The Cleveland Brownsare now 1-3 after suffering their second blowout loss in three weeks, a 34-10 drubbing in Detroit to a surging Lions team.
The team’s offense continues to hold the team back in what should otherwise be competitive contests; holding a Lions offense that relies heavily on explosive chunk plays to just 277 total yards on Sunday wasn’t enough to even keep this one close for the Browns. Cleveland turned the ball over three times, and Joe Flacco completed less than 60 percent of his pass attempts for the third straight week. With Flacco now boasting a 2-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio on the season, paired with a league-worst 60.3 passer rating, it should only be a matter of time until we see the reins handed over to rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel.
The immediate future might not provide much opportunity for the Browns’ offense, either; Cleveland faces a Brian Flores-led Vikings defense in London this Sunday and will then travel to Pittsburgh to face a Steelers unit that has recorded 18 combined sacks and takeaways in their last two games. We’ll see whether that will affect how the Browns manage their personnel decisions in early October, but for now, let’s take a look at how the team did so during the Week 4 loss to Detroit.
Browns snap counts vs. Lions:
🏈 Bond steps in as WR2 after Tillman (hamstring) goes down
🏈 Season-high snap count for Thrash
🏈 Slight increase in snaps for Sampson but still RB3 behind Judkins, Ford pic.twitter.com/WFwBUgNscP
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) September 29, 2025
The 100%ers
Offense (4): OT Cornelius Lucas, OT KT Leveston, G Wyatt Teller, C Ethan PocicDefense (1): S Ronnie Hickman
This is a shorter list for the Browns this week, as several starters were pulled in the fourth quarter. The Browns actually managed to make it through a game without losing one of their gameday starters on the offensive line to injury, but guard Joel Bitonio did not play on Cleveland’s final offensive possession.
Flacco was also pulled from the game for the Browns’ final offensive possession, finishing the day playing 64 of the Browns’ 67 offensive snaps (96%).
While Lucas played 100% of the team’s offensive snaps on Sunday, his job is likely in jeopardy after the Browns acquired offensive tackle Cam Robinson from the Houston Texans on Monday.
Offense
The Browns continue to show a remarkable amount of faith in rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr.: the third-round pick from Bowling Green led all Browns offensive skill position players with 57 snaps (85%) against the Lions, playing one more down than fellow tight end David Njoku (56).
The pecking order in the Browns’ backfield remained the same in Week 4, with Quinshon Judkins playing 58% of the snaps as he settles in as the established starter. Jerome Ford played roughly a quarter of the offensive snaps (27%), while Dylan Sampson’s workload slightly increased from a season-low in Week 3 (9 snaps, 13%.)
After emerging as the team’s clear WR3 in Week 3, Isaiah Bond’s role continued to grow in Week 4. Cedric Tillman exited the game with a hamstring injury after just 15 snaps, which led to both Bond (55%) and Jamari Thrash (42%) seeing season-highs in their usage on offense.
Defense
The Browns’ defensive contributors maintained steady workloads in Week 4: CBs Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome, LBs Carson Schwesinger and Devin Bush, DTs Mason Graham and Maliek Collins, S Grant Delpit, and Myles Garrett all played at least 70% of the Browns’ defensive snaps against the Lions.
Myles Harden continues to hold down the nickel corner spot in the aftermath of Cameron Mitchell’s benching, playing 65% of the defensive snaps in Week 4 after logging 66% in the Week 3 win over Green Bay. Dom Jones was elevated from the practice squad for the second straight week and played a reserve role in the Browns’ defensive backfield, seeing 10% of Cleveland’s defensive snaps (6 plays).
Shelby Harris remains the Browns’ top rotational piece on the interior defensive line, but undrafted rookie Adin Huntington has emerged as a key rotational player as well; after playing just 7 defensive snaps in Week 1, Huntington has gotten over 20% of the snaps on defense for three consecutive games, including over 25% in each of the last two games. On the edge, the rotation remains the same: Isaiah McGuire is the primary starter opposite of Garrett, with Alex Wright and then Cameron Thomas rotating into the game in that order.
Special teams
In addition to playing 93% of the Browns’ defensive snaps at safety, Grant Delpit took on a much heavier workload on special teams in Week 4, playing 58% of the snaps (roughly double his season-average rate from Weeks 1-3). Delpit’s 18 special teams were the second-most played by any Browns player on Sunday, just behind a three-way tie of core special teamers Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, Donovan McMillon, and Rayshawn Jenkins who all saw 19.
The Browns will need a new return specialist this weekend, as DeAndre Carter was injured on the team’s final kick return against the Lions after spending the first four games as the team’s primary return man. Carter played only on special teams on Sunday, just as he had in each of the first three weeks of the season.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns snap counts: observations from personnel usage vs. Lions
