The Cleveland Browns fell to 0-2 with a 41-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Cleveland hung around for the first half, but quickly unraveled as the game progressed, playing most of the fourth quarter in garbage time. Both the tape and the box score show that the defense was let down by a rough performance from the offense, but a deeper dive into Pro Football Focus's grades and data indicate some positive trends, as well as some concerning ones.
Maliek Collins' Disruptive Day
Cleveland's highest-graded player from either side of the ball was defensive tackle Maliek Collins, who earned an elite 92.5 grade, the best mark of his 10-year career. He was the NFL's highest-graded DT in Week 2 (pending Monday Night Football) and his 93.2 pass-rush grade trailed only Joey Bosa among all players. He won an impressive 25% of his pass-rush reps, totaling four pressures and a quarterback hit.
This is exactly the kind of production the Browns were hoping for when they released Dalvin Tomlinson and replaced him with Collins. The team was looking for more disruption and pass-rushing ability inside, and Collins fit that description. His run defense, while unspectacular, has also been solid through two games, which is an improvement, as that's always been the weaker aspect of his game. He's proving to be a great scheme fit in Jim Schwartz's attacking defense, and having Mason Graham next to him is helping Collins out tremendously. Given his career arc, it's unlikely we'll consistently see elite performances like this, but it's still a huge positive that he had what PFF considered to be the most effective outing of his career.
Collins has yet to collect a sack, but his current 11.5% pressure rate is 1.2% higher than last season's mark, and the Browns don't necessarily need him to be the one to make the tackle; his job is to create push from the middle of the pocket, and that's exactly what he did on Sunday.