Five Cleveland Browns whose stock is down after dropping heartbreaker to Seahawks
5. Browns’ LBs
This letdown will certainly open up more criticism of defensive coordinator’s Steve Wilks’ 4-2-5 base defense. Linebacker is one of the Browns’ biggest weaknesses, so Wilks tried to mask the blemish with an extra defensive back.
That member of the secondary, Jermaine Whitehead got beat at least a couple times, once for a touchdown. Meanwhile, the opposition’s running game is rushing at will.
Last week it was Matt Breida and the 49ers. In Week 6, Joe Schobert and Mack Wilson had a tough time bringing down Seattle running back Chris Carson, who rushed for 124 yards on 24 carries.
Schobert was credited with eight tackles, while Wilson was credited with four. Schobert also missed some plays in coverage. It’s been a rough two weeks for the Browns’ backers.
It makes you wonder when the Browns will regularly go with a third linebacker, particularly Sione Takitaki. The BYU product missed some time in Training Camp, and it appears that time off set him back considerably. Too bad, because there’s certainly an opportunity available for a linebacker capable of playing sideline to sideline.
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With two weeks to go until the Patriots, it will interesting to see if Wilks makes any kind of adjustment, because the opposition’s running game is cutting through the defense like a knife through hot butter.