Cleveland Browns: Is Joe Woods Icarus or The Didact?

“I’m limited by the technology of my time” – Joe Woods, probably

It’s no secret that the Browns defense is bad, even at full strength. Without Olivier Vernon, Denzel Ward, and Kevin Johnson against the Steelers, things were even worse. Practice squad corner and special teams gunner Robert Jackson had to play nearly every defensive snap, and was picked on for the second straight week.

When the Browns get out to these big leads, Woods has quickly shifted from what got the team to those leads to prevent defense, sitting in off-man, cover-two, and cover-three for the rest of the game. And in each case, that decision has allowed the opponent to get back into the game. So is Woods flying too close to the sun, or does he have a legitimate reason for giving up so many second-half points?

Rather than Icarus, Woods resembles another fictional character; Halo’s Didact, the military leader of an advanced alien civilization tasked with protecting all life from a galactic parasite known as The Flood. The Didact was a brilliant tactician and strong leader, but he lacked the resources to properly combat The Flood, and eventually, the parasite overran his people, and they were wiped out.

This is a gross oversimplification of the story, and there were plenty of other events that happened in between, but it gets the point across well enough. Woods has been tasked with game-planning for some excellent offenses this season, and he doesn’t have much to work with in the way of personnel. The defense was going to struggle this season even before Andrew Billings (opt-out), Grant Delpit, and Greedy Williams were lost for the year.

Delpit’s injury was particularly devastating because it prevents the Browns from running Woods’ big nickel scheme, which would feature three safeties and two linebackers. Now, they lack the personnel to run big nickel, and aren’t suited to play really any type of alternate package. To make matters worse, the team’s linebacker play has been atrocious for most of the season.