Joe Woods accepts responsibility for Browns poor run defense
BEREA − Joe Woods knows he can’t hide from the numbers. Nor is the Browns defensive coordinator going to hide from his own responsibility in why his unit hasn’t been able to stop the run consistently all season.
“Absolutely, I put it all on coaching,” Woods said Thursday. “Coaching first. We gotta get the guys to go out, execute whatever I’m calling.”
There’s two games remaining for that defense to execute what Woods is calling, starting with Sunday’s game at the Washington Commanders. At this point in time, there’s little expectations to see that run defense change from what it’s been for at least the last 12 games, which is feast or, oftentimes, famine.
The Browns rank 25th in the league against the run, having allowed 134.3 yards a game. Last week’s loss to the New Orleans Saints marked the eighth time in the last 12 games in which they have allowed at least 130 rushing yards, giving up 152 yards on 39 attempts.
That was the seventh time in that same span in which an opponent exceeded 150 yards rushing. Two of those have come in the last two games, with the Baltimore Ravens rushing for 198 yards in the Browns’ Week 15 win.
What has become an Achilles’ heel for the Browns, and may very well cost Woods his job after the season finale in Pittsburgh, wasn’t something he believed was going to be an issue when they left training camp in August.
“I was not concerned about the run defense,” Woods said. “I know there was questions. The big thing since I’ve been here, we’ve had a lot of turnover, and I knew this year we drafted some young guys, so it was going to take time for those guys to develop. But going into the season, I wasn’t concerned with the run defense.”
The first three games supported Woods’ contention, as the Browns allowed an average of 83.7 rushing yards per game.
At that point, the concerns on that side of the ball were with the pass defense after both the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets burnt them for big fourth-quarter plays.
Things flipped, though, in Week 4 when the Atlanta Falcons ran for 202 yards despite Cordarrelle Patterson leaving the game due to injury. The next week, the Los Angeles Chargers came in with the league’s 32nd-ranked rush offense and ran for 238 yards.
So, while one issue cleared up, another one emerged. Woods, though, wouldn’t link the two together.
“Yeah, I think we’ve been consistent in the secondary throughout the year,” Woods said. “It’s just the run defense hasn’t been good. Not going to run away and hide from it. It hasn’t been good.”
Woods wouldn’t call the problem a personnel-based one, which is why he said to pin the issues on coaching. He wouldn’t point to undersized defensive tackles, one popular outside theory for the struggles, because he doesn’t believe the root cause is primarily because they’re getting knocked back off the ball.
The litany of injuries at linebacker is something Woods acknowledges has hurt the defense. Those injuries started with middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. going down for the season in the Week 3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, after which the run defense began to wobble.
Since then, the Browns have also lost their other three original starting linebackers to season-ending injuries: Jacob Phillips in Week 7, Sione Takitaki in Week 13 and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in Week 14.
“Yeah, well I think just the injuries, losing our top four guys, that was tough to deal with,” Woods said. “With our scheme, we put a premium on speed, and you just have to be able to really, when you’re taking on blockers, just use your length and able to beat a block but you can’t avoid them. That’s happened to us a few times this season.”
What’s also happened is the Browns being gashed for big gains on single carries. They’ve allowed 14 running plays of at least 20 yards, and 13 of those have come in the last 12 games.
Of those 13, nine have come in the Browns’ four worst games against the run. Three were in the win over the Ravens, and two each came against the Falcons, Chargers and Miami Dolphins (195 yards as a team).