Brendan Gulick and Spencer German breakdown what the Browns defense adjusted early on in the win vs the 49ers
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00:08 Cleveland Browns 19, San Francisco 49ers 17.
00:14 Cleveland with a huge win on Sunday afternoon that very few people around
00:18 the country gave the Browns any chance to even be competitive in, let alone win.
00:24 You watched any of the national pregame shows this morning when they were talking
00:28 about underdogs, they literally laughed at the idea of taking the Browns even with
00:32 the points today because there was just no way that with a third string quarterback,
00:37 the Browns were gonna find a way to beat the mighty San Francisco 49ers.
00:41 But nobody, Spencer German,
00:42 gave the Browns defense the appropriate amount of credit, they were incredible.
00:47 Let's go to that beginning of the game where things did not get off to a great
00:51 start.
00:52 And somewhere along the way, Jim Schmortz made an incredible adjustment and
00:56 San Francisco basically couldn't do much offensively the rest of the way.
01:00 >> Yeah, real quick, I was gonna say it's funny you mentioned the national
01:05 pundits because I was so close on a pregame show that I'm involved in my own
01:10 to picking the Browns against the spread and then I talked myself out of it.
01:13 So yeah, listen, you said it like that first series.
01:17 I think if you're a Browns fan, if you're watching that game,
01:19 you're probably looking and saying, man, you know what?
01:23 The 49ers are about to exploit this team.
01:25 Maybe the defense isn't as good as we thought it was.
01:28 But you always gotta keep in mind that first series of the game,
01:31 it's always scripted plays.
01:33 Teams are kind of filling each other out.
01:35 Defenses, they're sort of trying to get a sense of what the offense is gonna do.
01:39 And the offense is gonna get a sense of what the defense is gonna do.
01:42 And Jim Schmortz, there was a lot made about his record against Kyle Shanahan.
01:48 Whether they've been facing off when Shanahan's been an offensive coordinator or
01:52 a head coach, and how he's eight and one against them coming into today.
01:55 And he just knows, man, he has the right adjustments at the right time.
02:00 He clearly, I think one of the most obvious things that happened throughout
02:03 the game, and you definitely saw it in the second half, was just the internal clock
02:08 of Brock Purdy was really, really moving.
02:10 And he was already getting rid of the ball pretty quickly anyway.
02:13 But he was really picking it up.
02:15 He was feeling the pressure.
02:17 And that just changed, I think, the entire outlook of the game.
02:20 >> It was amazing.
02:22 I thought that opening series, you look at Christian McCaffrey, and
02:27 you might appreciate him through a different lens when he's playing
02:32 against somebody else, but he basically looked impossible to tackle.
02:36 And there was just this element of, okay,
02:38 Kittle hasn't really gotten involved in this game yet.
02:41 But you know what San Francisco's capable of offensively.
02:47 And I mean, I've said this on other video coverage we've done,
02:50 that none of the Browns are gonna feel bad, and
02:52 none of the Browns fans are gonna feel bad for the 49ers for being down McCaffrey,
02:57 and down Samuel, and for part of the game, down Trent Williams.
03:01 Because Cleveland's playing with what feels like six guys that are not starters,
03:07 if you look at what this team is on paper.
03:08 But the reality is, I thought Delvin Tomlinson played unbelievable today.
03:15 And if there was a guy that you'd pick as your defensive player of the game,
03:19 it's not a sexy thing to do to give it to a defensive tackle.
03:24 That guy was a total game wrecker today.
03:27 >> Yeah, I think that was a huge observation.
03:31 I think the fact that we spent the last couple years asking with this team,
03:36 who opposite of Miles Garrett, or who with Miles Garrett is gonna be a disrupter.
03:40 And it wasn't, yeah, Miles Garrett's always a factor.
03:43 He's always getting double teamed.
03:44 Teams are trying to scheme to take him away.
03:46 But that opened up so much for guys like Delvin Tomlinson.
03:49 It opened up so much for guys like Z'Darrius Smith,
03:51 who was constantly in the backfield.
03:53 Oba Okoronkwo was making a bunch of plays in the backfield.
03:55 Like all the guys that this front office invested in in the offseason,
03:59 these are the types of games and these are the types of moments that you paid them for.
04:03 And they showed up in, I mean, it was incredible to watch.
04:08 Like all those guys, how many times have Bronx fans seen guys get paid and
04:12 they don't show up?
04:13 To have them come out in a game like this,
04:15 where you really needed the defense to kind of muck it up and set the tone.
04:18 And they did just that.
04:19 They dragged San Francisco into the gutter with them.
04:22 And those guys all in spades turned out a historic performance in what looks
04:27 like it could be a historic defense for the Bronx.
04:32 >> That is literally what Kevin Stefanski told Aaron Andrews at halftime,
04:36 that quote, we're dragging him down into the mud with us.
04:39 >> [LAUGH] >> The Browns knew there was a way that
04:42 they needed to play to try to win the game without having their
04:46 electrifying offensive options available.
04:49 Give PJ Walker credit, he didn't play great, but he made just enough plays.
04:55 And largely gave this defense a chance to do what they are capable of doing.
05:01 And I think the Browns defense just put the rest of the NFL on notice,
05:05 that if you're gonna play Cleveland and beat Cleveland,
05:09 you better have some pretty impressive schematic stuff offensively.
05:13 And you better be able to protect the quarterback because Brock Purdy,
05:16 even when he was standing up, you're right, his clock was speeding up.
05:20 He saw some different looks as the game went along.
05:22 And until that final drive of the second half, in a six drive stretch,
05:28 San Francisco's mighty offense had three yards total in six drives.
05:33 The Browns completely quashed any momentum that San Francisco had put together.
05:39 >> Yeah, I mean, that was a remarkable stat.
05:41 I know we were talking about that sort of via text,
05:43 just how impressive that second half performance was.
05:47 It felt very reminiscent of the Steelers game a couple weeks ago.
05:50 And obviously the difference is you come out with a win.
05:51 And I'll conclude with this, Brendan.
05:53 Like, yeah, you bring up PJ Walker, he didn't play great, did clearly just enough.
05:58 And I think Kevin Stefanski tried to sort of scheme some things for that offense
06:02 without the Sean and some of these other bodies that they usually have.
06:05 To just do enough and get themselves across the finish line.
06:08 And it worked, it worked today.
06:09 And we've been waiting for the Browns to have a performance like that.
06:12 We see the Steelers do it time and time again.
06:14 When are the Browns gonna have a game like that?
06:15 Well, they got it today.
06:16 But I think if you're a Browns fan,
06:18 what you can look forward to from this is obviously the defense, yes.
06:22 But the fact that this team has a chance to get even better,
06:26 knowing that DeSean Watson wasn't out there.
06:28 Knowing that even when DeSean Watson is out there, we were still asking ourselves
06:32 questions about how much better he could get as a player.
06:35 Knowing he was still sort of shaking off rust and getting acclimated and
06:37 kind of getting his sea legs back underneath him.
06:40 After being away from football for two years.
06:41 So there's a chance for this thing to really take off if the defense is playing
06:45 at this high level all season.
06:47 And if DeSean comes back here in the next week or so, hopefully for
06:50 the Browns sake, and just continues to ascend.
06:53 The sky really could be the limit for this group.
06:56 I don't wanna be hyperbolic and get ahead of myself, but
06:59 there's a really good chance that this group could do some things with this
07:01 defense, how good it is.
07:03 >> And that's the hardest part.
07:04 You wanna live in the moment, because as a Browns fan,
07:07 you just beat San Francisco.
07:09 And that was hard to imagine a few days ago.
07:11 But the reality is it is one out of a whole bunch of games, right?
07:17 You gotta figure out a way to enjoy this the rest of the day today.
07:21 And then tomorrow morning, you flush it and you're on to Indianapolis.
07:25 And we'll see if Cleveland can figure out a way to replicate this another dozen
07:29 times or so as the season progresses.
07:32 For all the latest news and information on the Cleveland Browns,
07:35 we've got you covered over at brownsdigest.com.
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