Browns vs. Commanders: Tackling Issues Addressed Ahead of Week 5

As the Cleveland Browns prepared for their Week 5 matchup with the surging Washington Commanders, the focus on defense was tackling.

Per Pro Football Focus, the Browns registered a season-high 12 missed tackles against the Raiders in Week 4. That stat contributed to 152 rushing yards for a Raiders offense that hadn't totaled more than 71 all season prior to meeting the Browns.

Las Vegas also tallied seven runs of 10-plus yards.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said tackling was an area of priority during preparation for the Commanders, a team with a stout ground attack that includes Brian Robinson Jr., Austin Ekeler and quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Tackling and full contact is not allowed in practice during the week in an attempt to avoid player injuries. So how does a team work on tackling when the team is not allowed to tackle in practice?

"We worked at it, so certainly, you achieve what you emphasize," Stefanski said on Friday. "There's drills, there's different pads that you can use, tackling dummies. But it always comes down to very specific techniques. And I think our defensive coaches do an outstanding job of teaching those techniques."

Star defensive end and reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett, says finishing the tackle is the hardest part of the process.

"Tackling is about toughness and angles," Garrett said on Friday. "Learning the space, learning how to square a guy up. The finishing through part, we've been doing that for years. We've been doing that since Pee Wee or high school, whatever. A lot of the guys are able to run fast, but, as Schwartz would say, it's a cut-back league. Not everybody has that stop-on-a-dime ability.

"So, you have to be able to square a guy up and know how to get to the angle on his hip where, if he's going to make that cutback, I'm right there."

Related: Ex Browns Coach Passes Away

The Commanders rank 10th-best in the league in yards after initial contact, and that's something the Browns will need to change on Sunday.

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