BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Containing Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is easier said than done.
Two weeks ago in Baltimore, the Browns managed to do just that.
Sunday afternoon with the first place Ravens swooping into town and the Browns’ season on the line, they are preparing for what they hope to be an encore performance.
“They are going to adjust, and so are we,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “That is kind of how it works in this game. They are going to go back and look at what worked and maybe some things that did not work so we are anticipating we are going to certainly see some wrinkles from them.”
In the 16-10 loss November 28, Cleveland limited Jackson to just 165 yards passing and 68 yards on the ground – 4 yards per carry.
Baltimore finished with just 302 yards of offense, Justin Tucker was forced to kick field goals of 52, 49 and 25 yards and the defense allowed 16 points or less for the seventh time in the last 10 games.
“I feel like we are a fast defense…at all three levels,” Woods said. “When you have that speed, you can close in space. I think they did a good job of executing the plan and trying to keep them in the pocket. When he did break through on a couple of runs, we were at least able to get him down before he got to break.”
Jackson threw four interceptions, and he has eight in the last four games combined.
“I think it's just forcing him into situations where he has to drop back and throw the ball,” safety john Johnson III said. “He's electric with the ball in his hands, that's not hard to see. Winning on first and second down and getting to those third-and-long situations [is key].
“I don't want to say he's forcing the ball, but it's kind of like you want him to throw the ball into those tight windows in those situations.”
Denzel Ward, who had one of the four picks, admitted it was disappointing to leave Baltimore without a victory considering how well the defense played.
“It’s always frustrating not to win the game because ultimately that’s what you plan to do,” Ward said. “We just need to play complimentary football and work as a team and find a way to get the win next time.”
When the Browns drafted linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, they had Jackson in mind. The vision being that Owusu-Koramoah’s speed and athleticism would allow him to move sideline to sideline and contain the former NFL MVP.
“He was easily the fastest guy on tape. He looks like a blur flying across the field,” Johnson said. “To take away an electric player like Lamar, you need a player like that just roaming sideline to sideline, so I’m glad he’s on our side.”
That second round pick, who registered a half a sack, tackle for loss and a QB hit in the first meeting with the Ravens paid dividends and the hope is he will continue to in matchups to come.
“He’s a great athlete, he’s a great competitor,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “He didn’t quit. I’ve never seen a quarterback throw as many interceptions and still keep going and still playing to the best of their ability. I applaud him on that.”
Jackson’s lone touchdown pass came on a broken play in which he was under duress and chased back near the 30 before heaving a 13-yard touchdown to tight end Mark Andrews.
“Bust,” Woods said. “Unfortunately, there were a lot of good things we did in that game, but there were a few plays we were capable of making and we just did not execute. Those guys are a good team. They are explosive. If you are just off a little bit, that is what can happen to you.”
All Myles Garrett, who could do was shake Jackson’s hand in admiration.
A few yards away a despondent Jadeveon Clowney, who spent the whole night chasing Jackson around to no avail, slammed his helmet to the turf in frustration.
“He showed his speed and he showed his length when he was chasing the quarterback,” Woods said of Clowney. “He did not catch him all of the time, but you see the pressure he applied. It was good to see.”
Andrews, who is second on the Ravens in targets (98), catches (64), yards (811) and touchdowns (5) this season is one Jackson’s favorite targets and the expectation is that he will be once again Sunday night.
“The tight end position is the quarterback's best friend,” Johnson said. “They're a big target, big catch radius, they can get mismatches a lot, so it's not a complete surprise that that's his favorite target, but just got to understand that that's where he wants to go, that's where he's been going and just play off of that.”
Ironically all four of the interceptions came on targets to Andrews with safeties coming away with three of them.
“It was just speed,” Johnson said. “All three safeties made big plays, got interceptions. That was a major feeling. It’s hard for two safeties to get interceptions, but all three got interceptions and JOK is running to the ball. It’s a good group to match up with pretty much any situation in the league, so I’m looking forward to it.”
The goal is to be even better than they were two weeks ago with an even greater attention to detail.
“The big focus this week is making sure that we plaster,” Owusu-Koramoah said, “making sure that we stay on our guys and not getting too much our eyes on the quarterback but more so our eyes on our man so that those plays don’t occur, so those touchdowns don’t occur. That’s something we’re trying to fix.”
