Cleveland Browns

Browns vs. Dolphins: 3 defensive takeaways from the 30-24 loss

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Cleveland Browns were doomed by mistakes all over the field Sunday afternoon. Here are three defensive takeaways from the latest loss.

The Cleveland Browns found a new way to rip fans’ hearts out of their chests Sunday afternoon. Three missed field goals later, the Browns are now 0-3 and seemingly unable to win games late in the fourth quarter, although this is nothing new.

The Browns actually held a 13-10 halftime lead, only to fall behind 24-13 before the offense, mostly led by Terrelle Pryor, tied the game. A game-winning field goal attempt by Cody Parkey was missed, leading to the overtime loss.

The defense held its own for most of the day, with the missed field goals looming large as the opportunities to take a commanding lead were wasted. 30 points is far too many, but the defense was put on a short field on several of the scoring drives.

Let’s take a look at three takeaways from the defense’s performance in another loss.

Winning the turnover battle

The secondary was expected to have a rough day without Joe Haden, but others stepped up to fill the void. Jamar Taylor, the former Miami Dolphin, intercepted Ryan Tannehill on only the second play of the game, and undrafted roookie Briean Boody-Calhoun had a pick-six in the second quarter.

For parts of the game, the schemes drawn up by defensive coordinator Ray Horton were putting pressure on Tannehill and confusing him. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the entire game.

The defense also forced a Tannehill fumble with just 26 seconds left in the game, recovering it and setting up a chance at a game-winning field goal. No need to rehash how that went.

The Browns defense allowed 430 yards to the Dolphins, which is not a recipe for success. However, the three takeaways, one of which went for a touchdown, put the offense in a position to pull away, with a game-winning field goal being set up perfectly.

Next man up

The injuries on offense have been the focus thus far, but the defense was without three key players on Sunday. Along with Haden’s absence, both Carl Nassib and Ibraheim Campbell were inactive for the game due to injury.

This allowed new faces to get significant playing time and have a significant impact on the game.

Boody-Calhoun had the most notable impact, when he intercepted Tannehill and returned it for a touchdown, putting the Browns up 10-7 in the second quarter. With Cody Kessler running the offense, the touchdown helped get the rookie out of an early deficit, and put less pressure on him heading into the second half.

Another rookie also had a great game, as Derrick Kindred filled in at safety for Campbell, finishing with four tackles and an overall solid performance. When a safety’s name doesn’t repeatedly come up during the game, you know he did well.

Kindred, the warrior who played through a broken collarbone during his senior season at TCU, is expected to be a starter sooner than later. With Campbell out, he proved why the front office selected him and why the coaching staff is comfortable with giving him so much time on the field as a rookie.

Limiting the run

The Browns are still a year or two away from being a team that can consistently allow less than 100 rushing yards in a game. After allowing 133 rushing yards to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 and 80 to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, the Browns allowed 115 rushing yards on 25 carries during Sunday’s game.

Allowing over 100 yards is not ideal, but the Browns were able to limit big plays on the ground. Through the air is where they got hurt.

The Jay Ajayi 11-yard touchdown run to end the game in overtime may stick in fans’ minds as a breakdown on defense, but the game was all but over at that point. A field goal would have still won the game, so it was just a matter of when.

The Dolphins being without Arian Foster helped, but the Browns can use this performance, one in which no Miami rusher had more than 37 yards, to build upon heading into Week 4.