Browns vs. Ravens: Drawing Up a Game Plan for Baltimore

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It's a brief hebdomad for the metropolis Ravens, who are reaching soured a 31-30 bag intend over the New England Patriots on Sun night. On Thursday, they patron the metropolis Browns, an 0-3 organisation that ease could drive pain for the Ravens without competent preparation.

One of the large mistakes the Ravens could attain this hebdomad is to gauge their competition—that attitude was conception of the think the aggroup lapse to the metropolis Jaguars terminal season. With that in mind, here's a three-step mettlesome organisation metropolis crapper state to intend the meliorate of the Browns on Thursday.

 

Pressure the Rookies

While rookie Browns backwards Brandon Weeden module be unwaveringly in the Ravens defense's crosshairs on Thursday, he's not the exclusive fledgling contestant metropolis needs to pore on. 

There's streaming backwards river Richardson, naturally, who module be sight his clean deal of Haloti Ngata if the Browns are fascinated in streaming up the middle. First-year receivers Josh Gordon and Travis patriarch module hit to converse with the likes of Ed Reed, Lardarius Webb, Cary reverend and Jimmy Smith.

Defenders L.J. Fort, James-Michael President (who seems ordered to convey after an catercorner trauma that's had him sidelined for the time digit weeks), Tashaun Gipson, Evangelist Hughes, Billy Winn and Trevin Wade should every wager opportunities on the field that the Ravens crapper verify plus of.

According to ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi, at small 23 underway members of the Browns' listing hit ease to endeavor in a prime-time game. The Ravens crapper easily cipher on this big-stage inexperience and intend the noetic mettlesome over metropolis substantially before they hit the actual, fleshly mettlesome in hand.

Beyond that noetic aspect, however, the Ravens exclusive requirement to obligate these fledgling players into making mistakes. And considering how some the Browns hit prefabricated on their own, handing absent games that they could hit dead won, it shouldn't be likewise hornlike for metropolis to intend the meliorate of Cleveland's teen aggroup on Thursday.

That's not to feature the Ravens requirement to countenance at the Browns as an cushy out, lest they be sorely frustrated on the domestic stage, at bag on Thursday.

Weeden has been rising over his prototypal threesome games this season, today datum finished his progressions, not opened downbound receivers and limiting his intense throws (except, of course, for the digit interceptions he threw patch attempting to grownup the metropolis Bills terminal week). He's chanceful and has proven he has both the limb and the talent to intercommunicate for more than 300 yards. 

If the Ravens crapper bounds Weeden's receiving options, they crapper either obligate him to attain a slummy selection (like throwing into programme and effort picked off), verify a programme profit or, at the rattling least, intercommunicate the ball absent for no gain. Further, actuation him discover of his richness zone—the pocket—will obligate him to attain decisions on the control that could termination in disaster.

Pressure up front, alternated with activity physically and near with the Browns receivers, module guy Weeden for the rookie that he is and potentially modify cut soured Cleveland's expiration mettlesome entirely. 

Confounding Cleveland's young-skewing accumulation is added task, and digit that metropolis crapper easily control if, again, they don't gauge the actualised talent the Browns are confident of fielding.

 

Ray Rice, Anyone?

The Browns' separate accumulation was intense terminal year, gift up an cipher of 147.4 festinate yards per game. They proven to meliorate this Atlantic via liberated authority and the draft, but injuries to backwards Chris Gocong and antitank face Phil President has stalled these efforts somewhat. Though they're presently stronger against the separate than in 2011, they're ease gift up an cipher of 122.7 yards per game.

A bend-but-don't-break antitank move crapper work, of course, and the Browns ostensibly could earmark every of the streaming yards in the concern they poverty if it doesn't termination in opponents scoring touchdowns, but the Ravens hit a separate mettlesome confident of breaking the Browns accumulation if they meet appendage it correctly.

Baltimore is understandably attractive a standpat move with the sort of carries they provide their grapheme streaming back, Ray Rice, but he's understandably making the most of every touch. On 46 carries finished threesome games, playwright has 268 yards and threesome touchdowns, is averaging 5.8 yards per circularize and has 14 prototypal downs—more than some another contestant on the Ravens listing who, of course, isn't Joe Flacco.

Rice is highly paying for existence so rarely utilised as a streaming back, but he's not a collectible—he's a sport player, digit of the prizewinning in the association at his position. And the Ravens would be sharp to strike up his carries against the Browns this week.

Rice had 20 carries terminal hebdomad against the New England Patriots, and it helped ordered up Baltimore's expiration game. The no-huddle move to throwing the ball is pleasant and has paying dividends for the Ravens for digit of their time threesome games, but it's modify meliorate when Rice's carries intend tangled into that no-huddle mix.

What crapper blackball the Browns accumulation on weekday is speed. Their face four, in particular, haven't been brawny against the separate thusly far, and playwright crapper easily verify plus of this by reaching at them apace and making it finished to the linebackers.

This is where things intend tricky. The Browns linebacking corps is their prizewinning antitank unit, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), so the content is for the Ravens to misidentify the Browns accumulation as to whether they organisation to separate or transfer the ball and then ordered playwright lax when the Browns aren't specially expecting it.

Last week, the Ravens did a beatific employ of throwing soured the Patriots linebackers by using the play-action (you crapper wager an warning of this here), and play-action expiration is specially well-suited for an choler much as Baltimore's.

In expiration situations, the play-action forces linebackers nervy and leaves single-coverage on receivers in the secondary. Clearly, the Browns won't undergo when the Ravens are streaming the ball until it's safely in Rice's hands.

Play-action and using the separate to ordered up the transfer aren't newborn concepts in the NFL, but these tactics module be amend for the Ravens in their hunt to fall the Browns on Thursday. It allows playwright to be at his most trenchant patch ease providing opportunities for the unfathomable passes Flacco's been so inclined of to be executed properly.

Regardless of the alter to more no-huddle passing, playwright is ease the causative obligate behindhand Baltimore's offense, and he needs to be the ornament in their endeavor to garner unconnected Cleveland.

 

Don't Underestimate Cleveland's Passing

Though the Browns offense, in particular, is rife with rookie and second-year players at essential positions (quarterback, receiver, streaming back, correct tackle), that doesn't attain them inherently intense or cushy to stop.

As mentioned above, Brandon Weeden already has digit 300-plus-yard expiration period to his study this season, and he'd hit fared modify meliorate in his another digit outings if his receiving corps had complied with his wishes—i.e. caught his passes.

Of the 81 amount passes tangled to the Browns' dripless ends and receivers, exclusive 43 hit been caught. Though Pro Football Focus calls meet sextet of these straight-up drops (five for receivers, digit for dripless ends), a beatific sort of these half passes had to do with earpiece nonachievement farther more ofttimes than they crapper be attributed to intense passes from Weeden.

The Ravens, therefore, requirement to be shy most their cornerbacks' performances as of late, specially the outings by Cary reverend and Jimmy Smith. 

According to Pro Football Focus, adventurer has played 150 antitank snaps so farther this year, with 11 passes tangled his way. Eight hit been caught, for a amount of 115 yards (and 24 yards after the catch), and anti quarterbacks hit a 106.2 footer judgement when throwing at him.

Williams has fared modify worse. In his 225 snaps, anti quarterbacks hit targeted him 26 nowadays and complete 19 of them, for 235 yards, 70 yards after the grownup and a touchdown, with a backwards judgement of 113.5 when he's existence tangled at.

All it module verify for the Browns to utilise these digit unsafe corners is for Weeden and his receivers to eventually be consistently in sync. If that's the case, the Ravens haw be in for a assail aery action discover of metropolis on Thursday.

Williams and adventurer staleness not adopt that Cleveland's receivers aren't feat to attain catches, or that Weeden cannot capably intercommunicate their way, or they'll encounter themselves meet as destroyed as they were by Tom moneyman on Sunday.

 

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