Cleveland Browns: 3 Key Matchups to Watch Against Baltimore Ravens

Coming off a narrow loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cleveland Browns travel to enemy territory to play an emotionally-charged game against the Baltimore Ravens, who are themselves coming off a one-point loss in Week 1. Here are three key matchups to watch if the Browns hope to pull off the upset despite being 11.5-point underdogs.

1. Isaiah McGuire vs. Roger Rosengarten

McGuire is coming off a borderline dominant performance against the Bengals, where he wreaked havoc against both the run and the pass. He primarily lines up across from the right tackle, as Myles Garrett’s usual home is on the blindside of the quarterback. While Baltimore is focused on making sure Garrett doesn’t wreck the game, McGuire will have a fantastic opportunity to do just that. His power matches up well with the slighter second-year Rosengarten, who stands 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds. He’s an exceptional athlete, but entered the league lacking ideal functional strength. That didn’t stop the Ravens from starting him as a rookie, but it does mean that McGuire has a potential advantage.

McGuire is a fundamentally sound player, which will be crucial to keeping Lamar Jackson contained within the pocket and not allowing him to escape outside, which is where he does his demoralizing damage. If McGuire is able to hold his ground and keep contain on the edge, that will go a long way to allowing the talented interior defensive linemen the Browns feature to make Jackson uncomfortable, and give Garrett more of a chance to make a game-changing play.

While run defense has been his strong suit, McGuire was excellent as a rusher last week, and if he can replicate some of that success, that could change the calculus of this game significantly. The Ravens by necessity cannot give McGuire the same attention as they will Garrett, allowing him the chance to continue his breakout beginning to the season.

2. Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II vs. Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and DeAndre Hopkins

When the Browns lost starting cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. to a torn achilles before the season began, it was a huge blow to the secondary, and it meant that Newsome would once again be a boundary corner after playing the past three years in the slot. His best year as a pro came during his rookie season when he was on the outside, and that’s where he’s wanted to be ever since, making that known publicly. On Sunday, he and Denzel Ward held the dynamic duo of Ja’Marr Chase (only the NFL’s third receiving triple crown winner of the past 32 years) and Tee Higgins to just five catches on nine targets for 59 yards.

It was a fantastic performance for the pair, but they have another tough assignment this week as they face the NFL’s leading receiver from Week 1 in Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman (coming off a season with nearly 850 yards and 11 touchdowns), and veteran DeAndre Hopkins. One of the most challenging aspects of playing cornerback against the Ravens is staying disciplined with your eyes in zone (Jackson’s running ability necessitates a zone-heavy scheme, otherwise he’d run wild) and in sticking with receivers until the whistle blows, not allowing them to get behind you. It’s even more difficult when facing a WR as shifty as Flowers. Ward and Newsome have their work cut out for them, but they are better suited than most CB duos to handle the task.

3. Carson Schwesinger and Devin Bush vs. Lamar Jackson

Jackson might be the difficult quarterback to play against, perhaps even more than Patrick Mahomes. His otherworldly running ability makes him a threat to escape the pocket and score on the ground each and every snap, while he can pick defenses apart if given time in the pocket. The best way to defend against him is to make him uncomfortable with constant pressure, speeding up his internal clock, but at the same time preventing him from bailing and making things happen with his legs, whether that’s scrambling for a first down or making an inexplicable throw on the run to a somehow wide-open target.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah helped with this in a tremendous way, not only because of his elite athletic gifts but also because of his high football IQ, playing an effective spy on Jackson and closing ground between the two much quickly than almost any other linebacker. Without JOK, that responsibility falls to the rookie Carson Schwesinger, who even though he plays a different LB role than JOK, possesses excellent physical traits and the football acumen to have earned the green dot responsibility as a rookie.

Former top-10 pick Devin Bush has also found a career renaissance in Cleveland, playing very well last season as a depth piece thrust into a larger role due to injury, and is now the team’s starting SAM, playing very well last week. He looks more explosive and fast than he has since his college days, when he ran an elite 4.43-second 40-yard dash and jumped 40.5 inches in the vertical. The Browns have fast and athletic linebackers and will likely be in nickel most of the time against Baltimore, so Schwesinger and Bush will be relied on heavily to make sure Jackson doesn’t do nearly as much damage as he could.