Factory Of Sadness
FanSided

If the Cleveland Browns fire Joe Woods then the season really is over

By Chad Porto

Jul 29, 2022; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods watches a drill during training camp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 29, 2022; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods watches a drill during training camp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aug 19, 2020; Owings Mills, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale watches defensive player drills during the morning session of training camp at Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 19, 2020; Owings Mills, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale watches defensive player drills during the morning session of training camp at Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

A major real-world example helps prove this point

A bad GM sinks most teams. That’s just how it works. Want further proof, look at Baltimore. The Ravens fired their defensive coordinator Don Martindale after the 2021 season. According to Lineups.com, Martindale had the No. 2 ranked defense in 2020. When he was fired after the 2021 season his defense fell to 19th.

So what happened, did Martindale just stop listening to his boss, head coach John Harbaugh? He did not. So what happened? Well, between seasons, the Ravens moved on from Matthew Judon, Yannick Ngakoue, and Jihad Ward to name a few. They also started to see more and more new GM Eric DeCosta’s fingerprints in the draft.

DeCosta took over in 2019 and of that draft class, two players remain; Justice Hill and Ben Powers. Both men are backups (and Hill is likely done in the league). 2020’s class sees all but two players still on the team, but Patrick Queen (first round) is a bad player, and the rest of the class seems iffy aside from a few. 2021 saw Odaf Oweh go in the first round but he hasn’t produced. 2022 saw Kyle Hamilton get added and he’s played fine. There’s been a few others who are good, solid players (Malik Harrison) but they didn’t find any impactful players who can take over a game.

That doesn’t even include Marcus Peters. Even before his injury in 2021, he fell off. He had a huge 2019 season, and now he’s just an albatross on the Ravens’ neck. Shockingly enough, Peters started playing awful after he signed a new deal in 2019.

Sounds familiar.

To make things worse, the New York Giants hired Martindale for the 2022 campaign. The Giants were 23rd in 2021 in defense, and are now ranked 8th through six games. Where are the Ravens through six games? 22nd.

It wasn’t the coordinator’s fault.

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