Speed Kills

I spent most of Sunday watching the Conference Championship games.

Wow!

This morning I am writing to deliver a memo to the Browns front office. Here is that memo:

MEMO: You’ve got your work cut out for you.

Defense, Defense, Defense. The one thing that I always mentioned when talking about the Browns is that the game always seems so damn slow. You watch the 1:00 game and see the Browns lose to whatever team, then flip over to Fox to see the 4:00 game and it is like night and day. The speed of the other game is mind boggling. Your eyes get accustomed to watching the slow pace of the Browns game and then you flip over and see the speed of the other game, the intense hits, the overall quickness of the defensive squads, etc. Its no freaking wonder that the Browns are inferior. Their team defense is pathetically under staffed.

This is no offense to the guys currently on the defensive roster. You can only do what you can do and I will never deny that you guys give effort at all times. However, how many of you would displace a defensive player on one of the four conference title game teams if you were available right now? Shaun Rogers would most likely be picked up by the Saints or Jets, but who else?

What I can’t understand is why, in a world where the Wide Receiver position has grown to be 6’+ guys who are 225-250 lbs and can run like a deer, you would stock your secondary with guys who a 5’-9, 5’-10, who can’t jump, can’t run, don’t want to hit, and never attempt to wrap up. If I see one more Browns secondary player dive at a guy’s knees instead of putting a shoulder into the ball carrier, I will scream.

Start finding bigger, stronger DBs. Find corners who want to hold the point of attack. Find safeties who want to make a receiver know where he is at. Why do I need two ball hawks? Why can’t my strong safety be strong? I don’t want two poor man’s Ed Reed.  I want Ed Reed and Ronnie Lott. Bring a load and punish receivers. Make Santonio Holmes look around when crossing the field and for God’s Sake, wipe that grin off Hines Ward’s ugly mug.

Do you remember one of the last plays of regulation in the Vikings – Saint game? Brees tossed the ball out to Bush to the right and the play resulted in a four yard loss. Why?

If you get a chance to see the play again, take a look at it. The recognition and reaction of the entire Viking defense was awe-inspiring. The moment the fullback took his lateral step to get out to the edge, the entire left side of the D-line had swung around. The full back was met and destroyed immediately, causing Bush to step up before he wanted to, reducing the space he needed to make some moves. At that point the linemen penetrated the perimeter and engulfed Bush for a huge loss, not to mention hit the shit out of him.

Now, relate that to the Browns. First of all, the recognition would not be the same. Secondly, the end man on the line of scrimmage would have made his stand at the line, not five yards behind the line. Bush would most likely have got to the boundary and if our corner had gotten off of his block, he would have dove at Bush’s knees, where his simply side steps and makes another five yards before the inside backer pushes him out of bounds.

There would be no big hit, there would be no message sent, there would be only Bush slightly winded from running 35 yard from his original stance.

I’ll tell you one thing for sure. The Saints were not going to run that sweep again if they had gone into triple overtime, however I remember seeing teams run sweeps against the Browns all season long.

When re-evaluating what the Browns defense needs are, please place at the top of the list:

1. Speed
2. Intensity
3. Strength
4. Passion
5. A Strong Desire to Hit Someone

A player who does not fit this mold should not be selected in the draft and should not be offered a large free agent contract. I don’t want more Brandon McDonalds, I want more Antoine Winfields.

<- McDonald diving

this or this?

  <- Winfield tackling

Defense is all about the desire to stop someone. It is not supposed to be to minimize the scoring an opponent can do. You should want to blank them. Make them kick long field goals.

For Pete’s Sake! Make them punt to Josh Cribbs six times a game. Note that I said punt and not kick. I don’t want them kicking off more than one time a game. Make them punt the ball!

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