Mid-week thoughts

Ready for a joke? Joe Woods wants to return to the Browns as the defensive coordinator for the fourth straight season. Really. 

You're not laughing, are you? Celebrating? Probably.

"I hope I get the opportunity (to return)," Woods told the Cleveland media Thursday in their weekly get-together. "But that's not my decision." Yep, you read that correctly. If nothing else, the guy's got temerity after three shots at getting it right and failing. 

It sounded as though he knows what lies ahead and seemed to be lobbying through the media. Like he knows his job is hanging by a thread. "Hopefully, I get to talk to you guys again," he said as he left. Time to update his résumé. (You'll have to find someone else to kick around next season.) 

In what was likely his last news conference, Woods cited how well the defense played in the second half of the last two seasons. But playing well for half a season isn't going to cut it.

The first half of those seasons were so egregiously awful from a performance standpoint, the Browns were practically out of contention for the postseason midway through the last two seasons. This season, in particular, because they entered it riding the coattails of a terrific second half in 2021.

To be fair,  Woods was saddled with arguably the National Football League's worst defense in his first season in 2020 when General Manager Andrew Berry chose to rebuild the offense first before concentrating on the defense in 2021 and slapped together a patch-work unit.

The result was an 11-5 team that allowed more points (419) than it scored (408). The Browns made the playoffs (for the first time in nearly two decades) because the offense won games by simply bludgeoning opponents. That's why Woods entered season two with a blank slate.

Season two produced an awful first half and solid second half that elevated the Browns to top 10 status from a statistical standpoint. The fact the first-half-of-the-season defense of 2021 reappeared the first half of this season before straightening out again halfway through pretty much doomed him.

Excuses can be offered that it was difficult to coordinate the defense when injuries all but wiped out the strength of the linebackers room. But there are no excuses for a secondary that played the first half of this season in a state of confusion.

If fans comments and overall general reaction on social media to the mess in Berea are any indication, a growing number in Browns Nation will be awfully disappointed if Woods is not working elsewhere in the NFL next season.

If head coach Kevin Stefanski, who concentrates way too much on the other side of the football to begin with, hasn't figured out by now that Woods isn't getting the most out of a very good unit on paper, then he never will. 

His job security depends on the performance of the entire team and if one of those three units falters, mediocrity generally follows. The Browns' 15-18 record since 2020 is the definition of mediocre. One more season like the last two and Stefanski will assume the hot seat Woods is about to vacate.

The hope is whoever replaces him brings a more fan-pleasing aggressive style. His passive approach to defense was antithetical to the way defense should be played.  It would also help if Stefanski paid more attention to that side of the football.