Cleveland Browns Defense Has Late Game Collapse… Again

The Browns defense looked good at times against the Jets today, but for the second straight week things collapsed late in the 4th quarter, and this time it cost them an easy win.

Joe Woods Hot Seat Alert

Given the way in which the team lost the game, it comes as no surprise that Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods is likely to be under heavy scrutiny. Many fans took to Twitter to express their frustrations with the way things ended.

Sir Yacht Was Not Impressed

Inventing Ways to Lose

Browns fans are no strangers to watching their team invent new ways to lose, so in the end today’s outcome is far less surprising for Browns fans than it would be had it happened to another fanbase. But seriously, 13 point lead with 1:30 left and you lose? So many things have to happen for that scenario to play itself out. Unbelievable.

Started With Busted Coverage

Somehow, someway the Browns managed to do the one thing they had to avoid at this point, which was don’t let the Jets score fast. Instead, the Cleveland secondary appears to have a miscommunication resulting in a 66 yard touchdown pass.

Then Came the Onside Kick

Bad enough to give up the long touchdown so quickly, but just need to recover the onside to close things out and get a win. The kicker did kick it to the opposite side than many expected, but the effort by Amari Cooper was a bit questionable. For a wide receiver his ball skills were lacking on this play.

Jets Game Winning Touchdown

At this point the Browns are on their heels, but a defensive stop still secures a win. Instead they entered prevent defense mode, allowing Joe Flacco and the Jets to eat up chunks of yards underneath. This ultimately helped the Jets set themselves up for the game winning touchdown pass.

The Jets extra point following the touchdown gave them their first lead of the day and the win, thanks in part to Browns kicker Cade York missing an extra point after Nick Chubb’s third touchdown of the day.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around

More than one thing went wrong during the Browns defensive collapse that sort them an easy win, but many fans are pointing to defensive coordinator Joe Woods as the issue. While the defense had its issues and played a major role in the loss, other factors were involved. In the end, it was an incredibly “Browns” way to lose a game.