DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Can We Beat the Ravens?

They just signed Villenueva also

Not thinking like that I don't think.
Better just to Roll over them and see what they do about it.

Part of the reason I was excited we drafted JOK was for the insane value that was found in that pick. But what had me even more excited--JOK appears to be the perfect anti-Lamar weapon. Obviously he is a rookie, and we'll need to see how he's developed, but in theory he should be perfect for stopping Lamar from doing what he does best.

Schedules are released in a week--I'm hoping we can get some of our easy games early, like the Lions, Bears, Texans, or Broncos, and our completely revamped defense can ease into the competition. If we play the Ravens later in the season, and JOK already has a few games under his belt before going onto the field against Lamar, I think he could make a huge impact.

It will be interesting to see how things pan out no matter what. But of all the things I'm hopeful for this coming season, seeing JOK stuff Lamar a few times is near the top of the list.

Well, if the Browns Defense gets better and stops the other team from putting up points; then
the other team will dial up fancy never before seen blitzes to try and win the game while the Browns' offense is on the field.

So, work on pass protection, and ball security on offense.

Honestly, I'm at the point where I'm asking... can the Ravens/Steelers beat us?

On paper or in a board game? No, they can't.

I think you aren't putting enough faith in the changes on the D we've made.. Those things were done with the thought of beating the Ravens and Chiefs.. Those are two teams stopping us.

The answer is YES.. we can.

j/c

We already know how to beat LJ...the trick is executing the defense and keeping him in the pocket. JOK may help with that...but by covering Andrews et al.

There is not such thing as "mirroring" LJ...just make him play NFL-QB and he's very stoppable.

IMO.. add Buffalo to the list

And the Chiefs. Not only did they beat us, they did it with a backup QB and bad OL. Mahomes is healthy and that Line got better.

I saw it the other way, But in the end, we agree...LOL

Hell yes we can beat the Rats!

Berry just got us the Lamar Exterminator in JOK!

Speed across the board baby on O and D!

I don't know, but we're a lot closer. Let the games begin.

I do worry about when we play a larger, tougher O.

Sure, it's great being fast, but if they can maul us, we won't get to use that speed.

If the Refs forget bottle gate ..... Yes we will, twice a season...

That's my worry as well. With them drafting Ben Cleveland and signing Villenueva, their OL is now huge. Hopefully our smaller, faster defense can hold up.

But overall, I think with the improvements we've made this offseason (and some of the defenders they've lost), the Browns are the more talented team.

And the biggest thing - we are set-up better for the future. Baltimore is going to be close against the cap again this year after signing Villenueva, their draft picks, and (most likely) Justin Huston. They have been getting sloppy lately trying to get over the hump to win the superbowl, and sacrificing the future of their team a little bit (most notably with the Ngakoue trade last year). Culley getting signed by the Texans really helped them.

Meanwhile, the Browns are sitting on 20M in cap space that they can rollover to next year and help resign their core players. AB has done a great job building a talented team for the here-and-now, but also always looking to the future.

It something lot of Browns fans are overlooking: he's not looking to build a 1-year-wonder. He's looking to build a dynasty.

Can We beat the Ravens?

Is Grant Delpit going to bring the Heat and give us even more solid bada## production than Money Mitchell. Sure going to miss T. Micthell going to have to see it to buy into the John Johnson was an "upgrade."

Grant Delpit is the defensive playmaker that is easy to forget about because the Browns have added about 16+ playmakers to the defense since, well even since this January, and he was on IR all of last year.

Yet, I think A lot more of the Browns Defense hinges on Grant Delpit being every bit as much of an impact player as advertised than fans want to admit.

If the Browns can get 2 Safeties over the top and put Delpit in some hybrid space to rush the passer with speed, LOOK OUT!
Because it's only like the Browns have only
THIRTEEN other people who may be SUPERSTAR BALL OUT PASS RUSHERS in this Defense! Oh my gosh,

I mean You could make 2 Starting Defenses off this roster RIGHT NOW, and go win 8 games in the NFL easy with either one of em!
But I'm still going to miss Terrence Mitchell, he should be around to enjoy this. !!! THUNDER !!!

Are we small comparatively? I'm not sure that we are. Myles isn't a small guy, Billings is certainly bigger than Larry O. Jackson is also larger, admired for his length. He's a veteran who has been effective against all types of linemen. Elliott is over 300 lbs. Togiai is a hair under 300 but known for his power and Marvin Wilson may need to drop 10-15 lbs to play at his optimum weight. He'd still be comfortably over 300.

The ability to play with leverage, proper technique and short-area quickness would also seem of higher value than sheer size.

In the Old days, Baseball fans would hang the letter k over some sign to match the inning to track a Pitchers Strikeout percentage.
I think a Browns fan that has front row tickets should post a Sign Where Joe Woods is calling a meeting at the other teams Quarterback! List the top Pass Rushers on the Browns and post a Letter X next to the player name for each time the Browns get a sack.

I'll be curious to see how Baltimore builds a team once they have to pay Jackson. They have really done a lot to craft that offense around his particular game.

In order for his game to work, they have to be playing with a lead, which also requires a very strong defense which Baltimore has invested a lot of money into.

When he gets paid, it'll be interesting to see how they preserve the rest of the construct they currently have in place.

No doubt that we will need at least 1 DT who can eat up 2 blockers in the middle. I think we have a few guys who show that promise, but you never know until we get to camp and see how they do against our O-line. I think both Wilson and the OSU dude show that promise. The question is do they have the mental makeup for that role. The glory those guys get come from their coaches and team mates, not ESPN.

We were the worst team at stopping Lamar on the ground last year. He destroyed us. It’s a big part of the reason we drafted JOK and wanted to improve our safeties/versatility IMO.

I think our offense kinda figured them out the last game and we picked on their secondary ... so I think we can beat them this year

One of the issues defending the RPO is that the 1st defender tries to cover both the Qb and the Rb and ends up defending neither. I think the 1st guy should always key on the Qb. If the Qb gets hits hard but clean each and every time they run an RPO then it won't be long before they start getting hesitant to call it.

Yeah, he does have quite the talent when it comes to avoiding the big hits. It's frustrating. I never want to see the guy get hurt, but I do root for him to get hit hard enough to think about it.

The other thing about it is that I see quality over quantity. He might not get hit often, but all it takes is one time, and he definitely increases his odds with how much he runs the ball. Got pretty banged up against the Bills on one play in the playoff game IIRC.

As much as I hate to say it, I think he'll be hit even less this year. They drafted a guard and just signed Villanueva. Did they lose any OL in the offseason? On paper it seems like he'll have more protection this year than he did last.

They get Staley back on the left and swapped Brown for Villanueva on the right. They also signed Zeitler.

Yes, their All Pro Guard retired. JMHO, last year was great, it's gone. Their are NO easy teams in NFL. We beat Jets, sure thing, not. We have no control over schedule, injuries, and covid- which ISN'T over.....so, hope we produce as nearly all expect.....GO Browns!!!

The nice thing is that we will be able to match up much better across the defense with them. We will be able to mix coverages, and still play closer to the LOS to take away their runs.

Agree with your takes on Harbough and the Ravens/Lamar.

As to whether we can beat them - hell yes.

I think they will miss Judon and Ngakoue. I think the additions in the draft of quality WR's will help - but only so much. My opinion of Lamar's accuracy from the pocket improved last year - but not leaps and bounds.

I like that the Brown's added speed on defense. Probably everywhere - Clowney, JOK, JJ, Newsome, Delphit if healthy.... I mean forget improved D from scheme and better personnel to fit/implement the scheme, just keep it simple and look at plugging in better players at key positions that will impact Lamar escaping the pocket and gashing the D ... we are better and would have won at least 1 of the games from last year.

Don't want to wish the summer away but damn I want September here fast! I am pumped.

Speed is the key to beating Lamar. He has been way better than I ever expected at avoiding direct contact, speed is the only cure for that. Some day, some how, teams need to make him pay a price for leaving the pocket.

Besides punishing him for leaving the backfield, we need to mitigate damage when he does, within ten yards of the LOS. The backbreaking (and demoralizing) defeats occur when he breaks off 20, 30, 40 yard chunks.

Our ability to accomplish these tasks has improved so much it has nearly broken the graph. On top of that, versatility within the ranks will have him cross-eyed pre-snap. It's gonna be fun to watch.

We have a legit double barrel D so to speak. By that I mean we now have a better pass rush and a faster secondary that can cover. My only concern is that we do have a lot of new players that will take time to learn the D and gel together. Hopefully, we will be playing a few weaker teams early on when our D will be learning to play together. I believe we will get better on D as the year goes on.