During training camp, CB Denzel Ward said the Browns’ defense needed a “hungrier mindset” to be a top defensive unit in the NFL in 2025.
After finishing the 2024 season allowing the 14th-most total yards in the NFL, the Browns met Ward’s challenge in 2025. Cleveland finished the season allowing the fourth-fewest total yards per game and the third-fewest passing yards per game in the NFL. Ward credited third-year defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for the resurgence, as Cleveland finished as a top five defense in the NFL in two of his three seasons with the Browns.
“Coach Schwartz, he’s a great coach. He has helped my game tremendously,” Ward said. “He puts us in a great position, great leader, and I can’t say enough great things about him. I think he’s a guy who you want as a coach and somebody to lead a team.”
Part of the Browns’ defensive success in addition to Schwartz was DE Myles Garrett‘s historic destruction of offenses. Garrett recorded 23 sacks, breaking the NFL single-season sack record in Week 18 against the Bengals. He achieved the record by attaining 15 sacks in five games from Week 7 to Week 12, including at least three sacks in three of those games. He recorded half a sack in nine consecutive games, consistently creeping towards the record.
Garrett’s historic season opened opportunities for the rest of the defense by commanding consistent attention from opposing offensive lines. Cleveland notched a franchise record 53 sacks, breaking the 49-sack record from the 2023 season.
DT Maliek Collins benefited from playing beside Garrett on the defensive line as he notched a career-high in sacks with 6.5. Collins’ season was cut short due to a quad injury in Week 13 that ended his season.
“Maliek is not only a really good player, but also a really good person who is a leader on our defense, a leader in the defensive line room,” Browns Managing and Principal Partner Jimmy Haslam said.