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

Protect Baker Mayfield from the new and improved Ravens defense.

The Baltimore Ravens brought in free agents Calais Campbell and Derek Wolfe to bolster their defensive line, while drafting Malik Harison, Patrick Queen, and Justin Madubuike to shore up the rest of their defense. They did all that while bringing back Matthew Judon and Marcus Peters. This may not be the 2000 Baltimore Ravens squad on paper, but the team made concerted efforts to improve their defense in the 2020 offseason.

With Browns center J.C. Tretter basically a game-time decision and it is being a-not-so-secret that Jedrick Wills has struggled so far, the offensive line is going to need to step up. It’s already been discussed the Browns will run off the back of Jack Conklin more than Wills, and it’s very possible there are some play-action bootlegs to that side a lot more than they’d probably want to normally.

So you can expect to see Stephen Carlson and Austin Hooper get a lot of time on the line of scrimmage, as they’re arguably the two best blocking TE’s the team has. It’s entirely likely that fullback Andy Janovich will also play more than he’d normally expected to, just to help bolster the blocking protection. This means that Kareem Hunt may just get more opportunities as a pass-catching option if three possible targets do end up staying home to block.

Wills is going to have to do deal with Campbell all-day, and it stands to reason that if Wills own teammate in back up defensive end Porter Gustin could beat Wills, then Campbell can as well. The Browns should load up the left side with an extra tight end and their new FB Janovich in order to keep guys off of Baker Mayfield’s blindside for as long as possible.

The Week 1 meeting between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens kicks off at 1 PM ET. Follow along with Factory of Sadness during the game for live reactions.