3 reasons the Browns are still struggling even with Deshaun Watson
By Greg Newland
Browns Reason for Struggling No. 1: Deshaun Watson cannot play defense
At the end of the day, Watson can’t play defense for Cleveland and that continues to be the biggest question mark. I’ll give credit where due and admit they have been better, but the bar was very low after being atrocious for the first eight weeks of the season.
Teams have utilized the quick passing game to take Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney out of the picture, and they’ve continued to run at will on this defense, especially up the middle. Injuries have devastated this team at linebacker, and both starting cornerbacks have missed multiple games as well.
There is a huge push for Joe Woods to be fired, but the core of this unit has been in place for two to three years now with the same result. I’m not saying a change of voice wouldn’t help the defense, but we need to be careful about who we point fingers at. Both Garrett and Denzel Ward, who are the supposable leaders of this team, have struggled to take any accountability this season.
Unfortunately, Andrew Berry has a good chunk of money tied up in this defense, but it will certainly need some attention this offseason to correct some of the issues. A true deep half-safety and run-stuffing defensive tackle would be a great start, but there are plenty of other holes as well.
