Roy Horton at Cleveland Browns training camp: Monday, July 29, 2013

Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton knows the numbers aren't great right now, but vows the defense will improve over the next month.

(John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer)

BEREA, Ohio -- Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton talked some turkey about his defense this week, vowing that his crew will be cookin' by Thanksgiving Day.

"I think this next four-week period for us, you’ll see kind of a different Cleveland Browns defense and you’ll start seeing the names that everybody thought,'' Horton said in his weekly press conference. "But I like where we’re sitting at right now, and I think at Thanksgiving when we sit in here, you’ll say, ‘wow, you were probably right in what you said back then about getting better.’'

Horton's crew is ranked seventh overall, but they're 29th in third-down defense (45.3%), 29th in red zone touchdown percentage (66.7%), 17th with 22.3 points per game allowed and tied for 22nd with only nine takeaways (five interceptions and four fumble recoveries). In the last two weeks alone, they've surrendered 62 points.

So why is he so confident of the impending sea change?

"I know how I call a game and why I call a game, and I know what my vision is and where we’re at on the field and in the classroom,'' Horton said. "I just think you’ll see a different Cleveland Browns defense moving forward.”

He said he called the games a little differently the past two weeks against Detroit's Matt Stafford and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, focusing more on coverage and less on blitzing. He indicated that he had to play it close to the vest because the offense hasn't been scoring the past two weeks, averaging just 15 points per game.

"As you go into a game for me, I think the biggest responsibility of a defense is keep the game close,'' he said. "It's hard for us to score, so you keep it close. Do I want better in the fourth quarter? yeah, I do. And that’s been really the biggest disappointment to me is the last two weeks, whether it was Detroit where we had the lead or Green Bay in the fourth quarter when the game was a potential eight-point, nine-point game, we didn’t stop them there at the end.''

He said he's still determined to get off the field on third down, which has been a problem much of the season. The last two weeks, they've allowed 54% and 57% conversion rates.

"It's a recurring theme and what it says if we were average on third down we'd be the No. 2 team probably and if we were top-10 we'd be the No. 1 team,'' said Horton. "I stress to our guys all the time that third down is going to be what puts us in the top two in the league. It's going to mean turnovers, it's going to mean stops, it's going to mean getting off the field, it's going to mean non-scoring opportunities.

"That's one of my main statistical categories, there are seven of them and that's one of them. That's one we are deficient in. I've looked at all of them as I said a week ago and some of them are mental mistakes, some are penalties.''

Likewise, he lamented the lack of takeaways (nine). The Chiefs, conversely, are tied for first in the league with 19.

"That's the No. 1 statistical indicator of getting into the playoffs, turnover ratio,'' Horton said. "But it involves all three parts of the team. Right now, Kansas city Chiefs are (No. 1 at plus 11.) There's no mystery, there’s no secret. That’s the biggest determining factor of getting in the playoffs year in and year out probably for the last 20 years.''

Horton said some of his big-name players, including Paul Kruger (1.5 sacks) and first-round pick Barkevious Mingo, will make a splash over the next four weeks. Mingo had three sacks in his first three games and none the last three.

“Really, I think if you ask me whatever Thanksgiving weekend is, I think he’ll be better then than he is now,'' Horton said. "He’s better now than he was at the start of the season because he’s starting to see more things. He’s making his rookie mistakes, which is OK because there’s mistakes in the game.''

So, despite upcoming meetings against the 7-0 Chiefs, and then an AFC North rumble with the Ravens, Bengals and Steelers, Horton is confident his crew will be gobbling up opponents by turkey day.

"We've been evolving as a defense and I like where we’re headed,'' he said. "I think there’s very, very good defensive football ahead of us.