Five takeaways from Washington’s win over the Browns

The Washington Commanders won their fourth consecutive game on Sunday by defeating the Cleveland Browns, 34-13. Here are five takeaways from the victory.

1. Seven sacks from the defense.

True, the Browns came into Sunday giving up the most sacks in the NFL with 19 through four games. And true, the Browns were without starting right tackle Jack Conklin and have been otherwise banged up on the offensive line.

Still, it really feels like Washington’s pass-rush is starting to hit its stride. The group brought down Deshaun Watson seven times, the most for the franchise since Week 2 of last season, for a combined loss of 33 yards.

Some of that is a credit to the duo of Frankie Luvu and Bobby Wagner, who combined for 13 tackles and four sacks. It was the third time that Luvu recorded multiple sacks in a game, while Wagner picked up the 35th of his Hall of Fame career.

What’s more encouraging is that the sacks Washington generated put a stop to several of the Browns’ drives. Four came on third down, while a fifth resulted in a fumble from Watson that was recovered by Luvu.

After getting just four sacks in the first three games, the Commanders have 11 in two weeks. They’ll need a similar performance next week against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.