The Cleveland Browns can’t seem to stack good performances in 2025.
Sunday’s 32-13 loss to the New England Patriots wasn’t the ugliest loss of the season by margin, but it may have been the team’s most underwhelming performance yet, considering Cleveland was coming off of a 25-point blowout win the week prior.
The Browns have plenty of questions to answer heading into their bye week. They’ll face a Jets team, one that just won its first game of the season on Sunday, in early November. For now, let’s examine how the Browns used their personnel in the loss to New England.
The 100%ers
The Browns’ starting offensive line played the entirety of Sunday’s game, along with starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel. After logging his first game with fewer than 100% of the snaps in Week 7, Ronnie Hickman returned to being the lone defender to play every defensive snap against New England.
Offense
Harold Fannin Jr.’s workload on offense continues to be that of a starter just midway through his rookie season. Fannin out-snapped Njoku, who missed last week’s game with a knee injury, and trailed only Jerry Jeudy in snaps among Browns offensive skill players.
Behind Jeudy at wide receiver, undrafted rookie Gage Larvadain emerged as a key contributor this week. Larvadain played just one fewer snap than Isaiah Bond, who has been the team’s clear second receiver in the absence of Cedric Tillman, and played more snaps than Jamari Thrash for the first time this season. Despite giving the Browns an early spark with a 31-yard run on a jet sweep play, Malachi Corley logged just four snaps on Sunday.
For really the first time since Quinshon Judkins joined the lineup in Week 2, the Browns’ backfield rotation got a shakeup against New England. Judkins was limited in Sunday’s game because of a shoulder injury and played just 33% of the snaps as a result. This week, though, it was his fellow rookie Dylan Sampson, not Jerome Ford, taking over lead duties in the backfield. Sampson played 46% of the offensive snaps — his highest mark since Week 1 against Cincinnati — while Ford played just 24% of the snaps (13 total plays).
Defense
Carson Schwesinger — usually a member of the 100% club — exited Sunday’s game early with a high-ankle sprain that is expected to sideline him for several weeks, which limited him to 88% of the snaps against New England. With that development, Devin Bush led all Browns linebackers with 91% of the snaps.
The big story on Cleveland’s defense this weekend, however, was Myles Garrett’s record-breaking day. In the losing effort, Garrett recorded a franchise-record five sacks, surpassing all-time great Reggie White for most sacks before the age of 30 (112.5) in the process. Garrett did so while playing just 69% of the defensive snaps.
On the opposite side from Garrett, Alex Wright — for the third week in a row — played more snaps than Isaiah McGuire. Wright played 66% of the snaps to McGuire’s 28%, and was effective in the process, recording a sack and three tackles for loss.
Cornerback Dom Jones played a season-high 35% of the snaps, in part due to injury. After playing a heavy amount of snaps during his first two games as a Cleveland Brown, Tyson Campbell left Sunday’s game early to be evaluated for a concussion, limiting him to 65% of the snaps.
Special teams
Donovan McMillon — who logged snaps on defense for the second week in a row, in part due to Rayshawn Jenkins’ injury — continues to solidify his role as a core part of the Browns’ special teams unit, playing a season-high 84% of the team’s special teams snaps on Sunday. Behind him, it was Cameron Thomas, Myles Harden, Hickman, Jerome Baker, Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, and Jenkins as the special-teamers who played over 50% of the snaps.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns snap counts: Analyzing Cleveland’s personnel usage vs. Patriots
Reporting by Pat McGinnis, Browns Wire / Browns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
