Cleveland Browns: 4 things Andrew Berry may be wrong on
By Greg Newland
Andrew Berry gets a lot of credit for rebuilding the Cleveland Browns. He’s been great, but he may be wrong about these four things.
The Cleveland Browns rested up this week after a fantastic win in Week 8 vs. the Cincinnati Bengals at home on Monday Night Football. At 3-5 things could be worse, but three losses vs. the Jets, Falcons, and Chargers that could have all been wins hurt that much more.
The good news right now, the Jets and Falcons both appear to be much better than anyone anticipated. The losses are still hard to swallow, but both teams have held their own vs. some NFL powerhouses this season. Additionally, the Deshaun Watson countdown clock has officially started. With three weeks until his debut, Browns fans can start to get excited to see what they have for their future.
The bad news, the Ravens are still in a great position to win the AFC North. The Browns need to win two of their next three vs. the Dolphins, Bills, and Buccaneers which will be no easy feat. And it comes as no surprise to a true Browns fan, injuries continue to be brutal. Let’s hope the bye week will be helpful in getting a couple of crucial guys back like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Denzel Ward, and Wyatt Teller.
This roster continues to look great on paper but still hasn’t figured out how to close games yet. Some of this is likely coaching, some are on the players, but some may be on Andrew Berry who has collected a roster of overvalued players. Let’s look at four decisions made by Berry that may end up being the wrong ones.
Browns: 4 things Andrew Berry may be wrong on
No. 4 – Undervaluing Defensive Tackle
Perhaps the biggest hole on this roster this past offseason was defensive tackle. Cleveland had four capable guys, but none who were solid against stopping the run. To this point, it’s zero shock at all that the defense has struggled against the run, especially up the middle.
With no big bodies to eat up blocks, the undersized backers are constantly covered up, and the undersized defensive tackles continue to get pushed around. I’m not sure if it’s comical or depressing that the Browns are one of the only teams who can’t win games by being able to run the ball, but they seem to lose them all by not being able to stop it.
There were a ton of free agency options for Berry to choose from this offseason who would have been cheap and could have filled a huge gap as a true three-tech nose tackle. Hopefully, Berry realizes this weakness and doesn’t let it happen another season.