By John Turney 
Here is an update to two posts from last week with an interesting turn of events.
Here are links:
Browns Defense of to Great Start - Tuesday, October 17, 2023
LA Rams Secondary Off To Good Start - Thursday, October 19, 2023
Cleveland Browns
The Browns' defense was off to a terrific start to the 2023 season in terms of yards allowed. After five games they'd only given up 1,002 total yards which was third-best in NFL since the 1970 merger.
They pulled off a win in Indianapolis on a one-yard 4th and goal run by Kareem Hunt with just :15 seconds left in the game. As the 39-38 secure suggests they didn't keep pace with their start allowing 456 yards to the Colts' offense.
They did score on a sack/forced fumble/fumble recovery in the end zone so the defense did contribute but their yards per game average jumped to 243.0 which will still rank first in the NFL (so far) but knocks them out of being noteworthy.
Myles Garrett with a strip sack that was recovered for a Cleveland TD
Video clip: CBS Sports
It was fun while it lasted. Whenever you can mention Carl Eller and Bubba Smith in the same post with Myles Garrett it's kind of cool.
Los Angeles Rams
Contrary to the Browns the Rams didn't allow a touchdown pass to keep their season total at four. But the Pittsburgh Steelers rolled into SoFi and beat the Rams 24-17.
They ran for three touchdowns and didn't allow a touchdown pass.
A questionable defensive pass interference call on Rams CB Ahkello Witherspoon
Video clip: Fox Sports
By keeping their season total at four they now have allowed the fewest in team history after the first seven games of a season.
Like the Cleveland streak it's great to look back at some of the defenses the 2023 unit is rubbing shoulders with. Some were great defenses, others were not some were in the middle.
The only thing that is fair to say at this point is that the young secondary is outperforming expectations. No cornerback or safety is going to the Pro Bowl but they've held up their end on a defense that is better than most expected given how young they are—essentially it's Aaron Donald and a bunch of question marks.
Today was interesting in that defensive coordinator Raheem Morris threw a couple of twists at the Steelers. In the base defense, Cobie Durant started and played outside in the base defense on the left side and Ahkello Witherspoon moved to the right.
In nickel Witherspoon played the boundary and a couple of different nickel packages were used and they were to the field. One had Derion Kendricks outside and Durant as the slot. Another kept Durant outside and used safety Quentin Lake in the slot in a "big nickel".
This is the first time the Rams have deployed their secondary this way. Lake has been playing as a moneybacker (nickel linebacker) in previous weeks and did so again but the slot wrinkle with Durant outside was new.
Good stuff.
It's not known if these packages were going to be part of the game plan all week or if Kendrick's reduced role was because he was arrested last Monday morning when police found a concealed gun in his car after a traffic stop.
Regardless, they will start giving up touchdowns very soon—it's inevitable. However, looking at partial seasons is still a worthy topic. It allows us to enjoy things in the moment. Tomorrow will take care of itself but as of now every Rams team has allowed five or more touchdown passes seven games into a season except the 2023 iteration.
Well done. We'll see if it can last another week.
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