How to Attack the Browns Defense

The Browns' defense has been up-and-down so far this season.

They completely shut down the prolific Saints offense (10 first-half points due to a late touchdown), but they also let the Steelers gash them for 27 first-half points. Statistically, their lean periods have left them near the bottom of the league in team defense (27th in Defensive DVOA and 31st in yards per play), but the Browns' defense should not be taken lightly.

The Browns run a very complicated defense designed to disguise pressures and confuse the quarterback into throwing ill-advised passes.  This compliments an aggressive run defense focused on creating negative plays by penetrating with second level players.

The Ravens offense will have their hands full on Sunday.  The team will need a cohesive, communicative effort from their offensive personnel as the Browns tend to play a bit unconventionally in order to capitalize on undisciplined play.

Can the Ravens have success with their zone rushing attack?

The Browns base defense has a lot of beef up front with guys like Desmond Bryant, Ahtyba Rubin, and Phil Taylor.  This defensive front is primarily a traditional 2-gap 3-4 scheme where the three defensive lineman occupy a man (rather than penetrating a gap) to allow linebackers opportunities to fill down-hill.  Because of the muscle that the Browns boast up front, it will be difficult to provide vertical displacement in the run game.

Enter the zone blocking scheme.  The Browns had difficulty with zone blocking runs against both the Steelers and Saints.  Blowing defensive lineman off the ball is not a priority in the zone blocking scheme (although it's a plus).  Creating leverage via reach blocks and forcing slower defensive lineman to move laterally allows the zone blocking scheme to be successful. 

The bigger issue is the Browns linebackers. If the Browns have one philosophy for their linebackers (both inside and outside), it's "be aggressive."  Inside linebackers Karlos Dansby and Christian Kirksey are fast flowing players who fill gaps dynamically and shed blocks with zeal.  Ravens fans are familiar with Paul Kruger and know that he tends to make flashy run stops but also disappears too often.

Both Kruger and Mingo lack fundamental gap control and will slant inside gaps. This can be accounted for if they are the playside OLB but can cause havoc on the backside of zone rushing plays.  The zone scheme tends to leave the backside defender unblocked, so how can the Ravens account for this player crashing down the line of scrimmage?

One way is to continually (and unpredictably) use boot-action to eliminate the effect that the backside player has either by forcing him to chase the quarterback from behind on the current play or making him hesitate on subsequent rushing plays.

Another way to account for backside pressure on running plays is to block him using "split zone."

Kyle Juszczyk comes across the formation to cut-block the aggressive OLB Jason Worilds (#93)

Unfortunately, it's not just about blocking.  In the play above, Bernard Pierce and the Ravens are running Inside (Split) Zone where Pierce reads DE Cameron Heyward (#1; red) first. If Heyward flows outside, Pierce reads the leverage of the nose tackle Steve McLendon (#2; orange).

The blocking is solid (good leverage and some vertical displacement) but Pierce's vision and decisiveness is still questionable.  Instead of pressing the line of scrimmage in the playside A-gap and cutting back into the backside A-gap, he reaches his decision point (third step) and hesitates.  This allows McLendon (#90) to successfully 2-gap the center Jeremy Zuttah and play both A-gaps effectively.

This is an example of how the offensive line doesn't always "make" a running back. Often times it's the other way around. To be successful on Sunday, the line will need to block well and Pierce will need to make the correct reads/cuts.

Ultimately, the Ravens need to rely on their rushing attack.  The Browns have a tendency to stack the box (at least pre-snap) but it should not deter the Ravens from running the ball.  The Ravens can further gain a rushing advantage by using more 3WR sets and rushing against the Browns' nickel defense.

The Browns coverage philosophy may cause problems

In pass coverage, the Browns are primarily a man coverage team because they have the players to handle this (in relative terms). They use Joe Haden as their #1 corner while Buster Skrine plays #2 and bumps inside to the slot when rookie Justin Gilbert substitutes as the nickel corner.  At the safety position, they use Tashaun Gipson as the de facto free safety while Donte Whitner plays closer to the line of scrimmage.

The Browns use odd pre-snap formations and disguises to add a level of complexity to their coverage looks.  They will use strategies like placing linebackers in the A-gaps to feign blitz, and at the snap, drop them into coverage only to add secondary players to the rush.  This works to obscure pass protection responsibilities and take away simple "hot" reads when rushers are schemed free:

On this particular third down, the Browns are showing seven potential rushers.  The alignment on the back-end is Cover-1 with man coverage underneath. 

After the snap, the Browns bring an overload blitz to the Steelers' left. They've schemed it so that RB Le'Veon Bell and TE Heath Miller are forced to block rushers while RG David DeCastro (#66) and RT Marcus Gilbert (#77) are left blocking nobody. Additionally, the Browns have dropped two of their potential rushers into "robber" roles to take away quick inside breaking routes that could defeat the blitz.

The defensive play-call took away all of Roethlisberger's immediate options after his running back and tight end were forced to add to the protection scheme.  This left only one option, a deep throw down the right sideline which had to be (and was) a perfect throw-and-catch.

Joe Flacco has struggled a bit this season in recognizing blitzes and getting the ball to "hot" or short receivers.  He has uncharacteristically begun to "feel" pressure before it actually arrives and responds by releasing the ball with poor mechanics.  This has often resulted in inaccurate throws to a group of receivers who struggle to beat tight coverage.

Luckily, there are ways to beat this defense. For instance, the Browns' blitz-heavy scheme is gambling that their man-coverage will hold up on the back-end.  In order for Flacco and the Ravens offense to be successful, they need to run a good deal of quick-hitting patterns with simple reads attached to them.  In theory, this can get the ball out of Flacco's hands before he feels pressure while capitalizing on opportune mismatches.

Since the Browns matched Karlos Dansby in man-coverage versus Jimmy Graham on a number of snaps, we can expect that Pitta will thrive in this mismatch as well.  Fans have been clamoring to see Torrey Smith get the ball more often, but in this particular game, I think the prudent strategy would be to continue the approach from the Week 2 Steelers game and take advantage of underneath patterns (e.g. Y-Stick, Y-Arrow, F-Post/Texas, and Flanker Drive).  These types of patterns put the coverage linebackers in a bind and allow the Ravens to stay ahead of the down.  Third-and-longs are not a great situation for this Ravens offense, particularly against a team that doesn't hesitate to bring pressure.

Cleveland's secondary is above average at playing man-coverage but can be taken advantage of with smart route running. That means Steve Smith should be one of Flacco's top options if protection breaks down in front of him.

Notes on the Ravens Game Plan

• Pierce has had his struggles in the zone blocking scheme but he runs hard and tends to fall forward.  The Ravens will likely continue to use Pierce and Forsett in a "by-committee" approach although Forsett has been fantastic in zone runs this year. 
• The Ravens need to slow down the Browns' pass rush.  The offense should use a good deal of screens against the Browns.  The Browns linebackers tend to be very good screen defenders but calling screens to both sides (or using throw-back screens) can minimize the pass rush from the outside linebackers while confusing inside linebacker keys.
• Forsett has been very good at catching the ball out of the back-field.  Pierce is still stiff in this area, but since Forsett is a better blocking back as well, expect to see Forsett on third downs.
• The Ravens have historically (and recently) been unsuccessful with "draw" runs.  The tackles tend to release their rushers too soon to block up-field.
• The Ravens have shown that they'll use multiple players to cut-off the crashing back-side defender in zone runs ("split zone").  They'll use Daniels, Pitta, Juszczyk, and even Steve Smith.
• The Ravens offensive line is best-suited for "half-slide" protection where the back can "scan" and insert where needed while the lineman can "zone" against stunts.  The Browns will stunt/twist a good deal but they are very good at scheming edge rushers as well.  The offensive line will need to continue to mix up protection calls even if it puts the running back in a difficult position (i.e. blocking an OLB).
• Ricky Wagner has played admirably during the first two weeks of the season.  He has taken his lumps in pass protection, though.  Specifically, he tends to have problems with rushers who bull-rush with speed ("speed-to-power").  Both Kruger and Mingo are very good at speed-to-power rushes as they are both far from technicians.  Wagner will need to be protected by using chips, double-teams, and screens.
• Although Kubiak runs primarily zone runs, he has power/gap runs in his playbook as well.  The Browns' defensive line is too big and controlling to cause displacement without double-teams and are too large to "trap".  Zone runs should be the focal-point of the Ravens running game.
• SS Donte Whitner is used in many areas including man-coverage in the slot and on outside wide receivers.  Although Whitner is aggressive and camouflages his intentions well, he is not a man-coverage ace and can be exploited. 
• The Saints used a "go to" man approach against the Browns defense.  Their mismatch of choice was Jimmy Graham on a linebacker.  The Ravens can use tight ends successfully but Cleveland will show true double-teams (in/out) in order to force Flacco to go elsewhere.
• Although "heavy" personnel tends to favor the Ravens against most teams, they should look to use a greater proportion of 3WR sets versus the Browns.  Buster Skrine and Justin Gilbert are adequate corners but can be left on islands when the defense blitzes.  I would expect the Ravens to use Jacoby Jones and Marlon Brown more than they did against the Steelers.
• The Browns used Kruger and Mingo in man-coverage against tight ends and running backs at times.  If Flacco can recognize where his personnel has the advantage before the snap, he can more efficiently run this offense rhythmically.