Calls for Browns to fire Joe Woods grow louder
By Randy Gurzi
Joe Woods has struggled for years as the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns and the calls for his job have grown increasingly louder with each loss
These were supposed to be the “easy” games. With a brutal stretch coming up, the Cleveland Browns were eyeing a 4-0 start when the season began but went just 2-2 despite the games all being winnable. And most fans who are frustrated are turning their anger toward Joe Woods.
The third-year defensive coordinator is under fire thanks to his secondary struggling from week to week, including a meltdown in Week 2 where they allowed the New York Jets to win despite being down 13 with 1:55 to go and having no timeouts.
Cleveland also nearly lost the game before that when they allowed Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers to take a late lead, thanks in large part to a wide-open 75-yard touchdown pass to Robbie Anderson.
In their latest loss — a 23-20 heartbreaker against Atlanta — they surrendered a 42-yard pass to Olamide Zaccheaus on what proved to be the game-winning drive. Zaccheaus had no one within 10 yards of him when he made the catch, which was a frustrating site to see.
Joe Woods struggled with the run on Sunday
Even worse was the way the defense was carved up on the ground. To be fair, Cleveland was without three starting defensive linemen but they were beaten by two inexperienced backs as Tyler Allgeier had 10 rushes for 84 yards and Caleb Huntley went for 56 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
So far, head coach Kevin Stefanski has had support for Woods and that might not change after this game considering the absence of Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney, and Taven Bryan. Having said that, the excuses can only work for so long and it’s fair to ask how many chances will Woods get to fix these issues.
