Browns’ Latest Defeat Highlights The Lack Of A Running Game

The Cleveland Browns are not a good football team. That’s the only way you can put it when you have breakdowns in every phase of the game in a 27-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, dropping them to 2-7 on the season.

The optimism following last week’s win over Baltimore was short lived after another error filled contest heading into the bye week and the trading deadline. We would expect at least one move by GM Andrew Berry before 4 PM on Tuesday.

The special teams had two major gaffes, both of which set up Chargers’ touchdowns. They allowed a 53-yard punt return to provide good field position for Los Angeles’ first TD, and they allowed a blocked field goal to put the Bolts’ in position for their last score.

The defense allowed three big plays, all on third down when they could have forced either a punt or a field goal. Josh Palmer caught a 28-yard TD pass from Justin Herbert and later in the first half, Quentin Johnston got behind the defense for a 66-yard scoring play, both on what appeared to be blown coverages.

They allowed a 16-yard run by J.K. Dobbins who pretty much went into the end zone untouched. The Chargers ran 50 offensive plays, and the defense was very good for about 95% of them. That ain’t good enough.

The communication errors in the secondary overshadowed a three sack performance by Myles Garrett. And Dalvin Tomlinson had 1.5 sacks, as the Browns sacked the LA quarterback six times in the first half.

And they still allowed 20 points in that half.

Offensively? Well, let’s just say getting sacked six times and throwing three interceptions lead to putting a lot of points on the board. The only bright spot was Cedric Tillman, who hauled in six passes for 75 yards and scored the Browns’ only touchdown.

However, perhaps the biggest problem for the offense is the total lack of a running game. Cleveland ran for just 79 yards on 24 attempts, and five those were runs by Jameis Winston after being flushed out of the pocket.

That means the Browns’ running backs gained just 52 yards on 19 carries, which is under three yards a pop.

This means that a huge staple of the offense over the last five years, the play action pass is rendered useless. Defenses don’t have to bite on the fake if you can’t run the ball effectively.

This, of course, is another negative brought about by changing an offensive scheme that has worked in the recent past.

The latest defeat, Browns’ fans being Browns’ fans, have brought the people who want to blow up the roster and accumulate draft picks.

Should the team move some veterans on one-year deals for draft picks? Yes, of course. That makes sense.

Should they move players like Myles Garrett and David Njoku? No.

We understand the Browns will be severely handicapped in terms of the salary cap because of the commitment to Deshaun Watson. But we also understand that a good draft class, adding some good young players, can turn a franchise around quickly.

Look at Atlanta, Washington, and even Arizona. Building around guys like Garrett, Njoku, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Grant Delpit, etc., and Cleveland could be right back in the playoff hunt a year from now.

Besides, the results of the 1-31 two-year stretch were one playoff win in four seasons. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.

Browns Fill Needs In Free Agency (Which Is What They Should Do)

We believe that in no other sport is coaching as important as it is in football. Think about it. Teams go from last place to first place all the time in the NFL. Sometimes, it’s about the schedule, but a lot of the time it is because a new coach or coordinator comes in and puts in a new scheme which better suits the players.

By the way, the opposite is also true. There are a lot of coach who try to fit a square peg into a round hole. Those coaches usually hit the unemployment line pretty quick.

We think the Cleveland Browns believed after last season ended that bringing in Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator would improve that unit even if they didn’t do anything to improve the personnel on that side of the ball.

But we also think when Schwartz came aboard, he did specify some needs to make the defense better and that’s why the first free agent signings GM Andrew Berry made were on the defensive line.

Last year, it seemed the pass rush strategy was if Myles Garrett can’t get to the quarterback, then there was a problem. After Garrett’s 16 sacks, which ranked second in the league, the next highest total by a Brown was DT Taven Bryan. He had three.

That’s why Berry signed Ogbannia Okoronkwo, an edge rusher who played for Houston last season.

Okoronkwo, who played linebacker in his first three years in the league with the Rams, was converted to the defensive line last year and had five sacks and 11 QB hits last season, both career highs. He will be 28 years old next month and is seen as an ascending player.

At the very least, he will provide more outside pressure on opposing passers than the Browns received last year from the other side of Garrett.

Defensive tackle was perhaps the biggest problem for the Browns last year, so Berry signed 29-year-old Dalvin Tomlinson, late of Minnesota, to provide a huge presence in the middle of the defense.

Tomlinson is 6’3″ and 325 pounds and get after the QB in addition to being a run stuffer. He had 2.5 sacks last season. That would have put him third on the 2022 Browns.

The Cleveland defense was woeful in stopping the run last season and we would bet that Schwartz told the brass that they needed more size in the middle to stop opposing teams from running at will. And don’t forget, putting teams in passing situations will also help Garrett, Okoronkwo, and everyone else in getting to the passer.

And last night, they replaced John Johnson III by signing Juan Thornhill, previously with the Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

Thornhill has started 52 games in his four seasons in KC, intercepting eight passes.

We are sure there are some more signings (and probably contract restructuring) to come. We would love to add a wide receiver with speed and very good run after the catch ability.

And of course, there is still the draft coming up at the end of April. The Browns don’t have many picks and frankly, we wouldn’t be surprised if they trade their first pick (#42) for a veteran.

Berry and Kevin Stefanski feel the need to win next year. It takes a special rookie to high at a high level in year one and that’s what these two needs.

With Deshaun Watson able to play from day one, the Browns have no excuses right now. And that’s how they should be approaching the off-season.