Cleveland Browns Defense Makes Rare Appearance in Win over 49ers

The Cleveland Browns had their best defensive performance of the season on Sunday, defeating the San Francisco 49ers, 24-10. The third win of the Browns' season was easily their biggest, considering the four-win Niners posed the team's best chance for victory among their final games of the season.

For the second time this year, the Browns gave up just 150 passing yards. And, most notably, they allowed just 71 yards rushing on 17 San Francisco attempts. The total 221 yards allowed were the fewest the Browns have given up this year, while their nine combined sacks on Niners quarterback Blaine Gabbert were their most on the season.

Heading into Sunday, the Browns had just 17 sacks on the season—with seven of those earned in Week 2's win over the Tennessee Titans. But the defense had Gabbert's number repeatedly in Week 14. Armonty Bryant and Nate Orchard each had two sacks, Desmond Bryant had 1.5, Donte Whitner, Christian Kirksey and Jordan Poyer each had one, while Xavier Cooper had a half-sack. 

Player	Sacks
A. Bryant	2.0
Orchard	2.0
D. Bryant	1.5
Whitner	1.0
Kirksey	1.0
Poyer	1.0
Cooper	.5

While the Browns did not generate any turnovers, they didn't need them. The defense kept the Niners out of the red zone most of the day, and of their 11 drives, seven resulted in punts. The Niners converted a mere two of the third downs they faced, as well.

This was the defense Browns head coach Mike Pettine and coordinator Jim O'Neil had in mind from day one. That's not to say that the performance was enough to save the two men's jobs, but it is a sign that this defense can actually execute plays as envisioned and, most importantly, wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks.

Beyond the pressure—which also resulted in 11 quarterback hits on the battered Gabbert—the Browns also had eight tackles for a loss and four passes defensed. It was a complete game out of the defense; it wasn't just the pass rush or the run defense or the coverage that came to play on Sunday. All three areas of the defense had strong performances, even with cornerbacks Joe Haden and Justin Gilbert still sidelined with their respective concussions.

Michael Zagaris/Getty Images

It may be too little, too late for the Browns, who are now up to three wins on the season. A win against a bad team like the Niners can certainly do wonders for a team's collective confidence, though. And the fact that Cleveland's defense had this in it after nearly a season's worth of games getting utterly manhandled also means there's far less quit in the Browns' locker room than it seemed a week ago when Cincinnati scored 37 points against them.

And it's also a sign that this defense, for all its struggles this year, does not lack talent. Cleveland's 2015 defensive listlessness evaporated on Sunday. And even if the Browns cannot replicate the performance in their last three games, they can at least point to the day they took care of business, at home, against a team they should beat.

Like many things we've seen out of the Browns this season, what the defense did on Sunday is something good to build upon for the future.