Anatomy of the Browns‘ final defensive stop in win over Steelers

The defensive personnel

The personnel was to be expected.

Given the situation, the Browns had seven defensive backs in on the play: Greg Newsome II, Ward, Martin Emerson Jr., Cameron Mitchell, Delpit, Rodney McLeod and Juan Thornhill.

Up front, they went with three edge rushers: Myles Garrett on the right, Isaiah McGuire on the left, and Ogbo Okoronkwo on the inside. The lone linebacker was one of their best tacklers, Jordan Hicks.

The rush

Unsurprisingly, Garrett drew the most attention.

Pittsburgh left tackle Dan Moore Jr. got some help from running back Jaylen Warren and left guard Isaac Seumalo — making it a triple team, rather than the usual double team Garrett has grown accustomed to. It was probably a smart strategy, considering the reigning NFL defensive player of the year had three first-half sacks.

But McGuire drew a double-team too with right tackle Broderick Jones and right guard Mason McCormick. That left center Zach Frazier to pick up Okoronkwo.

And most importantly, it left Hicks free, which is exactly what the Browns wanted — and why he was ready to rush Wilson late.

“It’s part of the call,” Hicks said. “I’ve got the quick, quick read and then if I’ve got a lane, I take it, and just being decisive.

“We practice that play every week because you never know when it’s going to show up. And so it’s good to have that type of execution in the game like this.”

The fact that the Browns walk through this exact situation in practice each week was key to their execution in the moment, coach Kevin Stefanski said.

“Those are the little margins of plays that separate winning and losing sometimes,” he said. “So, you really do have to be on top of your game in those moments.”

As Wilson threw the ball, Hicks connected for the hard hit.

By that time, just about every Browns DB was in the back right corner of the end zone.

The coverage

The guy locked in the hardest battle was undoubtedly Newsome, matched up 1-on-1 with fiery receiver George Pickens.

“He was just trying to do WrestleMania with me the whole time,” Newsome said. “So that’s what happened at the end.”

The two fought all the down the field. It appeared Newsome ultimately had the edge on the play as they got into the end zone, boxing Pickens out of the action.

With the ball in the air, and Pickens not close enough to make a catch, he responded by grabbing Newsome by the helmet and dragging him out of the end zone.

The two wound up on the ground in front of the Huntington Bank Field stands next to the restraining wall, and had to be separated by officials and security personnel.

“Yeah, he’s a fake tough guy,” Newsome said of Pickens. “He does a lot of that. The antics and stuff. Yeah, he didn’t even go up for the ball.”

Newsome occupying Pickens made it an easier play for Delpit and Ward.

And on this play, there was no way they were going to be denied.

“Get out of there, man,” Delpit said. “It’s pouring snow. Ain’t no way they about to go down here, drive down the field and get a touchdown. So we wanted it in our hands, and we did it.”

The resilience

As the ball hit the grass, Cleveland started to celebrate. Fans rained down snowballs and Okoronkwo, McLeod, Hicks and their teammates made snow angels.

This finish was especially important considering the last two weeks (and really, the season as a whole) for this defense.

In Week 11 against the Saints, despite being tied going into the fourth quarter, Cleveland gave up three unanswered touchdowns over the final 15 minutes. Two were on direct snaps to utility man Taysom Hill.

“That fourth quarter in New Orleans, we didn’t finish and that was really frustrating for us,” Stefanski said on Friday. “And that’s nothing we can do about it now. You go into last night, we had the lead in the fourth, and then very quickly, we don’t. And that’s football. So, when you’re talking about being resilient you have to show it. And I thought our guys did that last night and they did it really as a team.”

And while the fourth quarter went their way against Pittsburgh, there were still mistakes.

After Jameis Winston somersaulted into the end zone in the fourth quarter, the Browns had a 18-6 lead with 12:16 left to play.

Cleveland allowed Pittsburgh to get back in it, though.

The next drive the Steelers got a 3-yard TD run by Warren. The following Browns drive, the Steelers came up with a strip sack courtesy of Nick Herbig, got the ball back on the Cleveland 27, and needed only three plays to score again, with Wilson finding speedy receiver Calvin Austin III for a 23-yard touchdown that gave the Steelers a 19-18 lead with 6:15 left to play.

Thankfully for the defense, the Browns regained the lead with a Nick Chubb 2-yard TD with 57 seconds left, setting up the chance for them to get one final stop.

“We gave up (13 points) right there real quick,” Hicks said. “And it’s a crossroad that you got to make a decision and say, we got to stop them right here. Offense did a great job punching it in late, which gave us a shot. And at the end of the day, if you’re a prideful team, a prideful defense, you live for those moments to close it out.”

There have been mistakes in the closing minutes for the Browns in each of the last two weeks.

And in eight losses this year, the unit that was ranked No. 1 overall a year ago has struggled with putting together complete performances (they’re currently ranked 19th, giving up an average of 345 yards per game).

But when it came down to the play on Thursday night, they made it when it counted.

“I don’t think we’ve played great in the fourth quarter the last two games, and our coach says when we have a lead going into the fourth, it’s the defense’s job to keep it,” Newsome said. “Today we didn’t keep it, but at the end of the day we played complementary football and got the dub.”