz was one of the best additions in the offseason.
The Bengals had the worst pass blocking win rate on Sunday
ESPN’s Next Gen Stats had Cincinnati as the lowest pass block win rate in Sunday’s game with a putrid 30 percent. That means on an overwhelming majority of the pass snaps the Browns defensive line was beating and winning the reps against the Bengals upgraded offensive line.
The weather certainly played a part in the Bengals’ struggles but it was clear from the word go which team was the more motivated on Sunday. This defensive line showed it can wreck games and help carry this team while the offense figures things out.
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