This isn’t your grandfather’s defense

By STEVE KING

Tuesday is a historic day in Browns history.

It marks the 51st anniversary of the first Monday Night Football game in NFL history.

It was on Sept. 21, 1970 that the Browns defeated the New York Jets 31-21 before a team-record home crowd of 85,703 at Cleveland Stadium.

The Browns bolted to a quick 14-0 first-quarter lead on Bo Scott two-touchdown yard and Bill Nelsen’s eight-yard pass to wide receiver Gary Collins, the hero of the 1964 NFL Championship Game victory over the Baltimore Colts, but it was the unheralded Cleveland defense that really was the difference. The Browns held in check Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath, and clinched the win when linebacker Billy Andrews intercepted one of his passes and returned it 25 yards for a TD with just over a minute left.

Fast forward to today, and the Browns defense isn’t nearly as good as the one in that long-ago time. In fact, it is so leaky that, if things don’t improve, it could well be the reason if the team doesn’t reach its goals of winning the Super Bowl.

This defense has been bad over two weeks. It can’t get off the field on third down, it can’t put pressure on the quarterback and it blows too many assignments, allowing receivers to run wide open.

It’s a mess.

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods doesn’t seem capable of matching wits competitively with opposing offensive coordinators. When they counter his scheme, he can’t come up with his own counter. Speaking of that scheme, the players don’t seem comfortable in it. They are thinking before reacting. It needs a lot of work.

Can the defense rally and become a help instead of a hindrance? I want to say yes, but I’m just not sure. The players are in place to be better, but that won’t happen unless Woods is better.

Note: Ohio high school football scores broken down by county

Head Coach Kevin Stefanski (9.20.21)

Opening statement:

“On the injury front, (WR) Jarvis (Landry) has an MCL sprain. He will be week to week. (LB Sione) Takitaki has a hamstring strain. He is week to week. Hub (T Chris Hubbard) is improving, but he remains week to week.

“With yesterday – we kind of talked about it after the game – always good to get a win. There is plenty for us to clean up. There are plenty of corrections to be made. That is what the guys are working hard on today and making those corrections so we can go out this week and play better football against a 1-1 Chicago Bears team coming to our place.”

On if the Browns will be able to avoid placing Landry on injured reserve with an expectation for return in three weeks or sooner:

“We will see. We will work through all of those type of decisions over the next few days. We will see.”

On if Landry’s injury could expedite WR Odell Beckham Jr.’s return and if WR Davion Davis will be elevated to the active roster:

“The Odell situation is really not dependent on the availability of anybody else. We will again continue to bring him along and see when he is ready to go. Davion Davis, I do not really have an update there on that one.”

On if there is an update on T Jedrick Wills Jr.’s status after starting but not finishing yesterday’s game:

“He is no worse for the wear. I am really proud of him for how he responded, wanted to go out there and competed. Like I said, he got stiff, and I thought it was the right thing to do to take him out. That is a big deal, and I think his teammates recognize that is a big deal when you fight to make it to Sunday.”

On if the team is ruling Landry out for Sunday’s game against the Bears, given he characterized Landry’s status as week to week:

“I will just hold off on any of those type of decisions. I will just tell you we are working through all of those things.”

On how Landry will handle the injury situation, given Landry is not a player who has missed much time at all during his career:

“I have already spoken to him. He is attacking his rehab as you can imagine. Nobody likes to be injured, but going back to the statement I just made about Jed, these guys are going to fight their rear ends off to get back and battle and compete with their teammates. I think Jarvis will be another example of that.”

On how the Browns offensive gameplan may change if Landry and Beckham are unavailable this week:

“It is whoever is available to you. You move the ball no matter what.”

On if the Browns could use RB Demetric Felton more in the slot if Landry is unable to play:

“We are excited about Demetric. Obviously, we were excited to add him in the sixth round of the draft. He has worked really hard throughout the spring and summer. As you guys have seen, he has been in the running back room and in the wide receiver room. These are the type of things you do with rookies and grow their role based on what they ready to handle. He obviously made a great play for us on that screen and had great individual effort. He has made plays as a returner. It is our jobs to grow their roles. Really, the truth is these guys earn their roles. I think Demetric is doing that.”

On if he has had the opportunity to talk with QB Baker Mayfield today and ask how the left shoulder is feeling:

“I have not had a chance to talk to Baker yet today. I know obviously our training staff has talked to him. He is doing fine. He is sore. He is doing fine.”

On Mayfield’s interception after reviewing the film, including if WR Anthony Schwartz should have been in another position on the play:

“Nothing really to add from what I said yesterday.”

On the Browns WRs in the event Landry and Beckham are unable to play this week:

“We try to put together a gameplan to win that game each week. It is our job to see who is available to us and construct the gameplan accordingly. You mention those two young guys already this season – (WR) Donovan (Peoples-Jones) has made big plays for us and I think about that third down late in the Kansas City Game, and I know Schwartz has made big plays for. If those two are out there, we are going to be counting on them. If someone else is out there, we are going to be counting on them. That is kind of how it works. Really, I would tell you that is my job and that is our job as coaches to make sure we put the guys who we have available to us in the best position to succeed.”

On CB Greg Newsome II’s performance and if Newsome recording a pass defensed in the second half shortly after a defensive pass interference is an example of a rookie growing from experience:

“I think you are going to see examples of these rookies growing throughout the season for sure. That defensive pass interference, that is a tough play. He is in great position – just have to wait for the receiver’s hands to go up and then your hands go up. He is in a good position so that is a good place to start. We kind of teach off of the tape.”

On if the Browns planned to play S Grant Delpit as much as occurred yesterday:

“Yes. We had him on a pitch count. We wanted him to get the first couple of plays under his belt. He did a nice job.”

On evaluating Delpit’s performance on game film and Delpit seeming to make plays on all areas of the film:

“Yeah, he really did. He filled the run there at the end of the first half. Obviously, made a splash play with the sack-fumble late in the game. By and large, he was where he was supposed to be. Was it perfect? No, but that is his first NFL football game. A really good effort for his first time out there.”

On areas of improvement for the pass rush after evaluating yesterday’s game film:

“It is never one thing. It is a combination of rush and coverage when you are talking about those passing situations. There are definitely things we can do better up front. There are definitely things that we can do better in the back end. They go together. That is one of the things that we are going to work very hard on this week to have an improvement in that area because we need to be better on third down.”

On if the Browns are getting enough production in the pass rush from the interior DL:

“I think we need production from anywhere we can get it across the front, whether you are rushing inside or outside. We are always going to have a rush plan based on what we think they are going to do so we will at times move guys around or at times we will do straight rushes from a normal four-down front. We just have to make sure we are using our technique and try to get home. The Texans did a nice job of chipping the edges each time. We just have to stay at it, stay after it and keep working through it and working our techniques and come up with a rush plan.”

On if there are areas on defense in yesterday’s game that need the most attention to improve:

“I think there were some really good moments, and then it is just a matter of you have to get off of the field on third down and you have to find a way. It is always a combination of things. It is never just one thing. That is going to definitely be something that we work on very hard this week and really going forward. Third down is a really important down. It is really important that we get the offense into some non-advantageous third down distances and then get off of the field and force the punt.”

On if the injuries yesterday ‘underscore the fragility of a season’:

“We have talked about it before, injuries, nobody likes them. They are awful. I do not care if it is your team or the other team, you never want to see that ever. Also, it is part of our game. This is a very physical game. You lose Jarvis on the second play of the game, and guys have to step up. That is the nature of this thing. I thought guys stepped up. If he is not available this week, guys have to step up. If we have somebody else who is unavailable, a guy has to step up. That is just the nature of the NFL. That is why you talk about depth being so important because you could be in your depth early. I think back to the Kansas City game, we lose Jed and we lose Hub coming out of that game, and you are in your depth. That is kind of how it works in the NFL.”

On what a ‘Coach Landry’ would mean to the team if Landry is sidelined:

“We will see if we have him or not, but even when Jarvis is playing out there, he is still Coach Landry. He works very hard with those young players and provides great leadership throughout the building.”

On the rotation on the Browns DL and DE Myles Garrett not being on the field for five or six consecutive plays:

“We will roll those guys. It is a long season. These are long games. We have confidence in the other guys so when we waved Myles for instance, we were just looking to have a fresh Myles out there rushing the passer.”

On if there are a set number of snaps for each player on the Browns DL each game:

“We definitely talk through each game what you are targeting for each player and how you think the game is going to unfold. As you can imagine, the game sometimes does not unfold exactly how you thought it might. That is where we have to be great communicators on gameday on both sides of the ball making sure we are aware of where the guys are from a snap count rate.”

On CB Denzel Ward’s performance yesterday:

“I would tell you some good moments and some moments I am sure he wants back. I know I can already see him working the technique that he going to work this week and drill down on it. You go against some pretty good wide receivers. They are going to make a play here and there, and it is really how you respond. Some good moments and definitely some moments that he is going to work real hard on this week.”

On when the team expects to announce Beckham’s status for Sunday, given the team announced it on Wednesday of last week:

“I am on Monday, and I will wait for Wednesday when we get there. We will talk through those things, but I do not have any announcement as it relates to that.”

On if the Browns were specifically targeting Beckham’s return for Week 3 when announcing Beckham was out for Week 2 on Wednesday of last week:

“No. Every is day to day with him, just like you deal with every player and see how they are doing day to day and then week to week. There has been no Week 3 circling on the calendar or anything like that.”

On his philosophy at the end of the half when using timeouts prior to the Texans punt and weighing the risk-reward:

“If you can make them punt, make them punt because the punter might drop the ball, a bad snap or you get a punt blocked potentially. With the time remaining on the clock there, we thought that we could maybe pressure the punter and come out with a big play, and then if it is a punt that you can’t handle as a punt returner, you can also let that thing hit the ground, not get near it and let the half bleed out, if you will.”

On the potential for the Texans to make a mistake in that situation but also considering the Browns could also make a mistake:

“I would say I was not thrilled when I saw the ball on the ground, but I felt like it was an opportunity to be aggressive with our punt rush. They did a nice job of getting the punt off. Like I said, if you can’t field it cleanly as a punt returner, you do not field that ball at all.”

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Key dates ahead Sunday: Week 3 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.Oct. 3: Week 4 at Minnesota, 1 p.m.Oct. 10: Week 5 at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:05 p.m.Nov. 2: NFL trade deadline, 4 p.m.