{"id":322418,"date":"2025-11-30T13:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T13:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/322418\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T13:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T13:40:08","slug":"the-forgotten-story-about-the-browns-this-season-terry-plutos-pregame-scribbles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/322418\/","title":{"rendered":"The forgotten story about the Browns this season \u2014 Terry Pluto\u2019s Pregame Scribbles"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 Scribbles in my notebook as the Browns prepare to face San Francisco:<\/p>\n

1. Lost in the never-ending Browns QB obsession is the team\u2019s defense. The great defense. The dominating defense. Pro Football Focus raves about the defensive line \u2013 not just the amazing Myles Garrett. It\u2019s the entire line. They rank No. 1 in sacks, run defense and pass rushing. <\/p>\n

2. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan on Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz: \u201cJim\u2019s as good of a coordinator as there is. And when you\u2019re as good a coordinator as there is and you have the talent that they have, it\u2019s a pretty lethal combination.\u201d <\/p>\n

3. Shanahan would know. As an offensive coordinator and later as a head coach, Shanahan has a 1-8 record when facing a Schwartz defense. In 2023, the Browns beat San Francisco 19-17 in Cleveland. The winning Browns QB? P.J. Walker. He was one of four QBs who won games for the Browns that season. <\/p>\n

4. This Browns defense is similar to 2023, the first season for Schwartz as Cleveland\u2019s defensive coordinator. The team\u2019s offense was No. 10 in scoring. Combine that with a powerful defense and the Browns finished with an 11-6 record and made the playoffs.<\/p>\n

5. The average NFL team is scoring 24 points a game this season. If the 3-8 Browns could do that, they\u2019d have four more victories. Instead, they are scoring 16 points a game. The Browns\u2019 highest scoring games of the season were victories: 24-10 over Las Vegas and 31-6 over Miami. Their third win was 13-10 over Green Bay.<\/p>\n

6. This season, the Browns\u2019 offense ranks 29th in scoring and 31st in yards per game. There were games this season when you could see the defense become discouraged. They were worn down physically and mentally.<\/p>\n

7. GM Andrew Berry has built a good defense for Schwartz. Second-round pick Carson Schwesinger has a chance to become the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He is the type of tackling machine at middle linebacker that Browns fans have wanted for years. Berry didn\u2019t bend to Garrett\u2019s wishes to be traded. Instead, he signed Garrett to a long-term deal. Berry\u2019s point on not trading Garrett for draft picks: \u201cYou want to draft players like Myles Garrett.\u201d <\/p>\n

8. Schwartz on Garrett: <\/a>\u201cThe thing I\u2019m most proud of when it comes to Myles is how he plays the run.\u201d <\/p>\n

9. Schwartz says that because some elite pass rushers do just that, rush the passer, they aren\u2019t interested in stopping the run. Having Garrett lead this defense means if the Browns can find someone to give them even average QB play and improve the offensive line, the Browns can have a winning record in 2026. Granted, it\u2019s two IFs \u2026 but they have a strong defense on which to build, which they did in 2023.<\/p>\n

10. The 49ers come to town with an 8-4 record. They beat Carolina 20-9 on Monday and have won three of their last four games. The weather report is for cold, wind and rain. <\/p>\n

11. \u201cThe harder it rains, the more we\u2019re going to throw,\u201d said Shanahan sarcastically with a smile. \u201cLook, I hear it\u2019s going to be 30 mph wind gusts with rain or snow.\u201d In other words, he\u2019ll adjust. The Shanahan system likes to run the ball in any weather. San Francisco\u2019s Christian McCaffrey leads the NFL with 217 rushing attempts. He also leads the NFL with 81 receptions. <\/p>\n

12. Schwartz on McCaffrey: \u201cA lot of things that Christian does that reminds me of my old days here with the Browns with Eric Metcalf \u2026 Probably McCaffrey has a little more inside run ability. Both of them are really talented in the passing game, both talented on the perimeter. McCaffrey can also run inside and run with power.\u201d<\/p>\n

13. Schwartz was just starting his NFL coaching career with the Browns in 1993-94 when Metcalf played his final two Cleveland seasons before being traded to Atlanta. <\/p>\n

14. Shanahan was the Browns\u2019 offensive coordinator in 2014, and knows the stadium and the climate. He also forced his way out of Cleveland after the season, and went to Atlanta to be offensive coordinator of the Falcons. That 2014 Browns team was a mess with Johnny Manziel being drafted and the coaches feeling pressure to play him. <\/p>\n

15. San Francisco QB Brock Purdy threw three interceptions in that 20-9 Monday night win. He\u2019s had a rough year with some injuries. He\u2019s thrown more interceptions (8) than TD passes (7). Combine that with the weather, and it could be a good day for the Browns\u2019 defense. <\/p>\n

16. As for the weather, it will be a challenge for rookie Shedeur Sanders. The good part is he played in Colorado, where it snows. The home games are in Boulder, a mile-high type city with an elevation of 5,430 feet. That means wind. <\/p>\n

17. Garrett has more sacks (18) than the entire San Francisco defense (13). The 49ers rank 10th vs. the run and 26th vs. the pass. They have forced five turnovers in the last two games. Sanders did an excellent job staying away from negative plays in the 24-10 victory over Las Vegas. He threw an interception. He was sacked only once, for minus-3 yards. He needs that type of poised performance to help the Browns win this game vs. a much better team. <\/p>\n

18. My prediction: San Francisco 17, Browns 13. My record is 6-5 this season.<\/p>\n

Come see me: I will be signing copies of \u201cWhy can\u2019t this team just find a quarterback?\u201d at Barnes & Noble North Canton (Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.) and at Visible Voice Boos in Cleveland (Thursday, 7 p.m.).<\/p>\n

\"JimIllustration by Ted Crow for Crowquill. So far it looks like Jim Schwartz’s defense will have to lead the way if the Browns are to be successful. Ted Crow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 Scribbles in my notebook as the Browns prepare to face San Francisco: 1. Lost in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[73847,164826,349,99],"class_list":["post-322418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-cleveland-browns-2025","tag-las-vegas-raiders-2025-2026","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}