Battle Plans: Browns vs. Ravens
Offense
- Exploiting 1-on-1 Outside Matchups
After tepid rushing efforts in the first three games, the Ravens ground game woke up against the Steelers. The wake-up call went for 191 yards. You better believe last week’s effort got the attention of the Browns’ D, especially given how poorly they’ve played against the run as of late.
With Steve Smith out of the lineup, Cleveland won’t hesitate to crowd the box on early downs. The Browns will walk safety Donte Whitner up to the line and send him on run blitzes to crash the A and B gaps. That’ll leave free safety Jordan Poyer (Editor’s note: Tashaun Gipson will not play Sunday. Here is the full injury report.) in single-high coverage and corners Tramon Williams and Joe Haden in single coverage on the outside.
Joe Flacco will need to recognize these heavy box alignments on first and second down. Given the size advantage that the Ravens have at receiver, he needs to check out of the run, when it makes sense, and take his shots against man coverage.
In particular, the jump ball should be back in effect. Flacco hasn’t been able to high-point the ball so far this season. He needs to give the 6-5 Brown and the 6-6 Waller (when he’s on the field) a chance to go up and extend for the ball. It would make sense to run some three-receiver sets in which Aiken slides inside to the slot so Brown and Waller can be featured on outside routes.
Stop routes, comebacks, and back-shoulder fades should all be in play when the Browns show Cover 1.
- Front Side Alleyways
Seeing the run game finally get on track against Pittsburgh was impressive on a number of levels.
The Steelers are a stout front, yet the interior line of Baltimore was able to root them off the ball and get them moving laterally to wash down the front. And the linemen were finally able to get to the second level, especially on the front-side zone stretch plays. Center Jeremy Zuttah and All-Pro Marshal Yanda timed their releases and were able to cleanly engage the Steeler backers. Justin Forsett also showed better patience through the hole.
Staying front-side should remain the goal for Forsett and the rest of the backs, especially when the action starts to the right side. If the Browns start to cheat to the right, the back-side alleys will open up. But given that Forsett has had a tougher time cutting back and the back-side hasn’t been cut off that well, staying on a straight-ahead path is the best bet.
- Spread Carefully
On the first two drives against San Diego, the Browns were able to apply pressure on Philip Rivers and put the Chargers in third-and-long conversion situations. But once Rivers went to the spread, he was able to pinpoint where the Cleveland rush was coming from and find his one-on-one opportunities. Pick routes and crossing route combinations sprung big pass plays in the open field against a Browns defense that had consistent coverage breakdowns.
The Ravens went to the spread often against the Steelers, showing empty, and leaving Flacco without an extra protector. The Steelers attacked those looks with a barrage of corner blitzes that got home often.
While game flow dictated more of an open attack (as Baltimore was in catch-up mode), the spread should continue to be in play against Cleveland to exploit the Browns’ very beatable underneath coverage. Offensive coordinator Marc Trestman needs to incorporate quick screens and outlet throws to his backs to combat any perimeter pressure they may face.
Defense
- Power Play against the Little Guys
This is going to be two weeks in a row in which the Baltimore defenders need to be prepared to make tackles in space. The Steelers certainly challenged the open-field tackling ability of the Ravens, but the defense was mostly able to keep the big YAC to a minimum. The defenders did a nice job of rallying to the pass catchers Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown whenever they caught a pass. It was true team defense.
The Browns’ receivers are playmakers in their own right. Led by second-year breakout man Travis Benjamin, the group is diminutive but explosive. Benjamin is the best speed threat, while Andrew Hawkins, Taylor Gabriel, and Brian Hartline can beat DBs with quickness.
In the last two weeks, quarterback Josh McCown has been able to find these receivers in the open field, putting them in position to catch the ball on the run.
To slow down this high-speed spread attack, the corners have to continue to play tighter, more aggressive man coverage. And they need to jam the receivers at the line. This is the type of game in which the physical coverage skills of Will Davis could come in handy in third-down passing situations, just as it did against Pittsburgh.
- Accounting for Duke
Rookie Duke Johnson Jr. finally made his presence felt against the Chargers, but it was in the passing game where he did most of his damage. The talented and versatile tailback caught nine passes for 85 yards.
The Browns deployed the former Hurricane in some creative ways so he could be isolated against the San Diego linebackers. For instance, Johnson lined up from the slot in a five-wide look and was able to beat his man downfield for a 34-yard TD catch. You don’t typically see backs run deep routes, but Johnson has the speed and route-running skills to be a dangerous vertical threat.
While linebacker Daryl Smith had an outstanding day covering Le’Veon Bell last week on short dump-offs and designed bootlegs, it’ll be a different challenge for him and C.J. Mosley against Johnson’s more expansive route tree.
The duo will need to hit Johnson at the line when he lines up as a receiver, and when he’s in the backfield, they’ll need to be aware of the rookie’s leak-out potential in third-down passing situations.
- Changing McCown’s Depth Perception
In last week’s matchup against the Steelers, safety Will Hill was an active rover all night. He showed a lot of pre-snap movement, charging back and forth between the box and deep coverage stances to give quarterback Michael Vick different coverage looks.
Because Hill flipped between Cover 2 and Cover 1 positions after the snap, Vick had to adjust his reads during the post-snap process, leading him to hold the ball a little longer.
Will Hill shows cover 1 pre-snap against the Steelers” width=”902″ height=”507″ />
Look for Hill to continue moving around to bait McCown into some pre-snap misreads. McCown is known for taking chances when he sees more inviting coverage, especially if he thinks he has a small window to stick the ball through.
Charles Woodson in Cover 2 against the Browns, leads to a Josh McCown interception” width=”919″ height=”484″ />
A prime example came two weeks ago, when Charles Woodson set up McCown with a Cover 2 look that appeared more open than it was. Woodson deftly undercut McCown’s sideline throw for a game-winning pick.
If Hill can set up McCown the same way, he’ll be in position to cause a turnover or two.
One-on-One Matchup to Watch
Alex Mack versus Brandon Williams
Following a season-ending broken fibula, Mack has bounced back nicely to reclaim his position as one of the game’s best pivot players. He is outstanding at releasing into space on trap and counter runs. Mack can also anchor and play with power on straight-ahead blocks. Williams has been arguably the best nose tackle in football over the first quarter of the season. He has been especially effective using his hands to shed blocks and gain quick penetration into the backfield. Against Mack, he’ll need to fire off the ball quickly and maintain his leverage to hold his position.
