CLEVELAND — A team that doesn't specialize in applying blitz pressure changed its approach and it made a big difference.
“I mean, they changed the game plan,” Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson said Sunday after finally getting up off the ground after a hard day at Huntington Bank Field.
The Giants sacked Watson eight times and hit him 17 times, a harsh punishment that drew boos and jeers from Browns fans, but the Giants went on the road to win their first game of the season, 21-15.
Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen isn't known for heavy blitz packages, preferring to apply pressure up front with four defensive linemen.
The Browns started the game by using double teams on both wingers, Brian Barnes and Kayvon Thibodeau, and Bowen adjusted by applying pressure up the middle, where Dexter Lawrence was dominant.
“He's a dynamic player who likes to go for the big play and extend plays, so we knew we had a chance to get home,” Barnes said. “We just knew we were going to be relentless in the rush, and that's what we did.”
Lawrence led the offense with two sacks, while nine different players had eight sacks.
Watson didn't help himself at times by holding onto the ball for too long and not knowing where the rush was coming from.
Barnes strip-sacked left tackle Dawand Jones late in the second quarter, and rookie Elijah Chatman recovered the ball, leading to a Giants touchdown with 11 seconds left in the first half.
Chatman, an undrafted rookie out of SMU, recorded his first NFL sack in the first quarter.
“I just instinctively went for the ball when I was coming around the edge,” Barnes said of the strip-sack. “I felt him try to swing at the ball, so I waited a second and went for his arm and got the ball out.”
Barnes was listed as questionable before the game and was added to the injury report last weekend with a groin issue.
He did extensive training before the match.
“I was always going to play,” Barnes said, “but I'm not going to play until I really can't.”
Rookie WR Malik Neighbors (8-78, 2 TDs) became the first player in NFL history to have 20 receptions and three touchdown receptions in his first three games.
“I just tried my best,” Neighbors said. [coach Brian Daboll] “They set up a lot of plays for me and the offense trusts me to get it done. It just shows how much we want to have an explosive offense and I'm a big factor in that offense.”
Rookie cornerback Jrue Phillips was one of the top players on defense but left the game in the first quarter with a calf injury.
Cornerback Adore Jackson also missed the second half with a calf injury.
The Giants suffered some blows as LB Micah McFadden (back) and WR Darius Slayton (thumb) both left the game in the second half.
McFadden was able to return.
Starting cornerback Nick McLeod (knee) missed his second straight game.
The other suspended players were S Anthony Johnson, CB Tre Hawkins, OLB Benton Whitley, OLB Boogie Basham and G Jake Kubas.
