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Jim Schwartz: 2023 NFL Asst. COY

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I definitely have major concerns that this defense is showing signs of being "figured out".

If Schwartz adapts the scheme to be more conservative and able to adjust for misdirection better, does that actually make our defense even worse by taking away what we do well?

That's the major question I have, and to me is the biggest factor determining whether we make the playoffs this year.

I've resigned the offense to simply being mediocre the rest of the year, which is honestly a compliment to them given all of the major pieces they've lost.

It's the defense that needs to be at minimum very good in order for there to be a path forward as a playoff team.

In any case, it certainly looks like the Browns first half defensive success was more due to having superior individual talent at key defensive positions, as opposed to elite coaching from Schwartz.

Is he able to adapt now that the league has figured out how to succeed against our defense?
 
What happened to the swagger this defense was playing with early in the year.
 
SanduskyCav said:
What happened to the swagger this defense was playing with early in the year.
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Is it as simple as they were never actually historically good and they just feasted on either really bad QBs or really bad play callers/schemes or both?

Here's who the Browns have destroyed this year...

Joe Burrow on one leg - 142 yards allowed
Kenny Pickett twice - 255 and 249 yards allowed
Ryan Tannehill - 94 yards allowed
Clayton Tune - 58 yards allowed

The only good QB/play caller combo the Browns defense has beat up on this year was the 49ers and it's worth noting that Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffery and Trent Williams - three All-Pro players - all got hurt during the game.
 
SanduskyCav said:
What happened to the swagger this defense was playing with early in the year.
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Some will disagree, but injuries to our 2 most important players in Ward and Myles just changes things as drastically as the offense missing Chubb and Watson. We needed Ward more than ever to lock up a very good WR and Myles just couldnt penetrate like usual with the banged up shoulder. I do appreciate Myles not using it as an excuse, great attitude, but we all saw with our own eyes it hurt.

And if not for a horrible pass by Flacco (he looked decent, but that one pass was a bad pass, lol), we would of only gave up 20 points to a very good offense.
 
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shoes22 said:
If Schwartz adapts the scheme to be more conservative and able to adjust for misdirection better, does that actually make our defense even worse by taking away what we do well?
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From what I've seen - this is the problem.

Offenses have used pre-snap motion and misdirection to get our aggressive, man-coverage defense flowing in one direction while using jet sweeps, tosses, etc... to hit the other side. I've seen a little bit of this earlier in the year but it's happening VERY frequently in recent weeks. Hell, even though we locked down Pickett, the Steelers with Warren + Harris were abusing us on the ground.

We have to stop this using contain with our DEs and CBs. This is high-school stuff. Maintain outside leverage and force the ball carrier to have to cut early into the teeth of the defense.

Unfortunately, we start creeping back into Joe Woods territory with more contain and trying to keep players in front of us. But it's the NFL - Schwartz needs to get comfortable with finding a healthy balance between aggression and non-aggression. There are many variables that will factor in the decision (down and distance, opposing players skillset, flow of the game, etc...) but that's just how the NFL is. Get the offense frustrated and when they're trying to attack north-south, we can counter with aggression.

Can't spam aggression and think it's going to work all the time. Still, I have faith we'll be able to adjust on defense.
 
Lee said:
Some will disagree, but injuries to our 2 most important players in Ward and Myles just changes things as drastically as the offense missing Chubb and Watson. We needed Ward more than ever to lock up a very good WR and Myles just couldnt penetrate like usual with the banged up shoulder. I do appreciate Myles not using it as an excuse, great attitude, but we all saw with our own eyes it hurt.

And if not for a horrible pass by Flacco (he looked decent, but that one pass was a bad pass, lol), we would of only gave up 20 points to a very good offense.
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I kind of disagree. Like I agree that they're sorely missed and will allow us to play OUR gameplan a bit more... but we're getting killed from a schematic standpoint more than anything, IMO.

Myles & Ward's talent alone aren't stopping those devastating sweeps. And when we switch to something like Cover-2 to try to limit it, offenses are using audibles to attack us in the middle of the field.

We're "figured out" at this point IMO, and we're in some trouble if things don't change. I have us beating the Jets and Bengals and unless we make adjustments on defense I don't think we're beating the Jags & Texans, but we'll see.
 
For our defensive scheme to work we have to dominate the line of scrimmage. In the first part of the season our DL did a lot of that. Then we started losing assignments leading to some chunk runs against teams like the Colts and Broncos. The Rams had their way with our DL.

At the start of the season we were pretty jacked about the talent we brought in to help out Garrett. Those guys have been glaringly silent, not only failing to hold down their assignments and make plays, but outright blowing and losing their assignments.

It is also obvious that good coaches and quarterbacks have seen how Schwartz has been succeeding, and they've figured out ways to counter.

Does Schwartz need to adjust his scheme from one where he attacks and expects his players to win or at least hold down their assignments to something more conservative or conventional? Should Schwartz start taking more chances to create pressure with blitzes, or should he expect the front four to get home on the rush?

My opinion is, the league has indeed figured out some things about the Browns defense, and they've adjusted. Some key injuries made it easier to counter our pressure as well. I think Schwartz does need to see what's happened, especially in the last 2 games, and he needs to find some ways to adjust back and get pressure back on passers, and stifle runs.
 
The Browns do get two home games in a row after a pair of West Coast losses. Unfortunately, we caught both exactly when their veteran quarterbacks shook off some nagging injuries and got hot going into defending their home turf.

Of course, the Browns had the talent early in the season to win against a hot team at home. I'm not sure they have the talent anymore.
 
Randolphkeys said:
The Browns do get two home games in a row after a pair of West Coast losses. Unfortunately, we caught both exactly when their veteran quarterbacks shook off some nagging injuries and got hot going into defending their home turf.

Of course, the Browns had the talent early in the season to win against a hot team at home. I'm not sure they have the talent anymore.
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If there was ever going to be a "get right" game for a scuffling defense, at home in yucky weather against a Florida team starting a scrubby backup feels like the moment.
 
CBBI said:
If there was ever going to be a "get right" game for a scuffling defense, at home in yucky weather against a Florida team starting a scrubby backup feels like the moment.
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“Yucky”
 
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