The Cleveland Browns were in first place coming into the game versus the Houston Texans, but were beaten soundly by the Texans 23-7. The loss sunk the Browns to last place in the AFC North and ended the team’s three game winning streak. The Browns were outplayed in every phase of the game. On the defensive side of the ball, the Browns gave up 424 total yards of offense. This was against a Texans offense that was without star running back Arian Foster while starting quarterback Ryan Mallett, making his first career start.

But the defense’s biggest problem was their recurring inability to adequately contain the running game. The Browns allowed 213 rushing yards on Sunday, due in large part to the play of the front seven, and specifically the defensive line. The absence of penetration and push, a lack of discipline, an inability to keep contain, and the injuries in the front seven all contributed to the team’s poor showing on run defense. It has been a huge weakness for the Browns for pretty much the whole season, and we’ll explore in detail some of these factors below.

So please take a seat and enjoy this week’s defensive film room. After you have read through my thoughts on the run defense, let me know what you think is wrong with the Browns run defense by commenting below. Roll the tape!

Absence of Penetration and Push

The Browns defensive line has been especially lackluster this season with regard to getting push and penetration into the backfield. This deficiency has allowed opposing running backs to have space and time to gain positive yardage. Here is an example of this problem.

This play is a clear example of the lack of push and penetration the Browns defensive line has had this year. This eight yard gain by running back Alfred Blue was midway through the second quarter on a 2nd and 6 play. Here is how it happened.

The play for the Texans is a designed run up the middle by Blue from a shotgun formation. The Browns have two defensive linemen down and two outside linebackers on either side of the line. There is also two inside linebackers in the middle of the line, a couple yards back from the line.

From this shot, the Browns are shutting down all of the gaps inside and have Blue waiting to find any available space. The defense is in position to hold Blue to a short yardage or no gain stop.

The Browns are in position to stop this run, but as you can see here, none of the Browns defenders are getting any push or penetration to backfield. This allows Blue to wait patiently in the backfield till he finds the hole open up. The lack of penetration was key to Blue finding the hole and gaining the eight yards.

The Browns defensive line has struggled all year with their inability to make plays in the backfield–a key factor in disrupting the offensive play and making a stop.

Lack of Discipline

The Browns defense has also struggled with consistently maintaining discipline on particular assignments. A huge part of stopping the run is staying disciplined so as not to get caught out of position. Each defender must stay with his assignment. Here is an example of the lack of discipline on the defensive line and how it results in poor positioning and positive gain for Houston.

This 11 yard gain by running back Alfred Blue was a 1st and 10 play late in the second quarter. Here is how the Texans gained these yards against the Browns defense.

The Texans design a draw play from the shotgun formation. The Browns are lined up with three defensive linemen down and outside linebacker Paul Kruger lined up on the left side of the line. The Browns also have two inside linebackers in the box.

The key players in this play for the Browns are two defensive linemen in the middle of the line. Billy Winn is crossing in front of Desmond Bryant who goes over to fill in where Winn just left. This is a typical pass rushing move, but both players are too aggressive on the play. Both Winn and Bryant go too far outside, vacating the middle of the line. These two needed to just fill in where each other were vacating. The two players lost gap responsibility because of their move to the outside. This allowed the middle of the line to become wide open for Blue to run for a big gain.

The Browns defense has been undisciplined on many occasions this season. The next big reason for the lack of run defense is another form of being undisciplined.

Inability to Keep Contain

This has been one of the biggest weaknesses of the Browns defense. They have struggled keeping contain on the runs to the outside for most of this season. Here is an example of this problem.

This 14 yard gain by running back Alfred Blue was a 2nd and 10 play early in the third quarter. Here is how the play transpired.

The Texans design a run play from the shotgun formation where Blue runs toward the middle of the line. Blue cuts it back outside to the right when he sees the space. The Browns have two defensive linemen down and two outside linebackers on either side of the line. The Browns also have two inside linebackers in the box to defend the run.

The key to allowing this run was the loss of contain by outside linebacker Paul Kruger. Kruger goes inside immediately at the snap and subsequently gets blocked. He is unable to get back into position to keep contain because of this move inside.

As you can see here, the contain is gone and Blue has a lot of space on the outside. Kruger getting caught inside placed the edge responsibilities on his teammates, but they were too far away to make a play on the run. Kruger had the responsibility to prevent (or at least delay) the runner from getting outside. He did not need to make the tackle, but if he had stayed outside in his lane, Blue would have had to find another place to run.

Contain is a huge part of stopping the run. If a team can keep contain, it cuts the field down for the running back to find a lane to rush through. The Browns have struggled this season trying to keep contain. This problem has caused the Browns to be gouged by the running game pretty much all season.

Injuries on the Defensive Line

The Browns have suffered considerable injuries on the defense, particularly on the defensive line. Phil Taylor, John Hughes, Armonty Bryant, Billy Winn, and Ahtyba Rubin have all missed time or are done for the year because of injuries. This has caused the Browns defensive line to become very thin. The lack of depth has caused the team to put in players who quite frankly should not be playing. Defensive lineman Sione Fua has struggled in his limited playing time and would probably not be on the team if the line were healthy. The defensive line has not been able cohere because of their inability to stay healthy and all play at the same time. It has been a mishmash on the defensive line because of all these injuries.

Defensive Highlight

The Browns defensive highlight of the week is linebacker Barkevious Mingo. The controversial first round pick has not played up to his pre-draft billing, but he hasn’t been as bad as most people think. Mingo has been pretty good versus the run, including this week when he graded out with a positive grade on his run defense by ProFootballFocus. He was given the highest grade of all the Browns defenders for last week’s game versus the Texans. With the injuries to Jabaal Sheard and Karlos Dansby, Mingo should be getting more playing time and can really show if he can be a good player for this team going forward.

Defensive Lowlight

The Browns defensive lowlight of the week is the injury to linebacker Karlos Dansby. Dansby is the leader of the defense and has played very well all year. He has played well in all phases of the game, both in run and pass defense. His loss will leave a void in the middle of the defense and could cause a huge gap in the defense. Dansby’s injury will put more pressure on the players up front to play better and make up for his loss.