The Cleveland Browns lost 14 games last season. This came on the heels of an 11-win season and a postseason appearance.
Blame it on the offense.
RELATED: WHERE DO BROWNS DEFENDERS RANK ON PFF’S TOP-32 LIST?
The defense kept them in games while the offense struggled to score points and run the ball. Cleveland’s defense was ranked 11th in pass defense and graded sixth overall. Meanwhile, the offense was 24th in passing and ranked #29 at running the ball.
Pretty simple math, eh?
Total tackles, interceptions, and sacks are the hallmarks of any defense. There are other parameters, such as total yards allowed either in the run game or through the air, the number of batted passes, and tackles for loss. But the aforementioned stats are considered the Big-3.
Or, are they?
There is another metric that is fast becoming a major stat: pressures.
Pressures are used to evaluate how effective a defense is on passing downs. But this stat differs in scope and what it actually measures.
Registering sacks, this has always been a definitive moment in any game, similar to a hard dunk in a basketball contest. The game suddenly comes crashing down as the home crowd goes berserk, or the visiting stadium goes eerily quiet. A sack alters an offense’s current drive and not only takes away a useful down, but adds yardage to the grand total needed to gain another set of downs.
Sometimes, a sack will result in an injury to either the opposing team’s quarterback or to the blocker who attempted to stretch a hamstring or groin muscle trying to reach farther than his body is designed to achieve. And in today’s game, armed with various penalties designed to protect signal-callers, the play can also go against the defense.
Sacks are exact. Sacks are easy to interpret. Sacks are straightforward to decide upon in the stat column for those keeping up with the game’s data. They are a specific form of pressure, and either the quarterback is knocked down on the ground or he’s not.
Other pass rushing stats, such as QB hits, knockdowns, and hurries, have their own agenda.
A hurry is when a quarterback is forced to throw the ball before he is ready. A knockdown describes when the ball has left the quarterback’s hand, and yet he is hit and falls to the turf. A QB hit is when a defender makes contact with the quarterback, but does not bring him down, but usually disrupts the QB’s actions.
Tennessee Titans v Cleveland Browns CB M.J. Emerson
Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images
Pressures are defined as all of the above.
A defensive player can achieve any of the above stats and also receive a “pressure” in his game numbers. Essentially, a single “pressure” is a defensive act that will interrupt the quarterback’s ability to make a clean throw.
Is a sack also a pressure? You bet.
Now, in a game, the word “pressure” can also have another meaning. Defenders constantly “apply pressure” to their opponent’s offense, especially during a passing down. But this definition of pressure is not the same as the statistic of “pressures.”
For those of you who are learning the English language, yes, the King’s English is full of quadruple meanings. Just try to keep up. You can read a book and then have read it with a cover that is red, and now you are well-read.
Forever, it seems, sacks have been considered one of the most important defensive statistics.
Players can have nominal total tackles and other assorted stats, such as forced fumbles, but if the defender has upwards of 15 sacks, he is considered a major participant for that defense. Many athletes who get close to 20 sacks suddenly receive huge contract extensions in order to retain their services. He may not be any good at the other aspects, such as run support, pass coverage, recovering/causing fumbles, but as long as his sack numbers jump, he is consistently discussed in the media.
Pressures are a broader category.
The question is, has “pressures” surpassed “sacks” as the definitive defensive indicator?
Every NFL defense has its particular method to apply pressure on its opponent’s offense. This is done with a normal amount of pass rushers, sending extra players via a blitz, or by implementing stunts.
NFL: Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns DE Isaiah Thomas
Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s method is to have the defensive front four provide the majority of the pass rush and blitz sparingly. This frees up the linebackers to be run stoppers and able to cover tight ends and running backs without the workload of trying to get into the offensive backfield.
The NFL is a passing league. While it is true teams have to be able to run, the facts are that offenses are geared more towards the passing element than trying to cram the ball down anybody’s throat play after play. How many clubs today actually claim a ground-and-pound attack?
Schwartz is a guru with defense. The veteran coach had this group ranked #1 in 2023, but dipped somewhat last season. His assemblage was beset with a slew of injuries, including his leading tackler LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah, who ended the season on IR and has yet to return. Defensive tackles Mo Hurst and Shelby Harris missed games, which hurt the ability to stop the run up the gut.
At season’s end, six defenders were still on IR while others missed time such as CB Denzel Ward (concussion), DE Alex Wright (torn bicep), DT Mike Hall (knee), LB Jordan Hicks (calf), DT Dalvin Tomlinson (knee), and LB Bookie Watson (quad).
Consistent pressure is key to disrupting offenses. Creating “pressures” is a more constant and replicable facet of playing defense.
Miami Dolphins v Cleveland Browns LB Jordan Hicks
Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images
While the stat of “sacks” indicates how many times a defense has actually gotten to the quarterback, the stat of “pressures” is more revealing of a team’s pass rushing ability overall.
Former Browns and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick stated:
“I think if you look at the overall passing game, the statistic that stands out the most in terms of correlation is pressure. So pressure on the quarterback leads to more bad plays than sacks do, in terms of turnovers unless you have strip sacks, obviously. That’s the No. 1. After that, pressures cause bad throws and potentially turnovers.”
They just might mean that a defense doesn’t necessarily need to sack a quarterback often in order to achieve a successful pass rush, as long as defenders are getting close to sacking him continually.
There are teams like the Kansas City Chiefs that live and die with blitz packages. Schwartz is the opposite of this spectrum. He believes that a defense can generate pressure without sending extra guys if you have the right athletes in his system.
In the Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Eagles presented a standard pass rush without sending extra players, and it was a defining aspect of their lopsided win.
Of course, Schwartz is blessed to be coaching All-World participant Myles Garrett, who is one of the game’s top sack artists. Last year, Garrett ranked #2 in sacks with 14.0, right behind Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson’s 17.5. Hendrickson also led the league in pressures with 54, while Garrett came in fourth with 44.
RELATED: FOUR BREAKOUT CANDIDATES FOR 2025
Schwartz’s system works. And it works well.
In this year’s NFL draft, another valuable pass rusher was selected in Round 1 with the addition of DT Mason Graham out of Michigan, who was widely considered the draft’s second-best defensive player.
During the off-season, GM Andrew Berry has signed some pretty significant guys for the defense, such as DT Ralph Holley, Jr., LB Jerome Baker, S Damontae Kazee, DT Maliek Collins, and DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. Berry also drafted the nation’s leading solo tackler (90) in LB Carson Schwesinger of UCLA in Round 2.
RELATED: RALPH HOLLEY INTERVIEW
But what do the numbers say about the Browns from last season?
NFL Pressure Rate Leaders: Four or Fewer Pass Rushers
NFL: Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers DT Shelby Harris
Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
NFL Pressure Rate Leaders: Stunts
NFL Pressure Rate Leaders: Blitzes
As you can see, Cleveland’s presence in all of these prominent categories illustrates just how dominant Garrett is and how he gathers help from the rest of his defensive line mates.
These metrics highlight just how effective the Browns’ defense was at confusing offensive linemen and obliging quarterbacks to speed up their decision-making process.
And with all the additions to the defense, including two key rookies, this tendency is set to continue.