You'd be stupid not to be preparing for the worst this Sunday. The Browns have looked bad so far, and now the injury list is lengthy. Baltimore is healthy and has demolished two suspect opponents. I'd say the Browns clearly fall into the "suspect opponent" category.
Of course, I would love nothing more than for the Browns to deflate the Ravens just as the entire country seems to be jumping on their bandwagon. A week ago I thought the Browns would fall to the Bengals but still have a good shot at upsetting the Ravens. I don't think that anymore. There's too much going wrong for the Browns and too much going right for the Ravens. But I'm still hoping for the best...
So here is my BEST CASE SCENARIO.
- Frye comes out looking reasonably sharp. That is, he throws the ball where receivers can catch it and stand a chance of running down the field.
- The Browns target Edwards and Winslow down the field. Run fly patterns and fades to Edwards. Even if he doesn't catch the balls it ought to force the Ravens safeties to help out. And frequently send Winslow up the middle of the field. You still have to have Winslow run short routes most of the time, but I'd target the deeper range routes often enough to keep the Ravens honest.
- Move the pocket. Frye responds well on the move so I'd move him around early in the game to get him sharp. It's okay if he has to throw the ball away at first. Once Frye sees how the Ravens will defend that kind of play he can figure out how to beat it. you have to put Frye in position to make some plays on instinct. It's our biggest potential advantage this game.
- Use playaction early and make quick passes off the playfake. We have to do something to keep the opposing linebackers on their heels just a bit.
- On some passing plays, change the blocking schemes so we get an o-lineman or two on the ravens LBs. Even if that means potentially letting the Ravens DL get penetration, I think Frye can evade those guys much more effectively than fending off a charging Ray Lewis. In fact, I'd say targeting Ray Lewis and bowling him over once or twice early in the game would loosen things up quite well.
- Continue to play a lot of zone coverage. There's really no other choice, at least early in the game.
- If we are in a zone, consider not putting Ralph Brown in the nickel slot. He might play better on the outside. At least he shouldn't fall down as much.
- If we play any man, put Leigh Bodden on Derrick Mason because he's their best route runner.
- Dress Willie McGinest. Heck, I'd consider telling him he's gotta play no matter what. I get a feeling something strange is going on here.
- Let one linebacker be the pass rusher on any given play, and give him the freedom to line up anywhere he wants. I know it sounds kind of stupid, but I think it would be more effective than whatever else we've been doing so far.
- Browns get a modest early lead, not enough to be conservative but enough to play with confidence. Along the way we find out that we don't suck as bad as we fear. And we get to see Ray Lewis lose his helmet on a Kellen Winslow hit, Braylon Edwards outleap Chris McAllister, and Charlie Frye cooly evade the rush to hit guys running 10 yard crossing routes.
- Browns win 23-17.
- I can't think of much else. It's Friday. Time to go home and chill.
One other thing... Browns fans are #1 -- according to
www.bizjournals.com. I guess that is cool. But frankly the reason Browns fans rank so highly in these types of surveys is because the team sucks. It's not necessarily an award you want to receive.