Can Browns defense control the tempo of opposing offenses?
In the NFL, offenses tend to dictate to defenses what the tempo of the game will be. Joe Woods wants to reverse that for the Cleveland Browns in 2021. Outside of a dominant pass rush against a poor offensive line, ala this past Super Bowl, it is often difficult for a defense to control a game. Woods mentioned his history with the Denver Broncos winning the Super Bowl running a lot of nickel and dime packages as noted on the Browns official site:  Woods coached the defensive backs when the Broncos heavily used nickel and dime sets en route to winning Super Bowl 50 in 2015, and hes hoping to replicate a similar feel to the Browns defense in 2021. It probably will not be as much as I ran in Denver, Woods said, but it will definitely be a lot more [than last year], especially on third down and maybe two-minute situations.  Looking back at that Denver team is interesting. While Peyton Manning was their quarterback, he was in his last season in the league and was benched for Brock Osweiler during the year. The defense had quality players on all levels including current Brown Malik Jackson. The Broncos secondary was deep with T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart at safety along with Chris Harris Jr., Aqib Talib and Bradley Roby at cornerback. The team also had pass rushers Von Miller, DeMarcus are, Shaquil Barrett and Derek Wolfe to provide pressure. Woods is hoping his 2021 defense can have that level of success, or more, for Cleveland:  Weve already started the process in the offseason of installing some new defensive packages and some new cover schemes, just so we can dictate the tempo a little bit more, he said. It will be interesting what dictate the tempo means for the Browns on defense. With so many coverage players, Woods will be able to make it seem like the defense is in one scheme only to shift to another postsnap. The Browns will also be able to bring secondary players on a variety of blitzes. If the Browns defense can, in fact, dictate tempo in 2021, the teams ceiling for success is quite high. It will be interesting to be on the lookout for as games start.