The Cleveland Browns got an ugly win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4. The 14 – 7 score underscores the difficulty of the Browns offense to make plays when needed and the defense’s ability to limit a high-powered offense when needed.
We looked through the positives and negatives of the game earlier and noted how sometimes the boxscore doesn’t tell the whole story of a game or a player’s performance.
Pro Football Focus’ rise to prominence comes from their grading system helping to quantify that which can be seen but doesn’t show up in any boxscore. Did a player look bad but have a few big plays to boost a stat line? Did a player look great but not get the credit for a specific measurement? What about the offensive line which has very little in ways of measurable performance?
That is where PFF comes in and helps us get a better feel for the game. Never perfect, the help of their grades give context to players’ performance:
Top 5 Offense
(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The offense scored 14 points in a creative way: one touchdown, one two-point conversion and two long field goals. The rushing attack put up over 150 yards from scrimmage while Baker Mayfield didn’t turn the ball over.
For the offense, we will be limiting it to players who played a good number of snaps. Demetric Felton (6 snaps) and Andy Janovich (5) would have been in the top five but didn’t see the field enough for the grade to be very valuable.
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OL Joel Bitonio – 90.9 – Bitonio has long been a stud and rarely has even down games.
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WR Rashard Higgins – 75.0 – Hollywood had four receptions for 63 yards to lead the team in both categories, telling on how the game went for the pass offense.
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OL JC Tretter – 69.7 – Another telling sign is that the third highest-ranked offensive player is below the grade of 70 but Tretter and Bitonio are the foundation of the offensive line.
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RB Kareem Hunt – 69.5 – In watching the game, Hunt missed some easy cut-back lanes but made the most of his blocking while taking more snaps than Nick Chubb.
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OL Jack Conklin – 68.0 – Conklin had some noticeable struggles in Week 4 but still graded out as the team’s fifth-best offensive player.
Top 5 Defense
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland defense controlled the game and had most of the best grades on the team in Week 4. Only Bitonio would have cracked the defenses’ top five grades against the Vikings.
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DE Myles Garrett – 90.2 – Garrett was on the field a ton, as reviewed in the snap count piece, and was productive throughout. Once again, the former #1 overall pick sets up everything for the Browns defense.
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CB Greedy Williams – 86.4 – Prior to yesterday’s game, we asked if Williams could excel in zone coverage after struggling with it in his rookie season. For at least one game, he proved he could with a great 87.0 coverage grade including an interception.
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DE Jadeveon Clowney – 81.4 – As discussed earlier, Clowney didn’t show up on the boxscore but showed out on the field and his grade shows that. Very good against the run and pass, Clowney has been an excellent addition for Cleveland.
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DT Malik Jackson – 81.1 – Jackson is the under-the-radar addition from this offseason but had a great game in Week 4. His putrid 28.4 tackling grade pulled his overall grade down which makes his 81.1 even more impressive.
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Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – 75.8 – Not the amazing grade he had last week but JOK continues to impress with his speed in all facets of defense. He also has been a key contributor on special teams, likely keeping his defensive snaps lower than fans would like.
Bottom 5 on Offense
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
It was a bad game for many Cleveland offensive players starting with the quarterback. We will once again eliminate a player with a low snap count, Anthony Schwartz (15 snaps), who would have been in the bottom five here (53.9 grade).
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QB Baker Mayfield – 49.2 – He was really bad. Period.
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OL James Hudson – 50.2 – The rookie came in for 21 snaps in place of Jedrick Wills and we saw why the Browns were trying to keep Wills on the field.
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WR Donovan Peoples-Jones – 50.2 – After a breakout camp and preseason, DPJ has been mostly absent through four weeks. Have to wonder if his route running has become less crisp due to the lack of targets therein lowering his PFF grade?
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TE Harrison Bryant – 53.7 – Bulking up this offseason to help him block, Bryant continues to struggle there while not being dynamic in the passing game.
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RB Nick Chubb – 55.5 – Probably the most interesting grade, Chubb didn’t seem himself in Week 4 but still put up 100 yards rushing. Will look forward to, hopefully, more information from PFF on this grade.
Bottom 5 on Defense
(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Even with the good, you have to have a bottom five. Joe Jackson (5 snaps), AJ Green (1) and Andrew Billings (5) will not be counted here but, given the other snap counts we will be noting anyone with 10 or more defensive snaps.
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DT Malik McDowell – 44.2 – McDowell was good as a pass rusher (65.6) but struggled overall against the Vikings. His first season in the NFL, ups and downs are to be expected.
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LB Sione Takitaki – 48.4 – Interesting to see Takitaki this low as he was involved in some plays on the positive side. PFF does well to study the game not just where the ball goes so his grade reflects what he did away from the ball as well.
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LB Elijah Lee – 53.7 – A special teams maven, Lee actually didn’t grade out too poorly but without Anthony Walker and Jacob Phillips, the Browns need someone to take some snaps at linebacker. He only got 14 but that was more than Mack Wilson’s 11.
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DL Jordan Elliott – 56.0 – Another low snap count, 15, Elliott was better rushing the passer than against the run. The Browns used their starters for a lot of snaps leaving the backups on the defensive line to fight for scraps at times.
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LB Mack Wilson – 66.3 – As noted, Wilson only had 11 snaps and graded out pretty well in those 11 snaps including 64.1 in coverage. Interesting to see him listed as a starter but not play very much.
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