As criticism mounts, 3-7 Browns circle wagons
The calls have started up after yet another disappointing Browns performance. Those calls, though, aren’t coming from inside the building.
While pressure from the outside ramped up following Sunday’s 31-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Detroit, specifically on defensive coordinator Joe Woods, it hasn’t publicly come from those within the organization. In fact, those inside the building are throwing their support around him.
“I think Joe’s great D-coordinator,” cornerback Denzel Ward said on a Zoom call with media Monday. “We’re all in this together. It takes all of us. If something happens out there, it’s not just Joe, he
acalled a bad call or this one guy just missed. We’re all in this together. Everyone makes mistakes here or there, whether that’s a bad call or a bad play or give up a play. I mean, those guys are good on the other side of the ball as well, so we just got to try and find a way to put it all together and get a win.”
Ward, though, doesn’t have the ability to decide the fate of the Browns’ assistant coaches. That falls on Kevin Stefanski’s lap.
Stefanski was asked directly if there was any thought to fire Woods or any other staff members with the Browns sitting at 3-7 heading into Sunday’s home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He danced around the question, although never intimated that changes were forthcoming.
“My focus is on us getting better,” Stefanski said. “My focus is on us getting a win versus Tampa and playing good offense, playing good defense and playing good special teams. That is where my focus is.”
Buffalo only scored two touchdowns against the Browns on Sunday, but scored on seven consecutive possession prior to the final kneel-down. That allowed the Bills to go from a 10-3 deficit to a 31-16 lead.
If there was one play which may have best epitomized why the cries for Woods’ job were so loud, it was on Buffalo’s final firsthalf offensive play.
The Bills had the ball at the Browns 5 coming out of timeout with 18 seconds remaining. Receiver Stefon Diggs lined up wide to the right but in a tight formation inside the numbers, with tight end Dawson Knox next to him. Quarterback Josh Allen was in the shotgun, with running back Devin Singletary to his right and Isaiah Mckenzie initially motioning from left to right in the formation, then circling back in motion to the left.
At the snap, with the Browns visibly looking confused, Diggs essentially runs between safety Grant Delpit and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-koramoah toward the back of the end zone. Mckenzie runs a pattern to the right, which multiple Browns defensive backs jump at the same time.
That left a wide-open Diggs running across the back of the end zone, and Allen hits him for the touchdown. The score gave Buffalo the lead for good at 13-10.
In addition to the breakdown on the Diggs touchdown, the Browns also continued their struggles in stopping opposing run games. The Bills ran for 171 yards, less than five yards shy of their season high, while averaging 5.2 yards per attempt.
That comes on the heels of a game in Miami where the Dolphins rushed for a season-high 195 yards. As was the case with Buffalo, that was a catalyst in the Browns giving up more than 30 points in the game.
The frustrations carried over immediately after the game. That’s when multiple defensive players spoke and made comments that have been construed as shots fired at someone, be it a coach or a teammate, within the locker room.
Defensive end Myles Garrett expressed a frustration for what he believes is a lack of emphasis on takeaways in practice, a point Stefanski disputed. Delpit, meanwhile, insinuated players weren’t all on the same page when he said, “You have to know what you’re doing and then your team have to have faith they know what they’re doing.”
The issues weren’t just limited to the defense, though. The Browns, for the second consecutive game, struggled to run the football, as they were held to just 80 net rushing yards by the Bills.
On special teams, there was yet another blocked field goal, the third one of the season. The Browns also allowed Buffalo’s Nyheim Hines to have four combined kickoff or punt returns of at least 20 yards.
All of that added up to the Browns’ seventh loss. It’s left them with little wiggle room to find their way into the playoff picture, even with Deshaun Watson returning from suspension to be the starting quarterback following Sunday’s game.*