Browns defense also lacks speed

By STEVE KING

Browns Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Paul Brown introduced to the game the benefit of speed.
All these years, and decades, later, teams are still seeking it. The faster they are, the better they are in many regards.
And just as the Browns, as mentioned in my previous post, need more speed on offense — on the edges, at wide receiver — so, too, must the defense become faster if they want to get to where they want to go. In fact, the need for speed is even greater on defense because all members of the back seven — their linebackers, cornerback and safeties — are lacking it overall. That was evident throughout the season, but especially in the first half, and then late in the fourth quarter, of the 22-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional playoffs last Sunday.
The way the game is today, with every rule change in the last 45 years taking something away from the defense and giving it to the offense, you can’t really stop — consistently — opposing offenses. You just can’t. But you have to be able to at least slow them down a bit, and stop them occasionally, and if you can’t do that, then you’re in real trouble. What happens, then, is that you find yourself in a shootout every week, which was the case with the Browns this season, and sometimes you come out on the short end.
And along with that concerning the defense, the Browns need to be much more attacking. They need to blitz more. They were too passive too many times this season. Possibly Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods did that because he knew the group lacked that speed and, of course, some talent as well, and he didn’t want to exacerbate the problem by exposing his guys even more so in one-on-one matchups in space.
If the Browns significantly upgrade the speed and talent on their defense in the offseason, as they should, and likely will, and Woods does not become more aggressive in 2021, then there’s something wrong — very, very wrong.