Chiefs-Browns Offensive Preview: Attacking In Space
It's finally the long-awaited start for the NFL season, and the Kansas City Chiefs open up with the Cleveland Browns rolling into town. Let's discuss how the Chiefs will attack the Browns' defense.
IT’S FINALLY NFL SEASON TIME!!! We’re kicking off the 2021-2022 NFL season with a tough contest. The Cleveland Browns, who went 11-5 and lost in the Divisional Round to the Chiefs, come back to Arrowhead seeking revenge. While it’s only been eight months since we’ve seen the Browns, their team looks drastically different today. They’ve added pieces to their secondary, defensive line, and linebacker room while retaining most of their offense.
With game previews, especially on Substack, I like to do an offensive preview and a defensive preview. I used to break down opponent tape for these previews, but with a lack of time, I transitioned to focusing on three main points with this football game and where I think the keys to the game are. I’ll do this for defense on Friday! But first, let’s talk about the offense.
1: Attacking Middle Of Field
In last year’s game, the Chiefs routinely attacked the middle of the field vs. the Browns. The Browns played a ton of Cover 2 in that game, leaving the middle of the field open. With their weakness of range and athleticism at linebacker Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill feasted for a combined 16 catches, 219 yards, and one touchdown. Kansas City came in with a real plan to attack the middle of the field and was very successful in its approach.
Cleveland did make some additions to their roster that will help, including shoring up their safety room. John Johnson III will play as a Robber guy in a Hook/Curl in some of their two-high looks, or even in Cover 3 looks. Rookie linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koremoah could see the field on 3rd downs, adding a level of athleticism and coverage instincts they didn’t have last year. Ronnie Harrison is an intelligent football player with a full offseason under his belt in Joe Wood’s system.
Still, when the Browns aren’t in their dime, the Chiefs should still have success over the middle of the field. Anthony Walker was brought in to play MIKE, but he’s a relatively poor coverage player without a ton of range. Sione Takitaki is back, but anything outside of a short zone is tough for him to cover. Jacob Phillips had some range but tore his biceps in the preseason. Mack Wilson isn’t an elite athlete. The Browns lack linebackers with any range outside of JOK, whose snaps will have to be limited with his lack of elite instincts in the box yet. With all the soft zone they play, the middle of the field will be open.
Travis Kelce should absolutely feast on this Browns’ defense. They lack the range to take away the middle of the field, so he’s going to carve that soft coverage. I would expect Mahomes and Reid to call his number often, and he’ll be there to have a massive day. Tyreek Hill should also get easy opportunities on some Over routes. The throwing chart might not be quite as heavy on 15 yard throws over the middle, but the Browns didn’t do enough to change their weakness there.
2: Jadeveon Clowney’s Impact
The Browns struggled to get a pass rush consistently last season, ranking 24th in pressure rate. Myles Garrett was terrific last season with 32 pressures in 14 games, but Cleveland only had two other guys all season with 20+ pressures; Sheldon Richardson and Olivier Vernon. Richardson was released this offseason for cap purposes, and Vernon was left unsigned after tearing his Achilles.
The Browns didn’t leave those holes unfilled, signing veteran pass rusher Malik Jackson to replace Richardson. The significant addition of the offseason was replacing Vernon with Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney’s arc in his career has been odd. After five productive but not elite seasons with Houston, he was traded to Seattle. Clowney’s pressures dipped with Seattle from 48 to 30 and 9.0 sacks to 3.0 sacks. Seattle chose not to resign Clowney, so he took a one-year deal with Tennessee last offseason.
The Clowney era in Tennessee was disappointing, with Clowney only collecting 11 pressures in his eight games active before shutting his season down after getting meniscus surgery. Clowney had to wait again to get a deal this offseason, signing with Cleveland to help them out.
Clowney’s struggled since 2018 to get pressure at a high level, but he also hasn’t played in a situation next to a high-level pass rusher. In Seattle, Jarran Reed was his only help, and Tennessee had no one outside of Clowney to help. Clowney’s not a #1 pass rusher; he needs to be complemented by other quality pass rushers that allow Clowney to move around the line of scrimmage. Clowney isn’t an elite, or even high-level, pass rusher off the edge anymore, but he’s a versatile chess piece that Joe Woods will get to use.
Clowney’s best asset to the Browns outside of his outstanding run defense is his versatility. When he was in Houston, Romeo Crennel used Clowney as a chess piece on his board, putting him everywhere. Clowney would play anywhere on the line of scrimmage, even some off-ball linebacker. Clowney may not be an elite pass rusher off the edge, but his versatility gives him serious advantages as a pass rusher.
When Clowney is active and healthy, he’s one of the most versatile chess pieces in the league and someone who can win in any gap. With Garrett on the outside taking attention, Clowney will get one-on-ones inside with Trey Smith, Creed Humphrey, and Joe Thuney. Joe Woods may also use Clowney on some stunts, where he’s a fantastic spear for a looping Malik Jackson.
This will be a great test immediately for the Chiefs’ pass protection because they’re going to have to ID Clowney every play and make sure they’re ready to pick up protections vs. stunts. Kansas City may slide to Clowney’s slide a lot, because of his ability in the stunt game as a spear. This may leave a few more one-on-ones for Myles Garrett, which is a tough matchup for our tackles. Clowney’s not a dominant player, but he does affect your protections by how versatile he is. Kansas City will have to be ready.
3: Can The Browns Tackle In Space?
There’s been a lot of discussion about the personnel improvements of the Browns on defense, which is true. The secondary was a massive problem in 2020, and they did their part in addressing that by adding Greg Newsome II, Troy Hill, John Johnson III, and getting Grant Delpit back. They added range to the 2nd-level by adding Jeremiah Owusu-Koremoah. Their defensive line is more equipped to stop the run and added versatility.
So what’s the problem? Well, who’s going to tackle on this team? I don’t have great evidence for this, unfortunately, but looking at their depth chart, I don’t see a bunch of good tacklers. Grant Delpit was a favorite of mine in the 2020 draft, but even I’ll admit that he’s a horrendous tackler. Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II aren’t interested in tackling. Troy Hill is fine, but he’s not a safety type playing in the slot. JOK is 214 lbs, there’s no way he’s going to be great tackling in the NFL. The only guy on this roster with any type of tackling ability is John Johnson.
Kansas City is way too explosive to not be a sound tackling team, and the Browns lack that in the backend of their defense. Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire should dominate this week in YAC because I don’t trust anybody on this Browns roster to go lay a hit for 60 minutes. Kansas City should have plenty of explosive plays this week.
Conclusion: Will The Chiefs Offense Beat The Browns Defense?
Yes.
I don’t know if I’ve alluded to it well enough yet, but this is a bad matchup for the Browns defense. To beat the Chiefs, you have to get pressure with four, keep things in front of you, and be a really sound tackling team. The Browns are bad at all three of those things.
The Browns were commended for how well they handled this offseason, and they definitely got better. Having two legitimate cornerbacks on the outside is massive for this organization. John Johnson is going to help their safety room so much. Troy Hill is a much better slot option than what they had last year in Kevin Johnson and M.J. Stewart. Jadeveon Clowney is a massive help in helping the Browns play with a much more versatile front. They didn’t break the bank on any player while adding so much more athleticism to the unit.
But their fundamental issues from 2020 are still there. They still don’t have any great options to defend the middle of the field or the ability to generate pressure opposite Myles Garrett, and the tackling concerns are real. This team is full of a ton of new personnel, and they’re going to need time to gel.
It’ll be a quick test for this Chiefs’ offensive line to communicate where Clowney is every snap, and how their protections are going to work against that. I’m really excited to cover that next week. But outside of that, the Chiefs’ personnel should have no trouble getting open vs. this Browns defense. We’ll get to the defense on Friday, but the Chiefs’ offense has a clear advantage here, and the Chiefs should move the ball with relative ease.