Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on defense for the Cleveland Browns' Week 5 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Myles Garrett was banged up a bit heading into this game, but finished with six pressures, a sack, and the team's highest pass-rushing grade from PFF. He also defended one pass. On a two-point conversion, he got tripped up and fell down , allowing a quick connection to the tight end for the conversion. Malik McDowell registered a sack and a fumble recovery.With Jadeveon Clowney out, a mix of Takk McKinley and Joe Jackson took most of his replacement reps. I wonder if anyone else realized, just from watching the game, that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah played in 91% of the snaps? That's a career high for him, although he was taken to the hospital after the game with a throat contusion. This poor guy and his unconventional injuries.PFF says that JOK "played 39 coverage snaps and allowed two receptions for 12 yards, but neither reception led to a first down or touchdown."Anthony Walker returned from IR and immediately became a starter again, taking almost all of Malcolm Smith's reps away. It was kind of frustrating to see that, because Smith seemed to be playing well and in a groove over these past two games, while Walker has seemed very blah in his two outings . Greg Newsome was already out, and then Greedy Williams got dinged up early on. Williams returned, but then Denzel Ward left with his nagging neck injury and did not return. By the end of the game, the word was that Williams, Troy Hill, and M.J. Stewart were also hurt.Williams impressed me for the second week in a row. He was the team's leading tackler, an aspect that is nice to see. He also forced a fumble. Per PFF, Williams "received the highest coverage grade at 82.4 despite allowing seven receptions for 43 yards."PFF chalked A.J. Green up to allowing 4 catches for 111 yards and 1 touchdown. I don't know if they're counting that first long blown coverage play on him, but I thought that mistake was on safety Grant Delpit, not Green. It sounds silly to say cornerbacks played well when your team allows 47 points, but I also thought Green did a solid job on the day. The safety play was disastrous this week. They are supposed to be preventing teams from going over the top , and yet they allowed two wide open touchdown passes to Mike Williams off of blown coverages. The first one appeared to be on Grant Delpit, with the second one on Ronnie Harrison, and then John Johnson III being frustrated both times that his counterparts left their responsibility. Speaking of Johnson, though, he had yet another very underwhelming performance. Defensive coordinator Joe Woods needs to figure something out to get Johnson more in sync to have an impact defensively.
