5 Bold predictions for Cleveland Browns vs. the Ravens
By Greg Newland
4. Continued improvement at LB
It’s scary to say this out loud, but the linebackers are starting to look like an NFL group. The secondary once again looked rough missing their two best players in Ronnie Harrison and Denzel Ward, but the pass-rush and ability to stop the run was enough to get the victory in Tennessee on Sunday.
The best stat line from Sunday is that 3 of the 4 top tacklers were at the linebacker position. While it’s best to have your defensive lineman making tackles at the line of scrimmage, the next best thing is your linebackers making tackles at the second level.
After getting picked on most of the season, the linebackers have really started to play better with Sione Takitaki really starting to look like he could be a good player for the Browns. Mack Wilson has also started to finally look healthy and make a few plays as he did at the end of the 2019 season as well. Wilson left the game on Sunday with a concussion and the team will hope he is available for this week’s game. The extra day off will hopefully allow him to clear NFL protocol.
Look for the linebackers to have another big day and slow down Jackson and the dangerous running game of the Ravens. Not only that, look for the unit to be big on screen passes as well. They must fly to the ball and keep the yards after catch down with speedy receivers on the field.