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BEREA — Grant Delpit wasn’t going to take the bait. Not this time.
A week earlier, the Browns safety had said it was “not hard” to tackle Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry. To Delpit and the rest of the defense’s credit, they did hold Henry to just 23 rushing yards on 11 carries in a Week 2 loss.
A week later, a different opponent with a different running back — the Green Bay Packers and Josh Jacobs — is the focus. The question to Delpit, however, was the same: “Just how hard is it to tackle Josh Jacobs?”
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“Look at him trying to start something,” Delpit responded with a laugh.
The reality is the challenge is basically the same for the Browns defense against Jacobs as it was for Henry the week before. In some ways, it may be an even bigger one.
Henry leads Jacobs in rushing yards (192-150), yards per attempt (6.6-3.6) and yards per game (96.0-75.0). However, the difference is in volume.
While the Ravens have quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Justice Hill to take some of the rushing load off Henry, Jacobs is the entirety of the Packers running game. His 42 carries are 29 more than the 13 combined rushing attempts the rest of Green Bay’s roster has, and it’s 13 more than the 29 carries Henry has through two games.
“A lot of people use different kinds of backs for different situations, and they use all their backs, generally in pass protection and some lead blocker type roles,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “But Jacobs is their lead ball carrier and sort of an old school, full-time running back. Breaks a lot of tackles. Really strong, great contact balance and really, really good vision. He presses the hole as good as any running back, if not better than any running back in the league.”
There’s something else Jacobs has done better than any running back in the league, at least over the last 11 games. It’s finding his way into the end zone.
Jacobs has already set Packers records for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown by scoring one in each of the last 11 games. If he can reach the end zone in Cleveland, it will tie the longest streak in the NFL since 2000 with Pro Football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson at 12.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously he got that streak going,” Delpit said. “We’re going to put an end into that. He’s got good vision and he breaks a lot of tackles I would say, so that’s probably why.”
The Browns managed to keep Henry out of the end zone a week ago. Then again, they did a good job of keeping the Ravens star running back from doing much of anything, with his longest run being eight yards (twice) and eight of his carries going for two yards or less.
There’s a distinct difference in type of running back between the 6-foot-2, 252-pound Henry and the 5-10, 223-pound Jacobs. That’s secondary to the overall approach Delpit said the defense has to bring to the game.
“Like I said, it’s kind like a mindset thing,” Delpit said. “I said what I said. We’re going to a new week with a new back and good run offense so the same mentality carries over.”
The effort against Henry was part of an overall performance against the Baltimore running game that limited the Ravens to just 45 yards and 2.1 yards per carry. And that was after the Browns held the Cincinnati Bengals to 46 rushing yards and 2.0 yards per carry in the season opener.
In an admittedly small sample size, Cleveland’s run defense is No. 1 in the NFL in both yards allowed per game (45.5) and per carry (2.1). The Browns also top the league in total yards allowed per game (191.5) and first downs (25 in two games).
“Yeah, man, obviously, they have a really good defensive front,” Jacobs told Green Bay area reporters. “They have one of the best defensive guys in the league over there, so that’s going to be a big challenge.
“They’ve been stopping the run really good and they’ve got pretty good [defensive backs], too. I think it’s going to be an interesting week to be able to see where we’re at to go against a great defense like that. But I think it’ll be fun.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns defense gears up for ‘old-school, full-time running back’ in Packers’ Josh Jacobs
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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