We rank #25.  But we've played some tough defenses, Rams 3rd, Titans 6th.  The Ravens are ranked 16th right now, but we know they've got some good players on D (they're #2 against the run).

We're currently ranked 9th on D...but we've got a bunch of injures in our secondary.  The DLine is going to have to play well for us.

Difficult matcbup for us at this point in time.

Thanks anyway.

Sorry that I cannot nail down timing for you, but in your all-22 look do you remember the pass (left of left hash, medium length... maybe 15 yd downfield) where Baker "missed" Landry (IIRC) in a hole in the zone?

I had the impression live that Baker threw to the center of the "hole" and Landry ran past it putting the incompletion more on Landry than Baker.

Can you confirm or correct?

@tour2ma said:

TJ played well against the Rams. PFF has him graded out #2 on our team... with Murray just a hair behind him. And Murray is just behind Ward in number of snaps played... albeit due to his ST roles.

@sdbacker80 said:

 TJ specifically for most of the game bailed on the 10-15 yard out and in cut and played off the WRs. 

A classic view in all 22 of TJ doing both..Plays after 4:38 in 3rd quarter..Carrie did what Backer80 posted.. than, Very next play, Carrie gets the pick on a great jump on throw, playing off again.. edit::come on Doc, get at least 1 on the field ?

@tour2ma said:

Either will need help over the top. I see us playing a lot of single-high (due to absolute must of stopping the run), but shading to M. Brown's side. But I'd actually prefer Greedy with his extra length in that role.

With the deep help in mind, then I can see at least one of our backups having a good chance as well. TJ played well against the Rams. PFF has him graded out #2 on our team... with Murray just a hair behind him. And Murray is just behind Ward in number of snaps played... albeit due to his ST roles.

I too like Greedy better in the game I think his length could frustrate a guy like Brown.

Our Second team secondary while it was a great story.  The numbers could have been worse the Rams were not in sync all first half and they had guys open.  TJ specifically for most of the game bailed on the 10-15 yard out and in cut and played off the WRs.

This is a front 7 stay discipline game.  Gregg Williams D is the last thing you want to roll out against the Ravens o.  Gregg gave up a guy 20-25 deep to prevent the deep ball.  That guy needs to be at 10 following Jackson around.  And you don’t dial up pressure up the gut.  You do a controlled blitz maintain your gap and your DEs need to funnel Jackson inside to help where your backers need to be. 

Looking back we didn’t have a chance last year.

so hopefully our QB stops tweeting and plays a game and Kitchens calls some plays and the O gets on track.  This is winnable which is why I asked not one reasonable mind “expert” believes we can win-  shocking to me 

@gumby73 said:

I'd favor Ward covering that speed demon over Greedy, but we need one of them, imho.

Either will need help over the top. I see us playing a lot of single-high (due to absolute must of stopping the run), but shading to M. Brown's side. But I'd actually prefer Greedy with his extra length in that role.

With the deep help in mind, then I can see at least one of our backups having a good chance as well. TJ played well against the Rams. PFF has him graded out #2 on our team... with Murray just a hair behind him. And Murray is just behind Ward in number of snaps played... albeit due to his ST roles.

@sdbacker80 said:

Not one “expert” has picked the Browns this week.

i know the offense hasn’t put it together yet, but are the Ravens that much better? 

listening to those guys is like putting Jiggins on downers ... My real hope is that Denzel Ward can play..Greedy would be a bonus.. Wilks could still play loads of fronts as, 6-1/5-2/4-3 fronts or chase the chosen one with 6 DB's like the Chargers did in playoffs.. all our DB's can tackle & run now, but Lamar also has WR Marquis Brown (dude can juke & fly)..I'd favor Ward covering that speed demon over Greedy, but we need one of them, imho. Cooks & Kupp wore what we had down late. Last season, Shobert & Randall lost jock straps being Lamar'd... but i saw lots of hope in Whitehead,Murray & Mack Wilson the last few weeks..We can most certainly win this game. first team to 24 could be enough..

@sdbacker80 said:

Not one “expert” has picked the Browns this week.

i know the offense hasn’t put it together yet, but are the Ravens that much better? 

No 

i know the offense hasn’t put it together yet, but are the Ravens that much better? 

Better play calls indeed

@lodilobo said:

Penalties are going to be a big factor in this game. That has been our undoing in both losses this season. We commit penalties at the worst possible time, then the refs will always pile on. We've seen it for years, and that's the one thing that hasn't changed with this team. The refs have always had some kind of vendetta, and probably get bonuses from the league if they cost us a game. I don't know why, but I know this is true. So, like the Titans game, if we commit a few penalties to break the ice, then we are screwed. We will always get blasted by the refs...calling holding penalties on almost every play, where the other team commits the same offenses, but it doesn't get called. If the penalty is a borderline judgment call, you can bet we will be penalized. This is the kind of thing that can ruin a season.

So, in one my lengthy semi-pointless diatribes I mentioned penalties as being paramount to our success.  One of the things Baltimore does is keep 3^rd down extremely manageable.  They do this by of course running the ball, but what many people might not realize is they have two of the top five rushers in the LEAGUE if you go by yards per carry.  Both Jackson AND Ingram are averaging a robust 6 yards a carry, and that’s borderline stupid.  So when the inevitable 3^rd and 2 arrives, you can bet your ass Baltimore has about 50 plays at their disposal to run AND they’re a threat to pass and run on 3^rd down.  They are truly a difficult offense to stop, especially as Jackson progresses (ahem, Baker.  Let’s progress too, alright?)

I mention penalties as being important, but not just us committing them, we need the refs to call them FOR US.  What I mean is, Myles Garrett was hog-tied by the LT AND the RT for much of the previous game, and I can’t think of maybe one time the Rams were called for holding.  Anyone who watches Myles regularly knows that he routinely gets mugged, but last week was a bit more egregious because some of the holds were just so obvious.  If the refs call the appropriate holding calls, this will put Baltimore behind the sticks, so instead of their usual 3^rd and short, they’ll have a much higher chance of 3^rd and long which drastically affects their offensive scheme.  (don’t get it twisted, Jackson can still very much pass for first downs, but you’d rather have THAT than try to stop them from getting a couple yards)

Speaking of behind the sticks, we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot with holding penalties, pre-snap issues, and especially silly, selfish penalties.  Playing Jackson is especially frustrating because he’ll gash you for a 20 yard run and then scamper out of bounds without being touched.  You can do everything right in the secondary, and then POOF.  20 yards by a freaking QB, and if you’re not careful, he’ll take it to the house.  He’s almost always going to be the fastest guy on the field, and that’s terrifying (well, maybe not THE fastest, but you know what I mean).

Who needs to play better this week for us to win BESIDES Baker Mayfield?  You might not expect this, but the answer is…NICK CHUBB.  “But Jiggins, we ran the ball pretty well last week, and Chubb was the only consistent offensive player!”  Well yes, but also not really.  Why?  Because Chubb didn’t break off a long run when we desperately needed a big play.  Now of course this is an unfair criticism, as running the ball takes far more than one guy, but last week Nick Chubb only broke ONE TACKLE.  That’s right, one.  That’s not enough, and if we’re going to win, we’re going to need our “old school” RB who is physical yet fast, and we need a homerun to take some pressure off.  Our offense is severely lacking in big plays, and if we didn’t play the lowly Jets, we literally wouldn’t have ANY BIG PLAYS.  Chubb is also trying to improve as a receiver, but several times he either ran the wrong route or didn’t run it correctly, so when Baker looked for him, he wasn’t there or he was too shallow/deep or whatever.  These are the learning curves of trying to make Chubb a 3 down back, and this is also a painful ramification of not having Duke Johnson. 

We’re one of the absolute worst teams in the league at converting 3^rd downs.  I’ve seen us screw up more 3^rd and shorts than ever, and I almost ASSUME we’re punting on 3^rd and 1 because it seems like we never get it.  Losing Njoku, Duke Johnson, and Higgins has severely hampered our ability to pick up short yardage first downs, and I can only hope we’ve done something about it this week…because if you continue to go 3 and out against the Ravens, they WILL wear your defense out, and then you have officially been beaten. 

@jiggins7919 said:

Remember that one year we lead the league in offensive pass interference but every other team scored using the rub play? Lol

Yup... we never mastered "subtle"...

Showed up in our screen passes as well.

@tour2ma said:

Couple points...

1. No team settles for FGs. It's a simple matter that the field compresses leaving less area to defend.
2. The art of the redzone play can be summed in one word: pick. The team that can subtly pick off a coverage man scores.

Of course, if you prefer you can use the word "rub".

Remember that one year we lead the league in offensive pass interference but every other team scored using the rub play? Lol

@jiggins7919 said:

Cardinals settled for FG's, and that's exactly what scares me because that's what we do. That being said, if we can figure out some red zone plays that work we can win. That's basically everything in the NFL. The teams that get 7 instead of 3 are the ones that generally win. 

Couple points...

1. No team settles for FGs. It's a simple matter that the field compresses leaving less area to defend.
2. The art of the redzone play can be summed in one word: pick. The team that can subtly pick off a coverage man scores.

Of course, if you prefer you can use the word "rub".

@jiggins7919 said:

I hope you're right! 2-2 atop the division would be something else! 

The rams we could afford. Not so much the division teams. Sure would be nice to see them break out of their slump

@sdbacker80 said:

I watched the cards game.  They gave up big chunk pass plays against the Cards if the Cards didn’t self destruct like they did and punch in a TD instead of FG they win.  They kicked three FGs under 25 yards.  You had Rookie QB two WRs over 100 yards one of those WRs wasn’t expected to play this year. Their offense is a work in progress like ours.

the Rats are missing Jimmy Smith.

the pass rush isn’t as vaunted this year and if you listen to the Rat fans they know that it’s missing. 

This is called opportunity 

Cardinals settled for FG's, and that's exactly what scares me because that's what we do. That being said, if we can figure out some red zone plays that work we can win. That's basically everything in the NFL. The teams that get 7 instead of 3 are the ones that generally win. 

@flyingfooldoug said:

We did take The defending NFC champs down to the wire. Plus you forgot to mention division foe. That seems to bring out a tough game face. And what the hell, we’re a better road than home team so far.  Do we win? History says almost. We got a fair shot at it

I hope you're right! 2-2 atop the division would be something else! 

@tour2ma said:

True... and he still ain't looking old...

One of the reasons he has been one of my favorites since his days at UT - he can step in and be effective in any system based off his mind and instinct.

He is the true centerfield heir to Ed Reed and I look forward to seeing him in the HoF one day.

@jiggins7919 said:

This is exactly the team you DON'T want to play when you desperately need a victory. Don't let the Ravens pass defense stats fool you, much of that is bloated due to the fact they played the Chiefs. People like to say the Ravens aren't good simply because they don't like them, but I can pretty much promise everyone that they're not only good, they're downright scary. 

They're scary because of their offense and their defense is physical as always. Even without Suggs and Mosley, they're still going to pressure a rattled Mayfield and probably cause several turnovers. Even scarier is our propensity to kick FG's and not even come close to getting touchdowns. Here's something else...every Ravens game I've watched has them starting off FAST. That's probably because it takes the defense some time to adjust to them and they score touchdowns quickly. I don't like the thought of our team down early, as that means Baker will press and that's a formula for disaster. 

You want good news? Well, the good news is that of we somehow win, we'll be first in our lousy division. That's pretty incredible considering how poorly we've played on offense. But if we don't figure out how to actually put points on the board, we can forget it. 13 won't work this week, and Baker must find a way to get his moxy back or the young season will turn old with the swiftness. 

I watched the cards game.  They gave up big chunk pass plays against the Cards if the Cards didn’t self destruct like they did and punch in a TD instead of FG they win.  They kicked three FGs under 25 yards.  You had Rookie QB two WRs over 100 yards one of those WRs wasn’t expected to play this year. Their offense is a work in progress like ours.

the Rats are missing Jimmy Smith.

the pass rush isn’t as vaunted this year and if you listen to the Rat fans they know that it’s missing. 

This is called opportunity 

@jiggins7919 said:

This is exactly the team you DON'T want to play when you desperately need a victory. Don't let the Ravens pass defense stats fool you, much of that is bloated due to the fact they played the Chiefs. People like to say the Ravens aren't good simply because they don't like them, but I can pretty much promise everyone that they're not only good, they're downright scary. 

They're scary because of their offense and their defense is physical as always. Even without Suggs and Mosley, they're still going to pressure a rattled Mayfield and probably cause several turnovers. Even scarier is our propensity to kick FG's and not even come close to getting touchdowns. Here's something else...every Ravens game I've watched has them starting off FAST. That's probably because it takes the defense some time to adjust to them and they score touchdowns quickly. I don't like the thought of our team down early, as that means Baker will press and that's a formula for disaster. 

You want good news? Well, the good news is that of we somehow win, we'll be first in our lousy division. That's pretty incredible considering how poorly we've played on offense. But if we don't figure out how to actually put points on the board, we can forget it. 13 won't work this week, and Baker must find a way to get his moxy back or the young season will turn old with the swiftness. 

We did take The defending NFC champs down to the wire. Plus you forgot to mention division foe. That seems to bring out a tough game face. And what the hell, we’re a better road than home team so far.  Do we win? History says almost. We got a fair shot at it

They're scary because of their offense and their defense is physical as always. Even without Suggs and Mosley, they're still going to pressure a rattled Mayfield and probably cause several turnovers. Even scarier is our propensity to kick FG's and not even come close to getting touchdowns. Here's something else...every Ravens game I've watched has them starting off FAST. That's probably because it takes the defense some time to adjust to them and they score touchdowns quickly. I don't like the thought of our team down early, as that means Baker will press and that's a formula for disaster. 

You want good news? Well, the good news is that of we somehow win, we'll be first in our lousy division. That's pretty incredible considering how poorly we've played on offense. But if we don't figure out how to actually put points on the board, we can forget it. 13 won't work this week, and Baker must find a way to get his moxy back or the young season will turn old with the swiftness. 

@tiamat63 said:

Re: the last bit about communication.  Earl admitted in off season camps how much more complex the BLT defense is compared to SEA.   This is especially a big deal because when you're back on a hash you have the field view.  You can make adjustments, calls and alignment changes as necessary.   But that becomes a hell of a lot harder when the language you communicate the changes in is no longer 2nd nature.    Things are passed around slower, inaccurately or sometimes not at all.

Absolutely - example of what you describe  is the OSU 2018 Defense.

They are one corner down - the other had a concussion last week and a free safety still feeling things out.  Along with a disappointing pass rush.  

Its time to get the offense on track. 

They really need employ tempo and RPO and make this secondary and pass rush think and work harder.