(No Longer) Joe Woods’ Defense

[chrisrich91]

How are you evaluating this?

We're 19th in points allowed per game.

We're 10th in yards allowed per game.

We're 19th in yards allowed per play.

We're 13th in 3rd down conversion rate.

I assume Sticker is using this.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

I assume Sticker is using this.

I'm not going to pretend to know exactly what Trotter is referencing when he makes that statement, but most measures of "Defensive Efficiency" take the opponent into account.

Therefore, pointing at the metric and the poor offenses we've faced isn't really honest. They're already factored in and shouldn't be something you add on after the fact.

 

[red.]

 

[CBBI]

Disgusting PFF grades incoming...

Isaac Rochell is the 95th ranked DE out of 105.

Alex Wright is the 98th ranked DE out of 105.

Jacob Phillips is the 79th graded LB out of 80.

Jordan Elliott is the 125th ranked DT out of 126

Not to be outdone Tommy Togiai is the 126th ranked DT out of 126.

Try not to vomit.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

Disgusting PFF grades incoming...

Isaac Rochell is the 95th ranked DE out of 105.

Alex Wright is the 98th ranked DE out of 105.

Jacob Phillips is the 79th graded LB out of 80.

Jordan Elliott is the 125th ranked DT out of 126

Not to be outdone Tommy Togiai is the 126th ranked DT out of 126.

Try not to vomit.

That has to be the worst defensive front seven in the history of PFF grades.

What was Takitaki's grade? I imagine it was dogshit as well.

JOK and Delpit were the only two players in the box who played well.

 

[CuriousMinds]

The defense did improve their red zone efficiency yesterday

 

[AZ_]

Disgusting PFF grades incoming...

Isaac Rochell is the 95th ranked DE out of 105.

Alex Wright is the 98th ranked DE out of 105.

Jacob Phillips is the 79th graded LB out of 80.

Jordan Elliott is the 125th ranked DT out of 126

Not to be outdone Tommy Togiai is the 126th ranked DT out of 126.

Try not to vomit.

This is genuinely one of the most incredibly poor performances I've ever seen.

Absolutely stunning numbers here, regardless of what your views may be on PFF.

 

[CuriousMinds]

LB play was so beyond awful yesterday against the run.

Just absolutely unplayable levels. Has to get worked out, don't care who is missing.

Typically if your defensive front is awful and can’t control the LOS; it doesn’t matter who the backers are. I have noticed more blitzes near the interior of the line as a stop gap, but that leaves other parts of the field exposed

 

[CuriousMinds]

How are you evaluating this?

We're 19th in points allowed per game.

We're 10th in yards allowed per game.

We're 19th in yards allowed per play.

We're 13th in 3rd down conversion rate.

You’ve been catfish’d honey

 

[CBBI]

This is genuinely one of the most incredibly poor performances I've ever seen.

Absolutely stunning numbers here, regardless of what your views may be on PFF.

I'm not sure if this makes it better or worse, but the PFF grades from above are for the entire season. Not just this week alone.

Here are this week's bad numbers.

 

[bs80]

How are you evaluating this?

We're 19th in points allowed per game.

We're 10th in yards allowed per game.

We're 19th in yards allowed per play.

We're 13th in 3rd down conversion rate.

FWIW, the PPG and YPG rankings are a bit skewed in our favor because we lead the lead in time of possession, which isn't a huge shock given our efficiency and run game.

The fact that over half the teams in the league give up 3rd downs at a higher rate than we do absolutely floors me though. Definitely feels like we can never get off the fucking field on 3rd down.

I've been thoroughly unhappy with the defense this year, but it's hard for me to be too upset with that unit in yesterday's game because of how undermanned they were. Nothing to me stands out as the single, inexcusable culprit for yesterday's loss, but a handful of annoying things led to one really shotty result. Getting the ball run down our throat in the 2nd half and the poor play calling when we had 1st and goal at the end of the 1st half were the two biggest problems IMO, but I can't say really point out a particular unit that deserve the brunt of the blame for that loss like we could do after the Jets debacle.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

FWIW, the PPG and YPG rankings are a bit skewed in our favor because we lead the lead in time of possession, which isn't a huge shock given our efficiency and run game.

The fact that over half the teams in the league give up 3rd downs at a higher rate than we do absolutely floors me though. Definitely feels like we can never get off the fucking field on 3rd down.

I've been thoroughly unhappy with the defense this year, but it's hard for me to be too upset with that unit in yesterday's game because of how undermanned they were. Nothing to me stands out as the single, inexcusable culprit for yesterday's loss, but a handful of annoying things led to one really shotty result. Getting the ball run down our throat in the 2nd half and the poor play calling when we had 1st and goal at the end of the 1st half were the two biggest problems IMO, but I can't say really point out a particular unit that deserve the brunt of the blame for that loss like we could do after the Jets debacle.

Not having a front seven hurt us a lot.

Having a backup QB hurt us a lot.

Throw those two things together and it's almost impossible to win on the road in the NFL.

It's an expected outcome.

The best teams in the league take care of business at home and try to go .500 or above on the road. Last year, the Packers were 8-0 at home and 5-4 on the road.

Beat LA on Sunday and everyone will be happy, talking about how we're going to be in first place in the AFC North when Watson comes back, and it's just us, KC and the Bills fighting for the Super Bowl.

 

[Vee-Rex]

Just read a few nuggets:

• We've given up 50 points in the 4th quarter (35 in the 2nd, 10 in the 1st, 0 in the 3rd) this year. Over half of the points we've given up have been in the 4th.
• We rank dead last (32nd) in the league in 4th quarter points given up
• Joe Woods has done this his entire tenure with Cleveland - in 2021 we ranked 23rd in the 4th quarter points given up, and in 2020 we ranked 28th.

This is with a team that has excelled most teams in time of possession with a strong run game. The more we pass the ball with Deshaun Watson and score more quickly, the more we fall in line with the rest of the league and offer more opportunities to the opponent which would make these numbers look even worse.

The scary part about it? I don't think we'll ever have another defense as talented as this one, at least not in this window. Our draft picks have been traded and our salary cap space will start to shrink. They talk about accountability but we're in year 3 and there is none, IMO.

 

[Urban]

I know a lot it being put on the defense, but the defense forced two 3 And Outs (one was technically 4 plays because of an offensive penalty) and an INT in Falcons territory to start the 2nd half. And all the Browns could muster was 3 points. And this was after moving the ball at will in the 1st half.

You'd hope that this team with Watson would take advantage of the opportunity to grab control of the game.

 

[Vee-Rex]

I know a lot it being put on the defense, but the defense forced two 3 And Outs (one was technically 4 plays because of an offensive penalty) and an INT in Falcons territory to start the 2nd half. And all the Browns could muster was 3 points. And this was after moving the ball at will in the 1st half.

You'd hope that this team with Watson would take advantage of the opportunity to grab control of the game.

I see how dangerous this offense can be with Watson. Even with Stefanski's occasional bad play-calling games, we know that we can only do so much for Brissett's limitations. Long-term we are good there.

I can't say the same about the defense, even if Woods play-calling wasn't egregiously bad vs. the Falcons. I think we've set the bar soooo low with him at this point and it makes me wonder why. We have been mostly healthy on defense (week 4 aside) and should at LEAST be average.

I'll have to wait until tomorrow fpr the week 4 update but going into week 4 we were 6th in offensive DVOA (with Jacoby Brissett) and 30th in defensive DVOA (with a mostly healthy roster). It's a reflection of our offense performing well against decent defenses and our defense performing badly against terrible offenses.