Cleveland Browns Hot Seats: Hot, Hotter, Hottest

Aug 13, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O

Pettine’s best friend and right hand man, the two have been together for the duration of Pettine’s career as a coordinator and head coach. The only thing making Jim O’Neil‘s  seat hotter than Pettine’s is the fact that Pettine has more than the defense to deal with, while defense is O’Neil’s job. It’s literally in his title.

While it seems likely that both Pettine and O’Neil will be canned after this season, if only one ends up going, it will be O’Neil.

If you look at the names and talent that this defense has, on paper they should be a Top 10 defense. Pro Bowler’s in the secondary in Tashaun Gipson, Joe Haden and Donte Whitner, and the talent in the front seven with Paul Kruger (a Super Bowl champion in 2013), Karlos Dansby (second team All-Pro in 2013), and Shelton (12th overall pick in 2015) should make them one of the most dominant defenses in the league.

The resulting performances that have been put on display this season have put the Browns at 30th in total defense (3,614 yards allowed), 26th in pass defense (2,286 yards allowed), and 32nd in rush defense by a large margin (1,328 yards allowed). This “stout” front seven has only held one team to under 100 yards rushing, with their best performance being against San Diego where they kept the Chargers to 91 rushing yards.

If O’Neil were able to put any sort of effective scheme in place, the Browns would have a totally different defense, and could be looking at a much better record, likely pulling off wins over Denver, San Diego and Oakland. If only one person is to go out of this coaching staff, let it be O’Neil.

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