LANDOVER, Md. — It was a rarity in terms of Browns box scores.
Reigning NFL defensive player of the year Myles Garrett did not register a stat during the Browns’ 34-13 loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
It’s only happened one other time in his career — last year’s 36-19 loss to the L.A. Rams.
And while Sunday’s loss can hardly be blamed on the Browns’ star edge rusher, his absence on the stat sheet is emblematic of larger problems brewing on the once-formidable defense as the Browns have gotten off to a 1-4 start.
“I think we’ve taken a step back up to this point, so we have to find what we lost last year and then improve upon that,” Garrett said. “So we have to go back and soul search.”
The soul searching will have to be fast and furious, as the Browns still have all their division opponents on the horizon and, keep making a series of self-inflicted mistakes ranging from penalties to missed tackles.
The defense, which was the No. 1 ranked unit in the league last year during the regular season, entered Week 5 with the No. 11-ranked overall defense (299 yards per game); the 10th-ranked passing defense (175.8 ypg); the 19th ranked running defense (123.3 ypg); and tied for 17th in scoring defense (21.8 points per game).
Against the Commanders, rookie QB Jayden Daniels put up 238 yards on 14-of-25 passing with one touchdown and one interception for an 85.1 rating. He rushed 11 times for a 82 of the Commanders’ 215 rushing yards, and was pulled from the game in favor of Marcus Mariota with 12:50 left in the game and the Commanders up 34-6.
Garrett was unable to wreak much havoc against rookie left tackle Brandon Coleman. The Browns only had three sacks as a team.
Personnel wise, all the key players are back in Cleveland — there’s only been a handful of new editions like linebackers Jordan Hicks and Devin Bush.
“There’s more film on us and what we do well and they definitely use that to their benefit,” Garrett said. “But I also think we’re not playing to the standard, which we set last year.”
So why haven’t they met that standard?
Penalties have been killer — they were ranked 28th with 34 penalties entering Week 5, and were whistled for nine more today.
Bad tackling has a;sp been an issue, particularly in the last three games. On Sunday, there were too many to count. In the previous two losses to the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders, the Browns had 11, and a season-high 12, respectively, according to Pro Football Focus tracking data.
“It’s one of the problems that we’re having, but that’s not all there is to it,” Garrett said. “We’ve got to be in the right positions. It makes tackling a lot easier when you’re where you need to be and you’re squaring the guy instead trying to run across the field to make that tackle. We’ve got to be where we need to be and execute.”
The Browns have had several players-only meetings in the wake of their slow start, and the tackling has been one thing that’s coming up repeatedly among the defensive players.
But as Garrett pointed out, with the season slipping away, the Browns are running out of time for chitchat.
“There’s been a lot of conversations,” he said. “Offense, defense, amongst the defensive meeting room. We’ve had enough talk. Go out there and do your job as individually and as a team.”
While the defense has taken a step back from it’s 2023 form, the offense has looked even worse for the wear.
The Browns still have failed to score more than 18 points in any single game.
On Sunday, they were unable to do anything with two key takeaways: A first-quarter interception from linebacke Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah turned into a three-and-out. A forced fumble by Owusu-Koramoah to start the second half turned into a Dustin Hopkins field goal, with the Browns unable to get into the end zone after making it down to the Washington 2-yard line and stalling out.
But Garrett said the defense has no time, or room, to be frustrated by the performance on the other side of the ball.
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“We have to take care of our own business,” Garrett said. “It’s complementary football. They’re not having a great day, so we got to have a better day and we didn’t do that. We started out getting stops and holding them, making them punt, getting takeaways, but we got to continue to do that.
“Doesn’t matter if they don’t have the most points this week. If we hold ‘em to less, then we did our job. But no, we can’t keep on looking at the offense and keep on expecting more. We have to expect more out of ourselves. We all have a job to do individually and as a team.”
Garrett also said he stands behind quarterback Deshaun Watson. Coach Kevin Stefanski said the Browns are not considering a change at QB after the slow start.
Watson was sacked seven times on Sunday (strip sacked once), and went 15 of 28 for 125 yards with one TD and no interceptions for a 77.2 rating.
“Playing his a– off,” Garrett said. “He’s fighting to be out there, and (fighting) out there. He’s going out there trying to make plays. That’s what we ask of him. And just want to continue to lead and go out there and do the best he can. We’re going to get it right and he’s going to be a part of that.”
Given their 11-6 record last year, and so many key pieces coming back, no one expected Cleveland to get off to this start.
That includes Garrett and the defense. But very quickly, 1-4 has become the new reality they have to learn to exist within.
“Definitely wasn’t on my bingo card, how we were going to start to season,” Garrett said. “But the standard doesn’t change. The expectations don’t change. We’ve just got to go get it, get out the mud now. We’re not starting like we wanted to but we can still end up with what we hope to if we get it all together and we start playing how we know we can play.”
