Yes, they got upset by the Titans in the playoffs, but 14-2 is still pretty impressive, considering the fact that Lamar Jackson was only in his second season, with an offensive system that was just as new.
And (dammit) the Ravens as usual had very good off season and upgraded their talent. It's really irksome, and predictable:
After all, the Browns just massively upgraded their talent and adopted a sensible offensive scheme, so the football gods just had to make sure that a top 2 AFC Contenders had to be in the same Division, right?
The ESPN guys are almost unanimous about the Steelers joining in another Browns' beat-down as well, and keeping them out of the playoffs.
I've pushed back on that, but have to admit it's possible, as they were 8-8 sans Big Ben, and upraded themselves again too (I know it's disgusting). Claypool is HUGE--how do you cover a guy like that? They got a dangerous big-play RB in McFarland and a passrushing 3-4 LB in Highsmith too (he's underrated...dammit).
Scott Patsco compared the Browns to the Ravens. It's actually not as bad as an objective Browns fan might expect.
Scott had to give the 2019 League MVP the nod at Quarterback over Baker Mayfield. There's no getting around Baker's acute suckdom last season.
The (duh) Mayfield-freindly offensive system, massively upgraded bodyguards, and Hooper etc will have Mayfield bouncing back big-time--and the real Baker can more than toe the line with Lamar--but Jackson is one of the scariest players in football, and he's the better Quarterback until he isn't.
The good part is, it's actually going to be close. (Well--unless you're one of those mentally-challenged individuals who call Mayfied "garbage" or a "carreer backup"). (The majority of these geniuses called Lamar Jackson a "Wide Receiver" by the way).
The Browns got a slight edge at Running Back, and a clearer advantage at Wide Receiver.
This gets fuzzy, as the Browns have thrown to running backs and Wide Receivers more than the Ravens have, while the Ravens threw to Tight Ends all the time (Scott rates the Ravens' Tight Ends as better).
...and the Ravens offensive line, too.
My inner-fan wants to argue with Scott, but my inner-analyst duck-taped his mouth shut:
1: You can't argue speculation vs performance. You can't predict that Hooper or Njoku will do this or that against what Boyle and Andrews have done. You can't do that with Wills at LT, either, and you have to weigh continuity heavily with any Offensive Line analysis.
2: Andrews is just a "baby" so far, and he's already up there with Ertz, Kittle etc.
3: As Scott points out, all the Ravens Tight Ends are good blockers, while even Austin Hooper still needs work on that.
Having said that, however, I do believe that the Browns Offensive Line will become better than the Ravens', and that the Browns Tight Ends will "tighten up the race" with that Ravens' crew.
Indeed, you know that the Browns' coaches will show the Browns' Tight Ends films of Boyle and Anderson weekly--using these Division rivals as examples for them to emulate, don't you?
This is called "motivation", see?
Scott gives the Browns' Defensive Line the edge, but the Ravens took CB. S, and Linebacker.
There's more fuzziness here due to the different schemes.
But if you just lump the front 7s in together, you have to give the Ravens the edge here.
Safety and Cornerback? Well like I said, you can't argue speculation over history, but the Browns are about to pass the Ravens up at Cornerback, and will be right with them at Safety.
Where the rubber meets the road between the Browns and Ravens will be in the individual matchups anyway; the position-by-position comparisons won't matter.
That's why intra-division games are often much closer than they look on paper, and there are more upsets.
The Browns can keep outside receivers outside. While Lamar Jackson might get better at hitting the edges, so far that's been a weakness for him. Vs press/man, he has to hit a tiny window, and that's a tall order for any Quarterback.
That's why outside receivers are ideally skyscrapers with long arms, see? The Ravens put Anderson out there sometimes, but oknevermind:
Anyway Ward/Williams/Mitchell can cancel outside receivers without help vs Lamar Jackson, allowing the rest of the coverage guys to focus on the box (where Jackson throws most of his passes--and also runs, by the way)
The Ravens run a 2-TE base offense, and just drafted a stud RB in JK Dobbins, so some 2-backs should be coming too (it's very similar to Stefanski's offense, except for the QB as a runner part).
Normally, you field a base defense vs 2 Tight Ends, but you can't do that when the Quarterback routinely de-cleats (humiliates) linebackers on runs--not to mention that one of the Tight Ends is Anderson.
Grant Delpit and Jacob Phillips are anti-Anderson/Jackson additions, along with Karl Joseph and (recent post) Safetybacker JT Hassel (Jackson spy).
Many posts ago, I broke down what a "spy" really does--which is "mirror" the QB approximately as many yards away from the line of scrimmage as he is. He's always positioned to come up and stop him on a run, and also right in front of him to screw up his easiest and safest passes.
Note to Chad Porto: Joe Schobert should never have "spied" Lamar Jackson (or tried to cover Anderson by the way).
Put a sub 4.35 hitter on the field instead of a bigger 4.72 linebacker and, well...?
You need to sweat bulk and brute force in the trenches, and even sometimes in coverage, but generally speed and athleticism trump brute force hell--look at what Lamar Jackson has done to every Joe Schobert he has faced is any of this sinking in yet?
More often than not, Lamar hands off or passes. Well ok:
JT isn't assigned a blocker, and he's ideally positioned to come up to nail the running back. Jackson can't throw too close to Hassel: Hassel is depriving him of options and forcing receivers to run around him.
And then, no matter where the ball goes or how it gets there, 4.37 guys are better than 4.72 guys, right?
That was sorta spitballing there, since DELPIT might "spy" Lamar Jackson in 2020 for all I know.
I'll try to fix the stupid font glitches on this platform and get into more matchups later, but for now can assure you that the 2020 Ravens will have to work to score more than 30 points on the Browns defense.
Okbye
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