Why Are the Cleveland Browns Taking Steps Backward in 2015?

The goal of every NFL team is to improve from one year to the next. And for the Cleveland Browns, it's imperative that they do so. Any sign of regression can cause yet another coaching and front office clean-out that would mean starting from scratch yet again.

But the Browns have not shown improvement in 2015, at least through their first three games. In fact, the Browns have taken significant steps backward, on both offense and defense. Why is this happening?

For all the stability provided by the team retaining head coach Mike Pettine, defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil and general manager Ray Farmer during the offseason, the switch from offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to John DeFilippo meant a new scheme for one side of the ball to master.

Then add into the equation how many new faces were brought in to run DeFilippo's offense, including quarterback Josh McCown, running back Duke Johnson and receivers Brian Hartline and Dwayne Bowe, and all signs point to this resulting in a learning curve at least, and stumbles along the way at worst.

	2014 Value	2014 Rank	2015 Value	2015 Rank
Yds/Game	324.6	23rd	316.7	25th
Points/Game	18.7	27th	19.3	T-21st
Pass Yds/Game	216.6	20th	230.3	20th
Rush Yds/Game	108.0	17th	86.3	25th
Opp. Yds/Game	366.1	23rd	395.7	T-27th
Opp. Points/Game	21.1	9th	24.0	T-16th
Opp. Pass Yds/Game	224.5	8th	237.3	14th
Opp. Rush Yds/Game	141.6	32nd	158.3	32nd

Defense, too, saw changes of its own. While Pettine and O'Neil remain, drafting Danny Shelton and using him to replace Phil Taylor alters the dynamic of the Browns defensive front. Tramon Williams was brought in as a free agent to take on the cornerback job that was Buster Skrine's in 2014. Another free agent, defensive end Randy Starks, came aboard to assist the Browns with stopping the run.

But these changes were made with on-field improvements in mind. And, so far, it hasn't quite gone as planned.

On offense, the Browns are averaging just 316.7 yards per game, down from 324.6 yards per game in 2014. Though their points per game have gone up to 19.3 from 18.7 last year, their defensive points per game allowed have gone from 21.1 a year ago to 24.0 in 2015. Passing yards per game are up, but rushing yards per game are way down, from 108.0 to 86.3, despite the team getting center Alex Mack back from injury and trading away running back Terrance West in favor of Isaiah Crowell and Johnson handling rushing duties. 

Jason Miller/Getty Images

On defense, the Browns are giving up nearly 30 yards per game more than they did in 2014, and that's mostly because of their performance against the run. It seemed like it couldn't get any worse than the league-last 141.6 rushing yards per game the Browns allowed in 2014, but it has—to the tune of 158.3 rushing yards per game through the first three weeks of the season.

And the secondary, Cleveland's biggest strength not that long ago, has seen better days. Safety Donte Whitner is not having a good season, in particular. Seven of the Browns defense's missed tackles belong to him. He's also given up 147 yards on just eight receptions, and 82 yards after the catch along with one touchdown. 

Cornerback Joe Haden has also struggled, allowing 15 receptions on 21 targets for 220 yards, 67 yards after the catch and two touchdowns. The pair are two of the lowest-ranked players at their respective positions at Pro Football Focus so far this year. This is certainly not what the Browns had expected.

Everything the Browns wanted to improve this year has only gotten worse. The multiple new faces getting prominent or starting roles has something to do with this—building chemistry is a process that takes time. Taking a step back on defense as a whole is also a problem.

The overall team-building process on offense has been stymied by a concussion suffered by McCown in Week 1 that saw the team have to make a brief switch to Johnny Manziel in Week 2. Also not helping: Bowe's long-lingering hamstring injury that has limited him to just eight snaps played this year, according to Pro Football Focus.

Another problem the Browns are having on offense is an unexpected one: a struggling offensive line. Based on Football Outsiders' numbers, the Browns line currently ranks 23rd in run blocking and 27th in pass protection; last year, it ranked 25th in run blocking (without Mack for half of the season) and 15th in pass protection.

Jason Miller/Getty Images

Is this a result of Mack not being 100 percent healthy yet? Is it a product of McCown and Manziel at quarterback rather than Brian Hoyer and his strong start to 2014? Is it DeFilippo's scheme and play-calling that is not maximizing the strengths of his players? The answer is likely a combination of all of the above, in concert with two tough opposing defenses in the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, whom the Browns have faced in two of their first three games.

On defense, the code is much more difficult to crack, given that stopping the run is a problem that has been all but unsolvable since 1999, regardless of coach, scheme or personnel. Pettine has taken note of the issue, saying this week that, "To me, [the run defense] has been the most disappointing aspect of our defense this year. Something that we weren't very good at last year and not much has changed. With all the emphasis that was put on it, that is an obvious source of frustration."

Missed tackles, of which the Browns have 28 on defense so far this year, are one culprit. But that's not the only thing—and Pettine himself is still trying to figure out just what it will take to fix it, adding:

"

We took a long hard look at some of the stuff we were doing from a schematic standpoint, but it has been a lot of different things. I would say the tackling has been the most troubling. There have been some technical issues—how we are playing double teams, some of the guys on the edge losing the edge, but it has been a mixture.

"

The lack of running the ball and defending the run have been the Browns' two biggest problems this year, as Pettine pointed out Monday. But another issue is purely mental.

"We're just not that team that's going to be at the opposite extremes where we don't play well then we rally back and then play well," Pettine said. "As a result of that we take a step backward. The psyche of a football team cannot be fragile and that's something we need to work on."

This speaks to the "culture of winning" that the Browns haven't been able to establish, whether on the field or in the locker room. The Browns have lost so many games, for so long, that even Pettine has acknowledged that swinging from a big loss to a big win isn't something the Browns are all that capable of doing right now. Pettine and his coaches have more to do than just fix the on-field product—they also have to fix what's plaguing the players' minds after repeated losses.

But there isn't a lot of room for error for the Browns going forward. They have a 1-2 record and a far more difficult schedule in 2015 than they did in 2014, when they played against the AFC and NFC South divisions, the league's two worst last year. 

The seven opponents they have ahead before their Week 11 bye are a murderer's row of teams that can take advantage of Cleveland's weaknesses on offense, defense or both, and include teams like the currently undefeated Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals in Weeks 6 and 8, respectively, the St. Louis Rams and their suffocating front seven in Week 7 and the well-rounded Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9.

Everything holding the Browns back at present needs to be ironed out, and quickly. These early-season hiccups need to be just that, early-season stumbles for a team that is still trying to integrate so many new faces—and a new offensive scheme—into its game-planning.

Because even though it's still early in the year, matching last season's seven-win total is looking more and more difficult to reach. A step backward for the Browns in a season that features much more challenging matchups than a year ago is the last thing this team needs. Tangible progress was the goal for 2015 and it's one that the Browns have yet to make, at least through their first three games.