'Talk is cheap': Talent-laden Browns defense consistent only in underachieving

CLEVELAND — One of the midges swarming FirstEnergy Stadium could have broken a tackle against this Browns defense.

Curse defensive coordinator Joe Woods all you want. But the problems that plague his group, illustrated again in Sunday’s 30-28 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, are not all his fault.

Every week another word or phrase is thrown into the list of issues to be corrected — this week missed alignments and dumb penalties joined miscommunication, technique, missed tackles and busted coverage.

Presumably that about covers it, but with the 2022 Browns you never know.

Entering this season, the defense was the unit with continuity, seemingly ready to take a leap to the next level. The unit was supposed to carry the Browns — along with running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt — until quarterback Deshaun Watson returns from his 11-game league suspension to make his Browns debut.

The Browns defense ranked fifth in the league last year, allowing 311.5 yards per game. After five games, that average has jumped to 353.8. A year ago, it gave up 21.82 points per game, this year it is allowing 25.0.

It is loaded with talent. Among its 11 starters are five first-round picks — defensive ends Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney, cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II and defensive tackle Taven Bryan (Jacksonville, 2018). Two more are second-rounders — strong safety Grant Delpit and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Garrett and Clowney were No. 1 overall picks and are three-time Pro Bowlers, while Ward is a two-time Pro Bowl selection.

They have been a massive disappointment, consistent only in their underachievement. All three Browns losses have come by three points or less, and their mistakes have loomed large in each.

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Asked about letting three games slip away, Garrett said, “Slipped away or lost is all the same. When you lose, there’s always a certain sense behind it, whether it’s early or late, they all count and it’s all in the minor details.

“That’s all it’s been for us, making sure we’re in the right spot, communicating and executing. That’s what we have to take care of, that’s what we have to get ahead of and we have to really take pride in it. Take pride in doing our job, and right now we have to have some more pride.”

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If pride is lacking, that’s more of a crisis than a failure to communicate. That reflects poorly on coach Kevin Stefanski and Woods, either in relation to their leadership or game plans, or both. It lends credence to former Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield’s podcast claim that he couldn’t motivate some players because they cared more about their retirement funds.

Another troubling sign were the Browns’ penalties, with four of their six coming on defense, three of them for 15 yards and another for 10.

Free safety John Johnson III drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second quarter for taking off his helmet to protest what he thought was a blindside block on linebacker Jacob Phillips.

“One of the officials came up to me and I said, ‘I’m not allowed to talk to you. I got a penalty, coach is mad at me,’” Johnson said.

Asked what Stefanski told him, Johnson said, “He said, 'It's a dumb penalty and you can't play for the Browns doing stuff like that.’

“I didn’t say anything egregious to the ref, I just took my helmet off. Obviously being a leader on the team I can't do that."

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Perhaps Stefanski needs to back up those words with discipline to make them stick.

Johnson’s 10-yard penalty, the distance adjusted because it was in the red zone, set up the Chargers’ second touchdown. He was joined in the undisciplined department by defensive teammates Delpit (unnecessary roughness), defensive end Alex Wright (face mask) and Owusu-Koramoah (face mask).

Last week in Atlanta, the Falcons ran it down the Browns’ throats on 14 consecutive carries before quarterback Marcus Mariota was dropped for a loss. Sunday the Chargers, who came in last in the league in rushing with 64.5 yards per game, piled up 238 yards on the ground and averaged 7.0 yards per carry.

“We’re just up and down right now,” Garrett said. “Have certain drives or quarters where we’re all over it and then we’ll let off the gas and they’ll take advantage of miscommunication or if we had a lack of effort, whether it’s misalignments that we have seen, it’s just a little bit of everything.”

Chargers running back Austin Ekeler ran through the Browns defense

Running back Austin Ekeler, undrafted out of Western State (Colorado) in 2017, came into the game with 140 rushing yards in four games. Against the Browns, he piled up 173, including a 22-yard touchdown.

The Browns had only one textbook tackle Sunday, that when Newsome chased down and wrapped up Ekeler on a 71-yard first-quarter run that set up a field goal.

Newsome knows the Pro Bowlers and first-round picks the Browns have assembled on defense and realizes their failures.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Newsome said. “We know what talent we have in the building. We're just not showing it every play on Sunday. We have some great plays, not great plays, it's all about being consistent.”

Asked how the defense is playing, Clowney didn’t sugarcoat anything.

“Right now? It is not good. We have names and the pieces on paper, but we have to come out here and put it together,” he said. “I have been on my fourth team, and this by far one of the [most] talented defenses I have been on. I see a lot in this defense, and right now we aren’t showing up and doing it.

“I can’t point fingers at nobody. I am not going to do that. Look into the mirror and see what I can do to help this team and try to focus on myself. If everybody is there looking in the mirror, I think we will be all right.”

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Last season Woods’ unit put it together in the second half of the season. This year, they can’t wait that long.

They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They know the scheme. They insist some of the problems are easily correctable, yet they persist as the Browns continue to let winnable games slip away. If the issues are not fixed, there may be nothing left for Watson to salvage.

Rookie defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey summed up the defense’s situation succinctly.

“We have to communicate and focus on what needs to be done, and then go out there and execute,” Winfrey said. “Talk is cheap.”

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Problems continue to plague star-laden Cleveland Browns defense