Comments by some folks with the Cleveland Browns have raised proverbial eyebrows as the team heads into a welcome bye weekend with a woeful 2-8 record.
From coach Mike Pettine: “The two groups we thought were going to be anchors for us were the offensive line and the secondary, and both have underperformed for a variety of reasons up to this point.”
It’s rare for a coach to call out two specific groups, but Pettine is a pretty blunt coach.
The secondary has been beaten up, with injuries to Joe Haden and Donte Whitner taking a toll. Compounding the fact is that Haden has not been his Pro Bowl self when he has played -- a problem that has been present all season.
As for the offensive line, there's an interesting contradiction between Pettine’s words and the analytics.
ProFootballFocus.com rates Joe Thomas and Mitchell Schwartz second and fifth in the league among tackles. John Greco is the 17th among guards. And Alex Mack is 17th among centers. Yet this unit is holding the team back. Interesting.
From Pettine: “There are times in our defense where our corners are going to have to play on-top man.”

This answer came in regard to a question about Ben Roethlisberger taking advantage of man coverage from Charles Gaines, Pierre Desir and Johnson Bademosi with Haden out.
On one hand, Pettine lamented losing Haden. On the other, the Browns ask the remaining corners to do the same thing Haden did even though they’re not as good at doing it. Pettine clearly has disdain for the Cover 2, and hindsight is 20-20, but asking the personnel on the field against Pittsburgh to play “on-top man” was like asking a tenor to sing baritone.
It can be done, but it won't be pretty.
From Pettine: “We need to play better. We need to play better defensively. We need to trust our technique. ... Unfortunately, you get guys in the game, and they kind of lose their minds a little bit. We gave up some big plays that way, but as a result, I am not looking to make wholesale changes.”
The Browns rank 29th in total defense, 28th in scoring, 31st in rushing, 26th on third down and 27th in penalties. To hear Pettine, it’s not in the least the system or the coaches. That leaves one other group.
Finally, running-backs coach Wilbert Montgomery said this of the running game: “It’s hard when you don’t get opportunities to carry the ball. Everything you do as a runner, you have to get in rhythm.”
Last season, the Browns ran 47 percent of the time, the sixth-highest percentage in the NFL. That was the blueprint heading into this season, or at least that’s the way it was advertised. But the Browns run 35 percent of the time, 29th in the league. In the past three weeks, they’ve run 28.5 percent, a league low. Isaiah Crowell has had one game with than a dozen attempts. As a team the Browns average 22.6 carries per game, 30th in the league.
Of course it’s not as if the backs demand the ball with their play. Crowell is averaging 3.1 yards per carry, Duke Johnson 3. The team leader is Robert Turbin at 3.3 yards, and he's no longer with the Browns. The Rams’ Todd Gurley has seven runs of 20 yards or more, and he’s averaging 42 yards on those seven runs. Crowell has had seven games when he didn’t gain 42 yards.
