The Cleveland Browns had another late-game comeback win this past Sunday versus the Tennessee Titans. It was a game of two halfs for the defense. Just like the opener against Pittsburgh, the Browns defense played horrible in the first half, but stood strong in the second half shutting out Charlie Whitehurst and the Titans. So what was the difference between the first half defense and the second half defense? The coverage by the secondary, the rush defense by the front seven, and the Titans making mistakes on offense were the big reasons in the change from the first half to the second. And Charlie Whitehurst.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at these differences in this week’s defensive film room.

Coverage by the Secondary

First Half

In the first half, the Browns defense gave up a combined 10 of 14 for 165 yards and three touchdowns to Jake Locker and Charlie Whitehurst in the first half.

This play is a microcosm of the first half defense by the secondary. This 75-yard pass from quarterback Charlie Whitehurst to receiver Justin Hunter extended the Titans lead to 28-3, which was the biggest of the game. Here is how the touchdown played out.

The play is designed as a play action pass with two receivers wide right and a tight end on the end of the left side of the line. Kendall Wright motions to the left and then runs a 10-yard post route to the left. Tight end Delanie Walker runs a 5-yard out route to the left. The most important route of the play is Justin Hunter, who is running an out and up route.

The coverage is a cover one with man coverage on the three targets. The three linebackers circled are in zone coverage assigned to the underneath coverage. The key player on the defense in this play is Buster Skrine in man coverage against Justin Hunter.

As you see in this clip, Hunter completely fools Buster Skrine on the out and up route. Skrine bit on the out route and gets out of position to cover Hunter deep.

To compound the coverage by Skrine, safety Tashaun Gipson is the deep man here, but Gipson is focused on the post route by receiver Kendall Wright. This leaves Skrine one on one with Hunter and as you saw earlier, he is beaten badly.

Skrine is at fault here because of his over-aggressiveness on the out route by Hunter. He needs to stay behind Hunter and not bite so early, allowing him to stay with him as he cuts back up field. This is especially true when the defense is a cover one with just one deep safety. He needs to know that he could be alone on that side if Gipson has to help on the other side of the field.

Second Half

In the second half, Charlie Whitehurst threw for 11-of-18 for 108 yards. A lot of the other completions and yards came in situations where the Titans were in third-and-long and the defense was playing conservative allowing underneath passes.

This play is one of seven other incompletions that the Browns forced the Titans to throw in the second half. This play is a first-and-10 at the Titans 22-yard line with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter. Here is how the Browns forced this incompletion from Charlie Whitehurst.

The Browns are once again in a cover one with man coverage on all the targets. The Browns are rushing four players including a blitz on right side by linebacker Eric Martin. Inside linebacker Karlos Dansby is in zone coverage following the eyes of quarterback Charlie Whitehurst. Safety Donte Whitner is the deep safety covering the backend of the defense.

As you can see from this picture, a Browns defender covers every single Titans offensive target. The blitz by Martin adds to this play by forcing Whitehurst to hurry and throw the ball away before anyone could break free.

The Browns coverage in the second half was an improvement from the first half. The Browns secondary was actually helped by undrafted free agent corner K’Waun Williams. ProFootballFocus rated Williams the number defender for the Browns in this game. Much of the improvement was not being too aggressive and just staying true to each one’s assignment.

Rush Defense by the Front Seven

First Half

In the first half, the Browns defense allowed a ridiculous 120 yards rushing to the Titans.

This play shows a huge problem the Browns have had this season in run defending. This 10-yard gain by Titans running back Shonn Greene is an example of the bad play by the defensive line. Here is how the play went down.

The play is a run to the left by running back Shonn Green. But he cuts back to the right and gains ten yards. The Browns have three down lineman with two outside linebackers on the edge and two inside linebackers in the middle covering the gaps.

This shot really shows the problem with the defensive line. Not one of the defensive linemen made any penetration to the backfield. This allows Greene to cut back and find the back door hole on the right side of the line. Also the linebackers are not getting through the gaps to make a play on ball carrier. Both inside linebackers are stuck behind blockers and not filling the holes.

This lack of penetration creates this gigantic hole on the right side of the line. The defensive linemen are still engaged by blockers. Karlos Dansby is late to fill the big hole allowing Greene to gain 10 yards.

The Browns defensive line has been the Achilles heal of the defense. The line has not gotten enough penetration and push to be effective in the run defense. The defensive line must be more disruptive in the rest of the season if the team wants to improve their overall run defense.

Second Half

In the second half, the Browns improved the run defense, allowing only 29 total rushing yards.

This play is what the Browns need from their defensive line and linebackers in run defense. This run by Titans running back Bishop Sankey lost the Titans one yard at a critical time late in the fourth quarter. Here is how it happened.

The play is a designed run to the left by running back Bishop Sankey. The Browns have three defensive linemen and four linebackers in the box on this play. Linebacker Jabaal Sheard has his hand on the ground instead of upright.

This is the key part of the play for the Browns. Defensive lineman Desmond Bryant gets past his blocker and disrupts the play with great penetration. Bryant forces Sankey to run outside because of this penetration.

The second key to this play is linebacker Karlos Dansby filling the hole on the end of the line. Dansby reads the play well and follows the Sankey to the hole where he makes the tackle.

As I said before, the Browns run defense will only improve if the defensive line can get penetration. Also the linebackers must also be able to fill the gaps better and not get stuck behind blockers. This play shows both of these aspects and how it helps the Browns run defense.

Titans Made Mistakes

The improvement in the Browns defense in the second half was not totally because of the Browns. The Titans offense contributed to the improved performance of the Browns defense in the second half. Here is an example of how the Titans offense helped the defense.

This play shows two mistakes that the Titans did on offense that could have resulted in a 30+ yard play. This was the first play for the Titans offense in the second half.

This play was a streak down the left sideline by receiver Nate Washington. As you can see by this picture, Washington is separating from corner K’Waun Williams. Safety Donte Whitner is too far away to make the play on the ball.

The first mistake by the Titans on this play is by quarterback Charlie Whitehurst. He slightly underthrows the ball, making Washington slow down a little to catch the ball. But the biggest mistake was by receiver Nate Washington. He completely drops the catchable ball and gives the Browns a huge break.

After watching the second half, quarterback Charlie Whitehurst did not play as bad as most would think. He did miss some receivers and was inaccurate on a few throws, but he was not the main reason the Titans offense struggled in the second half. The Browns coverage was very tight in the second half. Whitehurst had limited targets available because of the solid coverage in the second half.

Defensive Standout

My Browns defensive standout this week in undrafted free agent corner K’Waun Williams. He replaced first round pick Justin Gilbert as the third cornerback on the depth chart. According to ProFootballFocus, Williams was graded the highest of all the Browns defenders. He made one of the biggest plays of the game when he sacked quarterback Charlie Whitehurst on the final drive of the game. He has speed to stay with quick slot players, who he was assigned to a lot of the time on Sunday. For being his first full game as a consistent contributor, he had one heck of a game.

Defensive Lowlight

The defensive lowlight this week is corner Buster Skrine. Skrine was beaten quite a bit this week in coverage. According to ProFootballFocus, Skrine was targeted six times and gave up five receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns. He gave up the 75-yard touchdown pass to Justin Hunter that I broke down earlier. ProFootbalFocus graded him the lowest of all the Browns defenders this week.