Blueprint for the Cleveland Browns to beat the Baltimore Ravens
The time is now for the Cleveland Browns to take control of their own destiny and it starts this Sunday with the division-leading Baltimore Ravens.
If the Cleveland Browns want to make it back to the playoffs for a second consecutive year, they better hope they figured themselves out with the bye week last week. Everything the Browns want is directly in front of them, but the question remains can they take advantage.
Speaking of taking advantage, the Browns need to do so against the Ravens should they be fortunate to turn in a game similar to what they did two weeks ago.
In the Week 12 matchup, Cleveland forced Lamar Jackson to throw a career-high four interceptions, but the offense failed to take advantage, as they scored just three points off those turnovers. Numerous times in the second half of the game, the offense had a chance to go ahead, but could not do so.
The defense pitched a damn-near-perfect game, as they limited Jackson to 20-of-32 passing for 165 yards, a touchdown, the four interceptions, and 68 rushing yards on 17 carries. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now, I will not hear a bad thing about Joe Woods the rest of this season. That defensive game plan and execution was brilliant.
Speaking of execution, Baker Mayfield and the offense need to do just that. Far too many times this season, the Mayfield-led offense has not executed, and that’s a huge reason this team sits at 6-6. Now, this hasn’t all been on Mayfield as we’ve all seen the countless mistakes from this offense. Whether it be pre-snap penalties, fumbles, interceptions, dropped passes, receivers unable to create separation, etc. the offense has just been lackluster this season.
Back to Mayfield, while he didn’t play poorly in the first meeting with the Ravens (18/37, 247 yards, TD, FUM), he still need to play consistent football. Yes, we all are well aware of the injuries he’s been battling through and how tough he is for doing so, but at the end of the day, if he is healthy enough to suit up and play, he’s healthy enough to play well. I know that’s a tough pill for those of you in the camp of using his injuries to justify his poor play.
One last point of emphasis for this offense; run the football. This is the Browns bread and butter and why their offense thrives most weeks. And of course, I’m well aware of the Ravens stacking the box with eight or nine defenders two weeks ago, but that’s not as black and white as you might think it is. Yes, that makes it even harder for teams to run the football, but it is far from insurmountable.
Let me preface what I’m about to say with this: things will work one week and not the next, that’s called parity. I’m not saying this will work for the Browns running attack, but hear me out. Last Monday night, in winds exceeding 30 MPH, the Bills and Patriots did not do much passing, especially the Pats, who rushed the ball 46 times for 222 yards and attempted three passes. And do you know what that was against? A stacked box.
In the first meeting, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt combined to rush the ball 15 times for 36 yards. Now, should the Browns look to run the ball more this go around, the backs have to rush through their rushing lanes, or else the concept of running against the stacked box plays right into the defense’s hand.
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The Browns have five games left on their schedule and either winning out or going 4-1 looks like the only way this team will make the playoffs. This is a huge “rivalry” and divisional contest, but let’s hope for better results than the previous 45 times these two teams have played.