Latest cryptic Myles Garrett comment makes valid point

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has been known to make cryptic comments in press conferences. His last quip makes a valid point about the defense. 

The Cleveland Browns defense has failed to live up to expectations. The fault can be spread around evenly between poor defensive back play, linebacker play and defensive line play.

The poor play has lost games and frustration is spilling out in press conferences. As was the case this weekend when Myles Garrett spoke on the loss to Miami.

Latest cryptic Myles Garrett comment makes a valid point

Myles Garrett is frustrated, with good reason

Myles Garrett, considered a leader on the Browns defense, has been taking cryptic shots at the coaching staff all season. His most recent quip calls into question the direction, or lack thereof, of the defense.

Garrett low key calling out the coaches has become a recognizable pattern in recent weeks. Usually, such remarks can be ignored. But if one should decide to watch the film from their recent game, one starts to see Garrett’s point.

Even though he claims he was not pointing the finger at any one coach or player, he should have been pointing at defensive coordinator Joe Woods.

After watching the end zone view of the defense, one could easily walk away wondering “what is the direction of the defense?” To be honest, the direction is clear. But that direction has problems.

Woods set the direction of the defense when he was hired. When he laid out his defensive philosophy, he described it as one that covers the pass and pressures the quarterback. Given that the NFL is a passing league, it makes sense to build a strong pass defense.

Every year since the Browns hired Kevin Stefanksi as head coach, they have drafted a defensive back in the draft. Most recently Martin Emerson, who is emerging as one of the best rookies in the NFL. They have targeted the back end in free agency as well. The clear emphasis for this defense is to stop the pass.

So, what is going wrong?

Joe Woods needs a reminder

Just in case anyone forgot, the Browns play in the AFC North. It’s a division that plays in cold weather. Thus, most teams in the division have put an emphasis on running the football as passing in cold weather is difficult.

The only exception in this division is the Cincinnati Bengals who are primarily a passing team due to quarterback Joe Burrow. They have built an offense around quick short passes leading to yards after the catch. The Browns are built to beat this type of team as evidenced by their recent matchup.

The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers are run-first teams. They look to establish the run and then pass off of it. This “old school” approach is really analytically driven as their chunk plays come off play-action or deep passes on single coverage.

If the division is primarily a running division, then why not build a team to win the division? Why not emphasize a strong run defense?

Analytics will tell you that the NFL is a passing league. This is true, effective passing wins games. That is worth repeating, passing the ball has a direct correlation to points. Thus, in abstraction, to win games, one would need to stop the opponent’s passing game. Hence, the Browns have built a defense to do just that.

The problem is games are not played in abstraction. Teams have strategies designed to open the passing game. For example, the Browns run zone plays to set up play-action. But if the running game is effective enough to win games, they will continue to run the ball.

The poster child for this style of play is the Ravens.  They would rather run the ball, control the clock and win the game 14-7 than have Lamar Jackson attempt to throw the ball all over the yard. But if a defense sells out to stop the run, they will throw the ball.

The opposite is also the case. If a defense sells out to stop the pass, the offense will run the ball. And it is here where the Joe Woods pass defense runs into problems. It is not designed to stop the run.

It’s all in pieces

Credit should be given when it is earned. Jadeveon Clowney is an absolute beast against the run. Hopefully, Garrett has taken some notes from watching the master run defender in action. Now that proper credit is given . . .

The Browns defense was built for one purpose, to stop the pass. It seems little mental energy has been allocated to stopping the run. It is like the Browns are out there playing 7-on-7 defense. The defensive backs and linebackers are schematically linked (even if they don’t always execute) into a coherent whole.

After watching game film, the defense’s problem seems to be that the defensive line is totally disconnected schematically from the rest of the defense.

The defensive line plays a gap-control scheme. That is, each defender is responsible for one gap. The point seems to be to penetrate that gap and get into the backfield to disrupt plays. This is a typical defense in the NFL.

But such a scheme usually takes into account the role of the linebackers. Both defensive linemen and linebackers have assigned gaps to control. Such gaps are coordinated between the defensive line and linebackers so all the gaps are covered. When players fill those gaps, that’s known as a run fit.

The problem is that the defensive line gap control is not coordinated with the linebackers’ gap control because, it seems after watching the film, that the linebackers are playing the pass first, run second.

In fact, it seems the defensive line is playing pass first, run second (if at all). That is, in every play the defensive line attacks their gap as if they are rushing the passer. If the play happens to be a run, they will try to disrupt the play in the backfield.

They are playing the run on the way to the quarterback. So, what then do the Browns actually have in terms of a run defense?

The secret is there is no secret

The Browns have no organized run defense.

Defense is played at three levels. All three levels have to play in unity with each other. By doing so they play as a coherent whole. In such a case, the actions of the defensive line support the linebackers whose actions support the defensive backs. When such unified coherence occurs, it is called team defense.

Cleveland doesn’t play team defense against the run. They have a great team defensive philosophy against the pass. But it’s hard to grasp what their defensive philosophy is against the run. It literally seems like the defense defends the pass on every play while stopping the run if it happens to occur.

The difficulty with such an approach is that there’s no coherent plan to stop the run. If a defensive lineman penetrates upfield, it leaves an opposing offensive lineman free to work on a linebacker. Thus, not only does the defensive lineman run himself out of the play, but he also sets up his linebacker to be blocked.

This issue is exacerbated by the Browns preferring smaller, faster linebackers who are not physically able to get off blocks. Their strategy seems to be to elude blocks to make a play. But such a strategy works if the linebackers are “protected” by the defensive linemen taking up two offensive linemen. If the opposing offensive lineman is allowed to climb to the second level consistently, the linebackers have very little chance of being able to stop the run.

Stopping the run has to be a coordinated effort by a defense. The Browns fail to achieve such a coordinated effort. It seems they are trying to stop the pass because that is what analytics states win games.

The failure to take concrete reality into consideration is putting the defense in a bad position schematically game in and game out. What is the point of having Clowney or Garrett if they are constantly put in a position to be effective only on pass plays?

Watch this long enough, one has to wonder why players give the effort they do. They aren’t being set up to make plays or play team defense. To quote Garrett, “Doesn’t matter if you are ready to run through a wall if it is in the wrong direction”.

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