![\"Top](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-116942251,width-1280,height-720,resizemode-4\/116942251.jpg\")
<\/p>\n2. Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II vs. Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and DeAndre Hopkins<\/h3>\n
When the Browns lost starting cornerback\u00a0Martin Emerson Jr.<\/b>\u00a0to 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\u00a0Ja’Marr Chase<\/b>\u00a0(only the NFL’s third receiving triple crown winner of the past 32 years) and\u00a0Tee Higgins<\/b>\u00a0to just five catches on nine targets for 59 yards.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0Zay Flowers<\/b>,\u00a0Rashod Bateman<\/b>\u00a0(coming off a season with nearly 850 yards and 11 touchdowns), and veteran\u00a0DeAndre Hopkins<\/b>. 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.<\/p>\n3. Carson Schwesinger and Devin Bush vs. Lamar Jackson<\/h3>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah<\/b>\u00a0helped 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\u00a0Carson Schwesinger<\/b>, 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.<\/p>\n
Former top-10 pick\u00a0Devin Bush<\/b>\u00a0has 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coming off a narrow loss to the\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals, the\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0travel to enemy territory to play an emotionally-charged game against the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens, who are themselves coming off a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland-browns"],"yoast_head":"\n