6 Things I Learned From Week 7 of the NFL Season

The Cleveland Browns Need a...Defense

The Browns were riding high after beating - crushing - the Steelers last week, and most assumed that high would result in a win against the win-less Jaguars this week.

Oops.

Cleveland couldn't get anything going offensively, and because we live in a fantasy football-driven NFL, that's where most will place blame. And while Brian Hoyer's -19.01 Passing NEP was beyond atrocious in Week 7, let's not forget that, entering the game, Hoyer had led the Browns to the 10th-best passing offense in the NFL, per our metrics. Cleveland's favorable record wasn't because of their defense. It was because of their offense.

That offense did nothing against a bad Jaguars D in Week 7. But let's not overlook the fact that the defense has become one of the most porous units in the NFL.

Cleveland's pass defense rank through Week 6 was 20th, while their rush defense ranked 21st. Jacksonville, meanwhile, graded out as the worst offense in the entire NFL according to our metrics. And it hasn't even been close. The Jaguars, entering Week 6, had played nearly 55 points below expectation, while the 31st-ranked Buccaneers had an Adjusted NEP of -16.22 (16 points below expectation). In other words, replace the Buccaneers offense - which we all know is terrible - with Jacksonville's, and the Jaguars would see a 38-point swing over the course of their first six games.

That's how bad they've been.

Rookie Blake Bortles still wasn't very good in Week 7, and his three picks gave him a Passing NEP score that was on par with Hoyer's. But the Jaguars' running game was good yesterday - a rushing attack that has continuously done nothing in 2014 compiled a Rushing NEP of 7.11 yesterday.

Of course the offense can't play the way it did in Week 7 if the Browns are thinking playoffs this year. But let's recognize the defense - specifically the rush defense - that was gashed by one of the worst offenses our database has ever seen.