It’s nearly time for the Baltimore Ravens to take the field at M&T Bank Stadium for the first time this season. After months of hard work and game planning, the Ravens will get to test themselves against another opponent when they take on the Cleveland Browns.
As the first game on the schedule, Baltimore has been planning for this game all offseason long. They’ve likely reviewed a ton of film to see what weaknesses they can exploit and where they might need to shy away from in order to pull off a big early-season win.
We here at Ravens Wire have done much of the same. Just like we did with the Browns’ offense, let’s take a deep dive into Cleveland’s defensive tendencies and what Baltimore is likely to see on the field on Sunday.
Browns defense
Where Cleveland’s offense features new head coach Kevin Stefanski calling the plays, the Browns also have a new man at the helm of their defense, with Joe Woods appointed as the defensive coordinator. He last held that position with the Denver Broncos between 2017 and 2018.
Looking at what the 2018 Broncos did, we can extrapolate what we’re likely to see from Woods and Cleveland’s defense. And that’s aggressive playcalling. The Broncos were a top-10 team in terms of blitz percentage, with extra men being sent on 31.3% of their defensive snaps. Denver amassed 44 sacks that season, the eighth-most in the NFL that year.
Woods takes over from Steve Wilks, who oversaw the Browns defense for a single season in 2019. Wilks was even more aggressive than Woods, sending extra rushers 38.2% of the time. Only four teams indulged themselves with the blitz at a higher rate than the Browns last season, with the Ravens’ defense being the most aggressive unit in the NFL.
Wilks was a lover of dime personnel last season, too. The Browns had five defensive backs on the field on 84% of their snaps, a higher rate than any other team in 2019. In Woods’ last season with the Broncos, they were a more balanced operation in terms of defensive back tendencies. They were in base personnel (two cornerbacks, two safeties) out of their 3-4 defensive alignment 45% of the time, dime 27%, and nickel (six or more DBs) 28% of the time.
While Cleveland’s roster is set up to follow Woods’ tendencies, they’re dealing with a handful of big injuries as well. Three starters — linebacker Mack Wilson, and cornerbacks Greedy Williams and Kevin Johnson — are already ruled out with injuries. With an already beat-up secondary now even more limited, don’t be shocked if the Browns try to send even more pressure with that talented defensive line to mitigate their deficiencies and test Baltimore’s offensive line. But it could be a boom-or-bust effort for Woods’ defense as the Ravens’ offense proved last year they can sling the ball nearly as well as they run it.
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