Proud owners of a ten-game winning streak, the Baltimore Ravens will look to make it eleven in a row when they play the last team to beat them this season in Week 16. The Cleveland Browns were 40-25 victors at M&T Bank Stadium back in Week 4 thanks to 165 rushing yards and three touchdowns from running back Nick Chubb.

Famously, the Baltimore Ravens were born after Art Modell took his Browns team out of Cleveland following the 1995 season. A “new” Browns team was born prior to the 1999 campaign and placed in the same division as the “old” Browns. Since then, the two teams have met 41 times, with the Ravens enjoying a 30-11 advantage. When playing in Cleveland, the Ravens have a 14-6 record although they lost 12-9 in overtime in 2018.

Let’s take a closer look at the 2019 Browns to see what we can expect to see from them on offense and defense.

Browns offense

Coming into the 2019 season, many had high hopes for the Browns on offense. Second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield, Chubb and veteran wide receiver Jarvis Landry were joined by Odell Beckham, and many were ready to kiss the Browns all the way to the Super Bowl. Things haven’t exactly gone to plan.

Employing a pass:run ratio of 59%:41%, the Browns are 21st in points and 17th in total offense this season. They’ve been better rushing than passing, with the tenth most rushing yards and only the 19th most yards through the air. Mayfield has only thrown 17 touchdowns whilst tossing an identical number of interceptions.

34.2% of Cleveland’s offensive drives have ended with a score this season, the 14th worst rate in the NFL. 14.3% of them have ended with the Browns coughing the ball up to their opponents. That’s “good” for the ninth most. Despite major question marks across their offensive line, the Browns have seen their quarterback sacked on only 6.6% of their total dropbacks. This is the 17th highest rate of all teams.

The Browns have the seventh-best explosive play rate in the NFL, thanks in large part to big plays made on the ground. 14% of their runs have been for 20 yards or more, the 4th best rate in the NFL. Their explosive pass rate is the 13th best, standing at 10%.

The Browns operate out of the shotgun on 66% of their offensive plays and favor 11 personnel on offense (three wide receivers, one running back and one tight end), although the rate at which they line up in 11 is only the 21st highest in the NFL (59%).

The Browns pass on 70% of their plays when deployed in 11 but average a far from stellar 6.7 yards per pass attempt whilst throwing 15 interceptions against 11 touchdowns. They’ve gobbled up 5.1 yards per attempt on the ground though, which makes you wonder why they don’t run out of 11 more often. They instead choose to mainly run when in 12, with two tight ends joining two wide receivers and a back on the field. But much like when in 11, they should be doing the opposite of what they are doing. The Browns average 8.7 yards per pass attempt and 4.5 yards per rush in this formation.

Since Kareem Hunt joined the team following a suspension to start the season, the Browns have made a concerted effort to get both him and Chubb on the field at the same time. This is evidenced by their use of 21 personnel since Week 10. The Browns have turned to this formation on 13% of their offensive snaps, and have averaged 7.3 yards per pass attempt and 7.0 yards on the ground.

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