It’s still early in the season, but the Browns look like they have the makings of an elite defense.
Cleveland held Tennessee to just three points, six first downs, and 94 total yards in a 27-3 victory for Week 3.
Star defensive end Myles Garrett led the defensive charge, recording 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble, three tackles for loss, and five total quarterback hits in the win. Garrett ended the first half with a sack of quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The Titans had no timeouts and had to settle for no points deep in Cleveland territory and the end of the second quarter.
It was emblematic of the kind of day Tennessee had offensively. Tannehill finished 13-of-25 for 104 yards. Derrick Henry had just 20 yards on 11 carries.
Though the Browns lost their best offensive player in Nick Chubb for the rest of the season on Monday night, the team’s offense looked much better than it had in the first two weeks. Quarterback Deshaun Watson finished 27-of-33 for 289 yards with two touchdowns. He also had four carries for 16 yards.
Amari Cooper led the team with seven catches for 116 yards with a touchdown. He likely could’ve had a second touchdown had the officials not incorrectly ruled him out of bounds on a deep pass.
Making his first start, Jerome Ford finished with 18 yards on 10 carries with a 3-yard touchdown run. He also had two catches for 33 yards with a 19-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.
Kareem Hunt also made some positive plays in his 2023 debut, recording 13 yards on five carries plus 22 yards on two catches.
Now at 2-1, the Browns will host the Ravens next week.
At 1-2, the Titans will be back at home playing the Bengals in Week 4.