The Ravens face what can be considered their first ‘trap’ game’ on this win streak. The Ravens head up north to take on the Cleveland Browns on the road. The Ravens have struggled in Cleveland, so how can they avoid ruining the magic they’ve been building up since the bye week?
1) Stay composed
I said it for the first matchup, and I’m saying it again. The Ravens are clearly the better team here, playing a rookie quarterback on a two-win team. You can’t even call this a ‘trap game’ if they lose because the team knows
the stakes standing at 4-5 after a horrendous start. They also know how much they’ve struggled in Cleveland recently after losing three game in their last four visits. If the Ravens don’t turn the ball over and play a simple game like they did against Minnesota, taking points when they can, they will win.
2) Light Dillion Gabriel up
Gabriel took over the Browns’ starting quarterback job five games ago. Since then, he’s been sacked 17 times, or an average of more than three per game. His offensive line has been near the bottom of the league this season. With the Ravens’ somewhat revitalized pass rush, Gabriel should be under siege all game long.
With the addition of Dre’Mont Jones, Travis Jones stepping up, and Carl Lawson potentially being active this game, I expect a similar game to Minnesota. The Ravens finished with 12 hits on J.J. McCarthy, a season high, showing improvement, but only converted one sack. Gabriel is known for not holding the ball and a quick release in the short game, one of the reasons the Browns have been starting him over Shedeur Sanders, who does like to hold the ball. With the Browns likely to lean on the quick game, I expect another lower sack total, but I’d like to see the Ravens try to set a new season high in quarterback hits in back-to-back weeks.
3) Lots of Keaton Mitchell
In the first game against the Browns, their defense sold out to stop Derrick Henry. Henry averaged only 2.1 yards per carry on 11 attempts in that game as the Ravens ended up shifting to a pass-heavy attack, which worked in their favor. I expect the Ravens to carry over much of their offensive game plan against the Vikings into this one, with the quick-pass game likely a main focus to neutralize the Browns’ effective pass rush led by Myles Garrett. The Ravens have used designed QB runs to create traffic for Garrett before, but they should find other ways to do so to limit Jackson’s exposure to hits.
With Justice Hill out in this one, I’d also like to see Mitchell’s usage skyrocket. Mitchell has gotten a handful of touches per game in the last three weeks, with one or two going for an explosive play. That should double in this game. Monken should use Mitchell to attack the outside and make the Browns’ front seven work laterally across the field instead of crashing down on Jackson and Derrick Henry. That should hopefully open up Henry later in the game to grind the last quarter or so away, letting the Ravens salt away a win.
4) Close the quick-throwing lanes
Last week, the Ravens played J.J. McCarthy, who was at the top of the league in both time to throw and average depth of target, meaning he loved to hold the ball and then push it downfield. The Ravens play the exact opposite of that this week with Dillon Gabriel. According to Sumer Sports, Gabriel is 36th out of 37 qualified quarterbacks in average depth of target (6.01 yards) and bottom five in time to throw (2.52 seconds). The Ravens managed to make McCarthy throw multiple ill-advised deep balls that led to interceptions by mixing up coverage looks and keeping their rush lanes contained well.
This week, I’d like the Ravens to pin their ears back on the rush and jump short routes as often as possible. This could lead to interceptions with Gabriel often staring down his first quick read and struggling to progress. If he does hold onto the ball, there’s a good chance he could get happy feet and panic a little, leading to the pass rush getting home. The defensive line also did a great job getting their hands up to bat down passes last week, which may be even more effective against the 5-foot-11 Gabriel.
