The Baltimore Ravens get a chance for a little revenge in Week 16. They’ll take on the Cleveland Browns, the last team to beat them this season (back in Week 4). Not only can Baltimore right a wrong, but they can also clinch the No. 1 seed this week.
With such an important game and one against a division rival currently in flux, I wanted to get some insider information on what’s going on. So I turned to Browns Wire managing editor Jeff Risdon to get the scoop on what Cleveland has going on this season and what they could be looking at this offseason.
1) Cleveland has been arguably the most inconsistent team in the NFL this season on both sides of the ball. Why is that?
It’s patently unfair to pin everything on Freddie Kitchens, but the rookie head coach has his tentacles in every level of the Browns’ failures in 2019. The team has the NFL’s best running back in Nick Chubb but Kitchens will go several series without using him. They have Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. but throw more designed passes in the red zone to Demetrius Harris. They’re a poorly coached team far too often.
Defensively, injuries and the Myles Garrett suspension have definitely been factors. They played one week with just four of their Week 1 starters on the field and will be missing at least three this Sunday. The entire pass rush was built around Garrett and with him and Olivier Vernon gone, it’s fallen to pieces.
2) With the Browns continuing to struggle, there has been talk about frustrations growing among key players. Do you think that’s something that can be repaired or is the damage already done and we’ll see some larger changes this offseason?
This is another key area where Kitchens has dropped the ball. He’ll say he’s not going to address stuff like Beckham’s reported quotes or Baker Mayfield spouting off, but then he’ll spend the next 10 minutes talking about it. There is no discipline structure and the players don’t appear to respect Kitchens. A stronger, more experienced coach would fix a lot of these types of things.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be changes to the roster. A couple of the more divisive personality forces almost have to be subtracted. Beckham is not one of those, however.
3) Baker Mayfield has not had a good season, throwing an equal number of touchdowns to interceptions. How can the Ravens force more of the latter?
That’s a good question. Mayfield has had some terrible luck with some of the picks; seven of them (he’s got 17 total) have hit his targeted receiver in both hands and still wound up going the other way. He tends to put the ball more up for grabs when pressured from his right, not his left. Mayfield is good at escaping to his right but when the pressure is from that side he will tend to fall off his throws and panic a little.
4) In the second matchup of this season, what do you expect the Browns to do differently defensively to rein in Jackson and Baltimore’s offense this time?
The first meeting went well for the Browns defense because Garrett and Vernon played fantastic on the edges. Garrett is suspended and Vernon is on the doubtful side of questionable to play as of Wednesday with his lingering knee injury. Safety Jermaine Whitehead had his best game in Cleveland in the first matchup but he’s now gone after making racist terrorist threats toward fans. It’s been that kind of weird in Cleveland . . .
So I don’t know how the Browns will contain the presumptive MVP to be honest. They did just play a lighter version of Jackson in Kyler Murray, but the line couldn’t do anything and the safeties were dreadful at reacting quickly to the run vs. pass and on the QB keepers. It should be another prolific day for Jackson.
5) What’s your final score prediction and which Cleveland players have the biggest positive and negative impact on the scoreboard?
The Ravens had no answer for Nick Chubb in the first meeting and they still don’t. He and Kareem Hunt together have been very, very good. As long as Kitchens remembers that, the Browns are going to score some points. But the Ravens will score more unless guys like Chad Thomas and Mack Wilson really play out of their minds on defense. Ravens pull away, 33-21.
