Cleveland Browns: 3 keys to victory for Week 1 against the Ravens

The Cleveland Browns will need to focus on these three things the most if they intend on beating the Baltimore Ravens in week one.

The Cleveland Browns will open up the season against the preseason pick to win the AFC North in the Baltimore Ravens. Both teams had issues to close out 2019, with the Browns needing some new offensive line parts and a new, well, defense and the Ravens needing some new offensive line parts, and a new, well, defense too.

Both teams did their best to rebuild their offensive lines in the offseason. For the Browns, it was a near-complete rebuild, with two rookies drafted and a new Pro-Bowl caliber signing. The line wasn’t just improved but the blocking protection as a whole was upgraded with two new tight ends and a fullback to help out as well. The Browns had to rebuild that part of their team, the Ravens had to reload. They lost potential Hall of Fame talent, Marshal Yanda, to retirement, and their starting center Matt Skura had a major injury to his knee. So they had to plan for the possibility their line would be radically different.

As the Browns completely overhauled their defense, so did the Ravens. The only difference is that the Ravens secured their talent and brought in a slew of rookies and big-name free agents. The Browns let most of their good defensive players walk, then replaced them with budget backups and rookies.

So the Browns and Ravens had a near-identical offseason for vastly different reasons. Which is fitting, as the Ravens used to the Cleveland Browns before Art Modell moved them to Baltimore in the ’90s. So it’s beyond fitting both teams had big offseasons that focused on the same two key areas of their team.

So after addressing key needs in the offseason, the question then boils down to ‘how do the Browns beat the Ravens?’ The Ravens on paper shored up their issues and the Browns, on paper, didn’t – at least not completely. So what should the Browns focus on doing to win this game? Let’s take a look at the three biggest keys for victory in the Browns Week 1 matchup.