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.
Slow the Baltimore Ravens rushing attack.
This is like suggesting a train should tackle Superman. Sure, you think because it’s a train, that it can just run through anyone. Then hits the train and it’s the train that topples over. That was basically the Baltimore Ravens rushing attack last year, and while the offensive line has questions in 2020 (like who can replace future HOF candidate Marshal Yanda?), the backfield got even more talented in the 2020 offseason.
The Ravens do have to replace two key parts of their interior line and that may negate any improvements the offense had in the offseason. If their offensive line is back up to snuff, so to speak, then they could be even better in 2020 than they were in 2019. With Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram leading the way, the team brought in former Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins, whose versatility is going to be hard to deal with.
That’s a three-headed running back beast right there.
Normally this would worry most people, especially with how unimpressive the Browns defensive line was in 2019. Yet, the Ravens offensive line might just be vulnerable. Starting center Matt Skura is coming off of major knee surgery and starting right guard D.J. Fluker is a journeyman, spot-starter, who can’t stay healthy. Applying pressure to the A and B gaps on the right side may just see the line crumble in on itself.
It might also see Shelton Richardson get blown up, because, what else is new?
Ideally, if the defense can apply pressure on that part of the line and it crumbles, then you’ll be able to get cheeky with the play calling and possibly even start stunting on the defensive line. That means the Ravens will try to run outside and then it’s up to the ends and linebackers to do their jobs.
Granted, if the Browns defense is as bad as it looks on paper, then this is all a moot point.
Blitz all night…
In a line from the 2000 film Remember the Titans, the defensive coordinator Bill Yoast tells his men to not let an opposing team gain “another yard” and that they’re going to “blitz all night.” Sure, blitzing all game isn’t the most conducive thing to do in most NFL games but against Lamar Jackson, that’s exactly what the Cleveland Browns should do.
Consider this, former Titan Logan Ryan was on a team that absolutely handled the Ravens in the playoffs. How did they do it? In his own words;
"We had 8-, 9-man boxes all night. You play Madden and run Engage Eight all day, it’s hard to run the ball. We pretty much did that."
For those who don’t know, Engage Eight (Engage 8) is a defensive play in Madden, usually out of the 46 set up (safety comes into the box) and the four linemen, three linebackers, and one safety then rush blitz, leaving the other safety and two corners to cover a third of the field.
Against the run, it fills up every gap, as well as the flats with defenders. Against the pass, it’s designed to either garner sacks or facilitates quick throws. The issue with either situation is that it leaves the secondary short-handed so if a running back breaks a big run, or the QB can dump off a pass fast enough, the offense can turn it into a big gain.
The bonus is that it works great against quarterbacks who aren’t the most accurate passers.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is very much still a below-average passer. While he did complete 66% of his passes, he barely had 3,000 yards passing. A pretty mediocre number these days. His number one target was and will be his tight end. He targeted TE Mark Andrews 98 times, nearly 30 more times than WR Marquise Brown, and just about double the attempts of Willie Snead.
Jackson doesn’t like to throw deep. He’s more likely to dump a short pass to the boundary and turn that into a long gain. His ability to extend plays and his real-time awareness in games is his greatest attributes. He’s able to know when to dump it off, when to take a sack and when to take the ball himself. You won’t get a lot of interceptions out of him unless you really work for it.
Loading up the box, taking away the running game, and forcing Jackson to throw with hands in his face is paramount.
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.