The Battle for AFC North First Place
Welcome to week 6 Browns fans. Sunday the 3-2 Browns return to Huntington Bank Field to take on the 4-1 Baltimore Ratbirds in a battle for first place in the AFC North. Game time will be 12:00 noon CST and as usual the ChicagoLand Browns Backers/Northside Dawg Pound will party at Burke’s Public House to cheer the Browns and onto victory. Sunday’s game against Baltimore will mark the first time Todd Monken will face his former team as Browns head coach after serving as Baltimore’s offensive coordinator for the past 3 seasons. So despite the Ravens having a new coaching staff headed by former San Diego Charger DC Jesse Minter, Monken’s knowledge of the Baltimore roster could prove invaluable in forming the Browns game plan. The game will also test the depth of both rosters with the Ravens announcing on Friday that their All-Pro QB Lamar Jackson will miss the game with an ankle injury leaving former Brown Tyler (Snoop) Huntley as their starting QB. The Browns listed RB Dylan Sampson and DT Mike Hall out for the game while also reporting DT Mason Graham, LB Carson Schesinger, RB Quinshon Judkins, DE Derek Barnett and OG Teven Jenkins as questionable for the game.
How Good Are the Ravens
The Ravens have won 3 consecutive games all by 7 points or less enroute to their current 4-1 record. However, a closer look at their schedule indicates their record may be a bit deceiving. Sunday’s game will mark the first time this season that Baltimore will face a team with a winning record. Baltimore’s previous 5 opponents have a combined record of 7-17 with their 4 wins coming against the 2-3 Colts, 2-3 Cowboys 2-3 Falcons and 0-5 Titans with their lone loss coming against the 1-4 Saints. Their last 3 wins included an overtime win over Atlanta and a game winning last second field goal against Dallas after questionable clock management by the Cowboys and a desperation 30-yard pass completion with 1 second left on the clock. With Lamar Jackson ruled out for the game and the Ravens averaging the 3rd most rushing attempts per game in the league, Sunday’s game looks to be decided in the trenches. Baltimore currently averages 5.1 yards per rush and 164.4 rushing yards per game, both 3rd most in the NFL. All-Pro RB Derrick Henry leads all RBs in rushing attempts and his 476 rushing yards are 5th most in the NFL. He’s also 2nd in rushing TDs with 7 while averaging 4.2 yards per carry and more than 95 rushing yards per game. Change of pace RB Justice Hill averages 7.4 yards per carry including 4.5 yards after contact. Last week the Ravens rushed for 208 yards against an Atlanta defense ranked 4th against the rush. The QB switch from Jackson to Huntley will present a significantly different challenge for the Browns pass defense. Huntley’s 78% completion rate is 2nd among QB’s however his 6.4 yards per pass is almost 4 yards less than Jackson’s 10.1 yard average and his 3.9 yard average depth of throw is almost 7 yards less than Jackson’s 10.8 yard average. In his 2 games this season Huntley has only 6 pass attempts of 10 yards or more and over 80% of his 41 passes went for 9 yards or less. The Browns will probably need to pressure Huntley without sending extra rushers as he completes over 73% of his passes when blitzed averaging 7 yards per pass with 1 TD and a 114.6 QB rating. Huntley’s primary targets are Pro Bowl WR Zay Flowers who leads Baltimore with 26 catches averaging 15.6 yards per reception including 7 yards gained after the catch with 2 TDs. Opposite Flowers is WR Rashod Bateman who’s averaging over 14 yards per catch with 1 TD. They are joined by 4-time Pro Bowl TE Mark Andrews who has 22 receptions with 1 TD. Baltimore’s defense is decent but not what it used to be. They are giving up almost 24 points per game good for 19th in the league and 5.3 yards per play which is 15th. Opponents are averaging 4 yards per rush and 7 yards per pass, both middle of the road averages. They have only 10 sacks in their 5 games and are 21st in sack rate. The Browns 29th ranked offense will still need to show significant progress if they are going to score more than their current average of almost 19 points per game against Baltimore. The Browns are currently 25th in passing yards and 21st in rushing yards per game.
Where oh Where is Jared Verse
When the Browns made their blockbuster trade of Myles Garrett the front office stressed that the inclusion of DE Jared Verse was key to the deal. All through training camp his coaches raved about his effort and drive. Now, I understand that it’s still early in the season and stats don’t always tell the whole story. But after 5 games Verse’s stats are disappointing at best. He has yet to collect a single sack and despite playing the 2nd most pass rush snaps on the team his 10 QB pressures are only 5th most on the Browns. He has more penalties (5) than sacks (0), QB hits (3) and batted passes (0) combined. He is one of only 3 DE’s with over 100 pass rush snaps with 0 sacks on the season while 89 other DE’s have at least 1 sack. PFF ranked him 84th among pass rushers, 98th among DE and 46th in rushing defense with only 3 tackles for loss (TFL). Last season with the Rams Verse had 7.5 sacks, 27 QB hits and 11 TFL. If the Browns are going to continue to lean on their defense to win games Jared Verse is going to need to step it up real soon.
See You Sunday GO BROWNS…..GO GUARDIANS…..GO CAVS