The Browns faced off against the Cowboys in a week 1 matchup where they couldn't get it done in a 33-17 loss.
It was not how fans wanted to see the Cleveland Browns start the year as they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 33-17 in the season-opening match up. There's a lot to take away from the game, most of it not something the players are going to enjoy watching on film in the coming days. The good news is that the defense was not as bad as they looked during the game.
Firstly the Browns defense is going to be just fine. They did not look like that "Lockdown on the Lake" defense but expect them to fix the error they had in Sunday's matchup. Secondly, we need to look at the positives from the game.
The defense only gave up a total of 265 net yards. They held Dak Prescott to 179 yards and a single touchdown pass, which came on a defensive miscommunication. Star wideout CeeDee Lamb was held in check with only five receptions for 61 yards. They also held the Cowboys to 102 rushing yards and had six tackles for loss. They also got home three times with sacks from Myles Garrett, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Za'Darius Smith. Along with having six passes defended, three from Pro-Bowler Denzel Ward.
Now for the negatives from the game. There is only one that kept showing its face. They had what seemed like a lot of miscues, one of which directly led to a Brandin Cooks 21-yard touchdown. After the play, you could see starting safety Juan Thornhill was visibly frustrated with the defensive blunder.
They gave up two touchdown drives that went for 70 yards and 78 yards. On the other scoring drives, they gave up a total of 42 yards, but the Cowboys were able to get into field goal range for all of those drives as they started them with great field position. The Cowboys also scored a punt return touchdown but that is a special teams blunder.
Grade: B
The defense gets a B for their performance in Week 1 vs the Cowboys. The defense did not give up a lot of yards and only allowed the Cowboys offense to get momentum on two drives in the first half. They forced six punts on 12 drives and only gave up four field goals because the Cowboys started those drives with great field position and needed less than 17 yards on all four of those drives.
They had some problems that need to be ironed out before next week's matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. If they can cut down on the communication issues, fans should expect to watch that topped-ranked defense from last season.
