How good is this Browns defense?
Very good, obviously, at least through three games, but there is no reason to believe the unit will fall apart, provided it stays relatively healthy. That’s always the key.
#Browns Defensive player of the game was tough for me to call.
— PostCLE (@ThePostCLE) September 23, 2025
There were plenty of Dawgs playing their game but I’d have to give the nod to GRANT DELPIT.
9 Total tackles ‼️
1 TFL ‼️
1 CLUTCH INT LATE IN THE 4th ‼️
He gave CLE a fighting chance the whole game. #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/NgBIZGCIUw
Is it the best defense in team history? It’s too early to tell, and even at season’s end, it may be just a guess. So many things go into that determination.
In modern times, this year’s defense can be compared to the 1994 unit of Bill Belichick and Nick Saban that held six foes to single-digits scoring and gave up an overall total of just 204 points, a club record for a 16-game regular season.
Although the game was much different then, the Browns of the first decade and a half of their existence, from 1946-60, were outstanding defensively, a fact that never gets told because the offense was stacked with future Pro Football Hall of Famers. Teams just didn’t score much on the Browns.
The Cleveland defenses were outstanding, giving up an average of 12 points a game in 1950, 12.7 in ’51, 17.8 in ’52, 13.5 in both ’53 and ’54, 18.3 in ’55, 14.8 in ’56 and 14.3 in Ford’s final season of 1957. The Browns made the NFL Championship Game in every season during that stretch but 1956, winning three titles.
A good number of those defenses had two Hall of Famers in middle guard Bill Willis and end Len Ford.
The current defense has a sure-fire HOF end of its own in Myles Garrett. When he gets in, he will be only the third Browns defender in the Hall.
Indeed, this franchise has been built on offense, but seasons like this make, you appreciate the defense as well.
Steve King
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