Second thoughts: Browns GM Andrew Berry expresses concern and dissatisfaction in Sunday night trade for defensive help

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.

Second thoughts on Browns’ 30-28 loss to Los Angeles Chargers … 

1. As the Browns’ season teeters with every defensive pass and run breakdown, the first sign of unrest from the front office came Sunday night when GM Andrew Berry hastily traded for Atlanta Falcons linebacker Deion Jones. Fans may want heads to roll, but Berry doesn’t have that authority. The low-risk trade for Jones – consummated after the defense was gashed for 238 yards on the ground by the 32^nd-ranked Chargers run offense – indicates an urgency on Berry’s part to address a deepening problem with the Browns’ run defense. The season-ending injury to Anthony Walker left the linebacker group without a leader to call the defensive signals, set the run fits and exemplify how to tackle. Third-year linebacker Jacob Phillips has had two rough games replacing Walker, and the play of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Sione Takitaki also have suffered without Walker’s direction. Jones, 27, is an experienced defensive signal-caller who’s topped 100 tackles in his five best seasons. Jones had shoulder surgery in May and played only in one preseason game before being stashed on injured reserve by the Falcons. He was not in their future and they’ve now taken the dead cap hit to move on. A change of scenery could invigorate Jones. For the Browns, this is a 12-game rental, and the price was negligible. Now the question is how soon Jones could help. “He gets in [Tuesday],” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Obviously, we will put our eyes on him and that type of thing, but [we] just felt like we could add a veteran linebacker to the group and thought it was the right thing to do.”

2. Jones, however, does not resolve the larger problem with the Browns’ run defense. Analytics instructed the Browns to collect light, fast linebackers to focus primarily on the passing game. At 6-1 and 220 pounds, Jones fits that mold to a T. He comes from LSU, which also fits with the SEC-centric Browns personnel department. But the emphasis on lighter, faster defenders has made the Browns vulnerable to old-school smash-mouth football. When I raised this concern in the offseason and then in training camp, the response was that few teams play smash-mouth football anymore because everybody in the NFL is obsessed with throwing the ball. Well, the pendulum in the NFL always swings back and forth. Running the ball is coming back in style because offensive coaches will counter the influx of lighter, faster linebackers and three-safety packages. Atlanta coach Arthur Smith made an in-game adjustment to take advantage of the Browns’ vulnerability and the Browns were unable to stop unheralded, physical backs Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley. The Chargers noticed and pounded Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley for 222 yards on 26 rushing attempts. The Patriots come to town Sunday with the ninth-ranked rushing offense at 138 yards per game. Bill Belichick’s running back tandem of Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson will loom more prominent in the Patriots’ game plan if quarterback Mac Jones remains out with a high ankle sprain. Exacerbating the Browns’ lighter, faster linebacker situation is the fact there is no physical, run-stopping defensive tackle on the Browns’ roster. Analytics called for the Browns to load up on pass-rush penetrators at the tackle position – not run-stoppers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Berry’s next move prior to the Nov. 1 trade deadline is to acquire a run-stopper at the tackle position. Asked about the Browns’ lack of physicalness in the run game, Stefanski said, “I understand the question. I do believe in run defense, a lot of it is discipline, running to the ball and tacking well. It is our jobs to put the guys in position to make plays. That is obvious. Schematically, we have to make sure they are in position and then we have to tackle, which we just didn’t do a good enough job [on Sunday]."

3. The Browns’ downfall through five games has been the inability to play complementary football, which means having the offense, defense and special teams contributing in unison to produce a complete football game. What’s amazing about the 30-28 loss to the Chargers was that each phase of the team had its moments of glory but also shame. Consider: The offense did its part to establish a 14-0 lead, but the defense gave up 17 straight points to squander that advantage. The defense made three outstanding stands in the red zone to force field goals and also forced a turnover on downs with 1:10 to go, but the offense and field-goal team couldn’t capitalize. The special teams pinned the Chargers at their 1-yard line in the second quarter with a Corey Bojorquez punt and M.J. Emerson cover, but the defense allowed a 99-yard drive by Justin Herbert. The Browns were either real good or real bad in every phase.

4. Remember the Berry-Stefanski regime battlecry of “smart, tough, accountable”? A huge problem on Sunday were four personal fouls on the defense. Safety Grant Delpit was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit of Justin Herbert while he was sliding after a scramble. That did not lead to points. Defensive end Alex Wright was penalized for facemasking. That led to three points. Safety John Johnson was hit for unsportsmanlike conduct for removing his helmet and tossing it to the ground after officials declined to flag Ekeler for an illegal block on Phillips. That led to seven points. Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was called for facemasking on an Ekeler 22-yard touchdown run. That penalty was enforced on the ensuing kickoff and resulted in a Chargers’ touchback. “We had a bunch of 15-yard penalties, and those are killer,” Stefanski said after the game. About Johnson in particular, the coach said, “We can’t lose our composure in those moments.”

5. Ironman of the game: M.J. Emerson played only 30 snaps on defense (42 percent of 71 plays) and eight snaps on special teams (30 percent) but he had as much impact as anyone in the game. Defensively, Emerson was credited with three tackles and one pass defense – the breakup of the fourth-and-1 pass for big Mike Williams with 1:14 to go. Chargers coach Brandon Staley said he ran that play rather than punt because he liked the matchup of Williams against the Browns’ rookie cornerback. Other Browns defenders said they felt “disrespected” by Staley’s dumb gamble. Emerson, who made the play, said, “Rookie cornerback. If I was him, I’d probably do the same. But I had other plans.” Emerson also covered the Bojorquez 61-yard punt at the Chargers’ 1-yard line.

6. Second guess: There are always multiple choices in this category. Stefanski’s decision to not call a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 from the Browns’ 34 in the third quarter was lame. Jacoby Brissett is 5-for-5 this year and 32-of-33 in his career on quarterback sneaks from third-and-1 or fourth-and-1. Instead, a deep handoff to Kareem Hunt resulted in a 4-yard loss. But a worse call was Brissett throwing deep for Donovan Peoples-Jones on second-and-10 from the Chargers’ 35 on the final possession to set up a game-winning field goal try. Brissett didn’t give Peoples-Jones the chance to catch the ball in bounds. The Browns were out of timeouts, so they were cognizant of stopping the clock in the final 30 seconds. But, geez, five more yards would have reduced the field-goal try to a more manageable 49 yards. You can always spike it to stop the clock. The Browns’ play management in game-on-the-line situations is positively horrendous.