Browner had pretty damn good stats his first year. Led the league in PD's and had what, 8 picks ? At least 2 for TD's off the top of my head.
Last year that slowed down, but what Browner does isn't going to get him a lot of stats. He literally erases his guy at the LOS. Guys can't even get off the line against him, and you can see it in the game....after a while the QB literally quits looking to that side of the field, even if it's his primary option on that play.
As for Browner being the better CB ? I would say not in coverage, although it's actually close. Browner is savvy and has that sick length. His ball skills are underrated....every bit as good as Sherm's. Browner is also a more rounded CB than Sherman. He's probably the hardest CB in the league to block at the LOS and takes away bubble screens to that side of the field. You also really don't want to run sweeps to that side.....anything that bounces out that way Browner shuts down right at the LOS. He's far better than Sherman in that regard. It's possible that's why it was said in the article that some see him as the better CB. Sherman is the more cerebral of the two and he's good at baiting the QB so it's always going to get him more picks, I think.
The one thing I'd do to quiet Sherman down is run right at his ass. Pull a Tackle out there, lead with a FB. Sherman isn't a brute like Browner or Kam; you will beat him up eventually. Fortunately, we have LBers and Kam that have great range and speed so if teams tried to do that habitually, one of the LBers or Kam would cheat over and make them pay.