Will the Browns defense force a turnover?
The Browns defense finished the 2023 regular season with 37 total turnovers, averaging over two turnovers per game. Yet, in the season opener, the Browns did not force a turnover against the Cowboys.
“There were times, particularly in the first touchdown drive, that we had opportunities to intercept the ball, and we didn’t get it done,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “There were some other chances for us to get drives stopped and those kinds of things.”
CB Denzel Ward found the most success in potential takeaways as he had three passes defensed in Week 1 against the Cowboys. Their corners in Martin Emerson Jr. and Greg Newsome II also each recorded one pass defensed, and DE Myles Garrett forced a fumble that the Cowboys eventually recovered.
Yet, from the front seven through the secondary, the Browns defense knows the importance of creating takeaways. Jacksonville had one turnover in Week 1.
“It’s following our keys,” LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah said. “It’s following the quarterback’s eyes. As linebackers, not moving too fast or moving too soon. Disruptions of the pocket, whether it’s from the outside or the interior, and just locking up our man out with the DBs, keeping the zones right. It’s about keeping our keys and following the coach’s gameplan.”