When the Browns brass worked to reshape the team's defense this offseason, former Chiefs safety, Juan Thornhill brought a wealth of experience that Cleveland was lacking.
Having played in three Super Bowls during his time in Kansas City, Thornhill was an important signing for a Browns franchise looking to establish a culture of winning.
Just five games into his Browns tenure, the 27-year-old has already made a major impact on a defense that is yielding a league low 200.4 yards per game, and is holding opponents to 15.4 points per game on average.
The historic start to the season continued on Sunday, as the Browns defense stifled the San Francisco 49ers to the tune of a 19-17 win. Thornhill has seen some things over the course of his four-plus years in the NFL, but as he noted after the game, he's never seen anything like this defense.
"This defense is the best defense that I've ever been a part of," Thornhill told reporters in the locker room afterward. "I've been to three Super Bowls and if you're making it to the Super Bowl each and every year, you have a good defense, but this team is unbelievable."
That's some high praise from a guy with two rings on his resumé, Already on a record setting trajectory, Thornhill believes the 49ers win is just the tip of the iceberg for this group.
"When a lot of people don't believe in you and you show the world that you're actually good enough to compete with anybody at this level," the former second-round pick added. "I feel like this could be the time for us to really take off and make everyone believe what we're really about."
Consider the statement made. The rest of the teams that remain on the Browns schedule are officially on notice. This Cleveland defense is not messing around.
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