The Cleveland Browns have their first winner of the evening as defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has won NFL Assistant Coach of the Year.
Was there really any doubt?
Schwartz coordinated the top defensive unit in the NFL in 2023, and not by a close margin. He had the secondary playing at a high level, led linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to a breakout season, and more.
And good news for the Browns? He will be back as defensive coordinator again next year after not receiving a single head coaching interview.
We will now wait to see what happens with Myles Garrett, who is up for NFL Defensive Player of the Year, head coach Kevin Stefanski, who is the betting favorite to win NFL Coach of the Year, and quarterback Joe Flacco, who is in the running for NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
Schwartz edged out the likes of Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and more to take home the hardware.
Congratulations, Coach!
Already secured our first award of the night!! Congrats are in order for Coach Schwartz! š pic.twitter.com/BKvPGMsHtz
Cleveland Browns DC Jim Schwartz named AP 2023 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year over Ravens Todd Monken and former Ravens DC Mike Macdonald
Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was named the Associated Press 2023 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year on Thursday night at NFL Honors in Las Vegas.
Schwartz’s defense in Cleveland finished first in the league in yards allowed (270.2 per game), tied for fifth in takeaways (28) and sixth in sacks (49) in 2023.
In 2022, the Browns allowed 331.2 YPG, with ten takeaways and 34 sacks — Schwartz’s first year in Cleveland.
Browns DC Jim Schwartz, a Maryland native, was named the AP Assistant Coach of the Year.
Ravens OC Todd Monken and ex-DC Mike Macdonald were finalists. Macdonald was named the @PFWAwriters Assistant Coach of the Year last month. pic.twitter.com/2kD18HLR36
Baltimore had the NFL’s most talked about defense, but the Browns led the league in first downs allowed (253), third-down conversion rate (29.1%), and fourth-down conversion rate (40%). In comparison, opposing offenses were forced into three-and-outs on 48.6% of total drives against Cleveland, which ranked best in the NFL, per NFL Research.
Schwartz beat out former Ravens DC Mike Macdonald, Lions OC Ben Johnson, Texans OC Bobby Slowik, and current Ravens OC Todd Monken for the award.
The Cleveland Browns duds in their season finale vs. the Houston Texans
The Cleveland Browns, led by Kevin Stefanski and Jim Schwartz, concluded a remarkable season with a humiliating playoff loss to the Houston Texans. The magical carriage finally turned back into the big, orange pumpkin that we all learned to love.
The clock didnāt strike midnight until the second half when Joe Flacco threw two pick-sixes on back-to-back drives. The first interception was a misfire when he attempted to whip the ball out of bounds before his legs, and the power they generated, were taken out. The second interception was a forced error on fourth and two.
The Browns’ offense couldnāt overcome spotting the Texans 14 points and slid further behind as they tried to catch up. Flacco had been playing very well up to that point. The teamās failures happened as a collective. Thereās no singular player to blame; even the players who performed well had costly mistakes.
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah played every snap on defense for the first time in his career. He made many plays around the ball. However, he failed to contain the edge on Devin Singletaryās 19-yard touchdown run that iced the game.
The team had a meltdown. In the final studs and duds, there are only āduds,ā starting with the coaching staff who failed to put the players in positions to succeed.
News has been quiet on the Seahawks’ head coach search, aside from some vague reported interest in Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. Hopefully this week things will begin to pick up as the playoffs move along.
However, based on what’s already happened in the Wild Card round on Saturday and Sunday, a few potential head coach hires have seen their stock drop off pretty dramatically. Let’s review who’s up and who’s down.
The Browns lost their wild-card game against the Texans because Jim Schwartz, their usually brilliant DC, refused to adapt to C.J. Stroud.
If you were to point to one factor that ended the Cleveland Browns’ 2023 season with their 45-14 loss to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round, you might say that Joe Flacco’s pick-sixes on consecutive drives. That obviously wasn’t beneficial, but it’s important to note that the Texans already had a 24-14 lead before Flacco’s first pick-six with 6:05 left in the third quarter, and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had completed 11 of 16 passes for 236 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 151.0 in the first half alone.
As great as Stroud has been throughout his rookie season, this was a bit of a surprise. Jim Schwartz’s Browns defense came into this game ranked second in Defensive DVOA and second in Pass Defense DVOA, behind only the Baltimore Ravens in both instances. But Schwartz refused to bend to the one reality he had right in front of him — that Stroud was set up well to take advantage of the Browns’ primary coverage concept.
In the regular season, the Browns played single-high coverage — either Cover-1 or Cover-3 on 64% of their snaps, the NFLās highest rate.
But C.J. Stroud against Cover-1 and Cover-3 in the regular season? Try 141 of 228 for 2,054 yards, 1,335 air yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 105.4. Only Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson had higher passer ratings against middle-of-the-field closed coverage in the regular season.
How that played out in this game was in no way beneficial to Schwartz and his players. Stroud faced single-high coverage on 16 of his 21 passing attempts in the game, and at no time did Stroud have to deal with any kind of wrinkle pre-snap to post-snap to muddy the picture and delay his reads and throws.
I'm shocked at how often the Browns' defense not only served up C.J. Stroud's preferred single-high coverage on a platter, but gave Stroud no disguise and late movement to work though. Very static with easy reads, and Stroud made some THROWS. pic.twitter.com/8JwNKmkOiD
The worst part may have been that this was the plan going in.
“I think playoffs come down to who can be themselves the best, if that makes sense,” Schwartz said last Wednesday. “Can we be the best version of ourselves versus the Texans being the best version of themselves? I think thatās when itās all said and done. Youāve got 17 games under your belt. Thereās not a whole lot youāre going to pull out that another team hasnāt seen. And really at this point of the year, people are going with what they do best. I think that has a lot to do with it. I really canāt worry about him and how heāll treat the game.”
Sure, but assuming that a rookie quarterback (no matter how advanced) has already seen everything you might throw at him, so you’re just going to do your thing, no matter how good he might be against it? That’s a bit of a stretch, and in the end, that cost the Browns the game more than anything else.
Edge-rusher Myles Garrett confirmed this after the game.
ā[Schwartz] said from the beginning he’s going to ride with what got us here, and he’s not going to change up. There’s not going to be any magic call that’s going to get us out of anything or get us through anything. I guess they were just doing things a little bit different that kept us off balance, and I think just the tempo which they were doing it, whether it was running the ball a little bit differently than we had expected, getting the ball out on time, trying to just delay us enough up front to get the ball to their skill players and make plays. We have to be able to make plays all across the field, not just up front or not just on the back end. It’s all together.ā
And that’s the problem — you never want to be behind the schematic eight-ball when you don’t need to be. The play shown above is Stroud’s 27-yard completion to receiver John Metchie with 1:34 left in the first quarter; it was not the first or last time that Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik’s single-high beaters foiled Cleveland’s attempts to stop them.
This 21-yard pass to receiver Nico Collins with 11:51 left in the first quarter — the Texans’ second offensive play of the game — had Collins running the deep over out of 21 personnel — two backs, one tight end, and two receivers. Noah Brown’s vertical route from the left side cleared safety Juan Thornhill, who had to watch Brown and Collins at the same time, and afforded Stroud an easy read and throw underneath, with cornerback Denzel Ward a step behind Collins.
Stroud’s 76-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brevin Jordan with 12:13 left in the first half was a simple leak to the flat out of 22 personnel — two tight end and two backs — but as Greg Cosell and I detailed in our game preview, the Browns will tend to gear up for the run against heavy personnel (hat tip to Robert Mays and Nate Tice of The Athletic Football Show for the actual numbers) no matter the down and distance. Slowik had to know this, and he had to know that if Schwartz didn’t flip the script, his young quarterback could feast. That’s what happened here.
This is not to malign Jim Schwartz as a defensive coordinator — he’s as responsible as anybody for the Browns’ turnaround this season. But Schwartz may spend some time this offseason wondering why he didn’t tailor his game plan more to Houston’s extraordinary young quarterback — and the offensive genius behind that quarterback’s most meaningful plays.
The Houston Texans have ended the season of the Cleveland Browns. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz could not keep up with C.J. Stroud, quarterback Joe Flacco came back to earth, and the Browns are heading home.
By a miserable score of 45-14, the Browns could not overcome a poor defensive showing in the first half, combined with two back-breaking turnovers to start the second half. The magic ran out on what was a season that included an 11-win run despite injury after injury. The Browns were relentless and resilient.
But in the end that was not enough as Stroud and the Texans did not have to sweat much in this Wild Card win. There are always elements of the game to isolate and point out, however, and that is just what we do here.
For the last time this season, here is your 4 Downs for this loss to the Texans as the Browns’ fun, improbable season has come to an end.
C.J. Stroud and the Texans chopped up the Browns’ usually stingy defense in the first half, and here’s how they did it.
Before Saturday’s wild-card game between the Houston Texans and the Cleveland Browns got started, it was clear that one key factor was going to be how often the Browns play single-high coverage vs. how Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud demolishes one-deep stuff.
The Browns played single-high on 64% of their defensive snaps in the regular season, the NFLās highest rate. But Stroud against Cover-1 and Cover-3 in the regular season? He completed 141 of 228 for 2,054 yards, 1,335 air yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 105.4 ā only Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson have higher passer ratings against Middle-of-the-field closed coverage this season.
Happy Wild-Card Weekend! Lots of stuff about today's games in "The Xs and Os with @gregcosell." Let's start with the @Browns' preference for single-high coverage, and C.J. Stroud of the @HoustonTexans' ability to shred Cover-1 and Cover-3.
It took little time for Stroud to show his mastery of single-high stuff in this game. With 11 seconds left in the first quarter, Stroud hit receiver Nico Collins on this fake-toss/Tunnel screen for a 15-yard touchdown.
Not that Schwartz moving to two-high helped much. Stroud’s third touchdown pass of the first half — a 37-yarder to tight end Dalton Schultz — saw the Browns with two deep safeties, and some miscommunication issues. Meanwhile, Stroud was once again showing outstanding deep touch when required.
Split-safety coverage. You donāt want to over-play that stem to the 7 route. Just opens the door for Schultz to break to the post. https://t.co/USJF7aPHbt
At the half, Stroud was already setting rookie postseason records against one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses. And offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik is putting together quite a head coach resume.
Story of 1st half: Bobby Slowik putting Browns defense in a blender.
Texans: 286 yards in 1st half. Most by any team against CLE this season.
6 plays of 20+. Also the most vs. Browns.
Texans scored on 4 of 6 possessions, and 1 of 2 punts was after an overthrow to wide-open WR.
One Seahawks head coach candidate has great track record vs. Kyle Shanahan
For the first time in a long time, the Seattle Seahawks are searching for a new head coach. The transition away from Pete Carroll is sure to be a difficult one – both emotionally and in football terms. Not many coaches are able to win 147 games over the course of 14 seasons in this league.
The primary challenge for whoever fills Carroll’s impossibly large (presumably Monarchs) shoes will have to deal with the juggernaut in the City by the Bay, the San Francisco 49ers. Led by offensive guru Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers have become the class of the league.
But one potential candidate might just have the silver bullet: Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
We were kicking around some names today on MTS pod for SEA HC opening. One that came to mind- Jim Schwartz. He has HC experience, won SB as DC with PHI & has CLE defense playing lights out. However, the main reason was his record vs Kyle Shanahan. I believe he's 8-1 in theirā¦
There is one thing inaccurate about this tweet from Daniel Jeremiah: Schwartz’s teams are now actually 9-1 against Shanahan, which includes Cleveland knocking San Francisco from the ranks of the unbeatens in a 19-17 Week 6 win. Schwartz’s success is documented here.
It is unknown which direction the Seahawks will go when it comes to finding their next head coach. Carroll was known as defensive-minded, but his defenses for the last two years have been atrocious. Perhaps Seattle will buck the trend of offensive coaches and find someone to right the ship on the other side of the ball.
Schwartz has not been a head coach since he was fired by the Detroit Lions in 2013. But given how good his defenses have been everywhere he’s gone, perhaps now is the time for a second shot.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud vs. Jim Schwartz’s Browns defense is one of the best matchups of wild-card weekend. Here’s how it could play out.
Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik comes from the Kyle Shanahan tree, so you know that he wants to fool your defense with personnel. Slowik had been a defensive assistant and passing game coordinator under Shanahan both in Washington and San Francisco, so if there’s a 49ers-ish tint to what the Texans are doing, don’t be surprised.
One thing you’ll see from the Texans is explosive passing plays out of heavier personnel. It’s a Shanahan staple, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniels (Shanahan’s former run game coordinator in San Francisco) draws on it as much as anybody, and Slowik continues that trend. Rookie sensation C.J. Stroud has 62 explosive passing plays in the 2023 season, and 22 of those plays have come out of 12, 13, 21, and 22 personnel — with multiple tight ends and/or running backs on the field.
Why is this effective? In preparation for his team’s wild-card matchup with the Cleveland Browns’ outstanding defense, Slowik got into why he likes to run things the way he runs them.
āThat was very intentional coming into the season that we did that,” Slowik said when asked why ne needs his personnel looks to be interchangeable. “Obviously in San Francisco thatās kind of how that offense was built. I was lucky and fortunate enough to be there kind of when that evolution happened and we really started getting different pieces like that with guys that could play multiple positions. Really, you just see how freeing it is as someone who has to game plan, as a play caller, but also, itās freeing for the quarterback. Just being able to know, āWherever I distribute this ball, on my four reads on this play, I trust and I love all these dudes. I want to get all of them the ball.ā Thatās really important.ā
Dec 24, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik smiles before the game against the Cleveland Browns at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Slowik also deploys different guys in different positions because it makes things easier for the quarterback, giving him more pure progression reads against match-style coverages.
“I feel like a lot of it now, more across the NFL, thereās more just zones and different versions of zones, in particular soft zones where you canāt always determine where the ballās going when teams are doing that,” Slowik said. “So sometimes ā I think thatās part of why a lot of NFL teams have gone to so much pure progressions where you just go from one to two to three because it just simplifies that whole process and at some point you know you have to get a completion, and you canāt always determine who thatās to. I know for us, thatās why we coach how you handle yards after the catch, how you handle transition, how you handle when the ball is thrown to you in eight yards or less, how weāre making the most of those opportunities and getting the most yards, getting vertical on that stuff.
“We coach that a lot, namely because those are the teams that itās really hard to game plan against when you canāt pin-point where the ball is going and the quarterback has to go and distribute it all the way across the field. That would be the No. 1 thing to me.”
One thing Slowik knows he’s likely to see from Jim Schwartz’ Browns defense is single-high coverage. The Browns have played middle-of-the-field-closed coverage at a 64% clip, most in the NFL. Now, Schwartz loves to mix that up with different looks and inverted coverages, but you know what you’re going to get there. The task for Stroud, who missed Houston’s Week 16 loss to the Browns with a concussion, is to wade through all of that with the personnel he has. And that’s tough, because the Texans are missing a lot of their top receivers right now — Nathaniel “Tank” Dell is out, and Noah Brown and Robert Woods are questionable.
Fortunately, Stroud still has world-beater Nico Collins. And this is where the matchup could tilt in Houston’s favor.
Per @robertmays and @Nate_Tice of The Athletic Football Show, the Browns have faced 143 snaps of 12 personnel this season. They've put eight defenders in the box against on 90 of those snaps.
Another bit of good news for the Texans is that Stroud has absolutely annihilated single-high coverage this season. Against Cover-1 and Cover-3, Stroud has completed 141 of 228 passes for 2,054 yards, 1,335 air yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 105.4 ā only Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson have higher passer ratings against MOFC coverage this season. Stroud is great at challenging single-high with crossers underneath, and quick-to-intermediate out routes to displace cornerbacks playing to the numbers.
And it’s not just Collins. Stroud can find openings against anybody with heavy personnel, as he showed on this 26-yard pass to fullback Andrew Beck against the New York Jets in Week 14. It was a hard crosser underneath the Jets’ Cover-3, and another example of a great defense a step behind what Slowik drew up, and what Stroud executed.
Explosive plays out of heavy personnel. A Shanahan staple, a Mike McDaniel non-negotiable, and @HoustonTexans OC Bobby Slowik is killing defenses with it, too. pic.twitter.com/Ue9NCeQdJv
Remember that Mays/Tice statistic regarding how the Browns stack the box as a default reaction to heavy personnel? Schwartz is smart enough to know what his own tendencies are, and how it might be time to switch things up.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 24: Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz of the Cleveland Browns looks on during the first half in the game against the Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
“Obviously a rookie, but has command that goes beyond usually the scope of a rookie,” Schwartz said this week of Stroud. “Decisive with the ball, accurate passer, buy some time time, makes big plays down the field. I think when itās all said and done, the fact that heās passed for as many yards as he has without turning the ball over is really impressive for a young guy. Usually the cost of doing business if youāre going to throw a lot of yards is you also turn the ball over a lot. Itās been impressive what heās been able to do. Weāre going to have to play tight coverage. Weāre going to have to stay after him in the pass rush. Weāre going to have to limit run after the catch because he does a good job of giving his guys opportunities to run after the catch, including Nico Collins. Thatās one of the things he does best.ā
Pair that with Slowik’s quote about why he aligns his passing structures against match stuff that limits YAC, and you have fodder for an amazing matchup.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys go deep into this fascinating matchup.
New "Xs and Os with @gregcosell: The @Browns have played more single-high coverage than any other team this season. C.J. Stroud of the @HoustonTexans has annihilated single-high coverage all season long. This one is going to be FUN. pic.twitter.com/YGy7yeavhn
What moves had the biggest impact on Cleveland’s 2023 season?
Coming off of back-to-back losing seasons, the Cleveland Browns needed to make big changes. And whether that was hiring defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz or the late addition of quarterback Joe Flacco, they took the necessary steps to become a winner.
As a result, they won their final four meaningful games, allowing themselves to get some much-needed rest in Week 18 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Finishing 11-6 on the season, the Browns locked down the fifth seed in the AFC and will take on the Houston Texans this weekend as they look to make a Super Bowl run.
What were the most meaningful moves the Browns made, however? We take a look here at the top five moves that have defined Cleveland’s 2023 season.
Honorable Mention: Overhauling the defensive tackle room with Dalvin Tomlinson, Maurice Hurst, Shelby Harris
General manager Andrew Berry and his team made numerous moves that deserve recognition, and sometimes one or two get left out. An honorable mention is in order here, as the additions of Dalvin Tomlinson, Shelby Harris, and Maurice Hurst played a huge role in the overhauling of an abysmal defensive front a year ago.
Tomlinson has been every bit of the player the Browns expected him to be as he is a professional’s professional.
While Jordan Elliott deserves a ton of credit for taking a massive leap forward this season, having the rotational depth of Harris and Hurst gave the Browns an undeniable force up front.
