3 keys to victory for the San Francisco 49ers in week 5 vs. Browns

With the final practice being conducted today for both teams, it is now clear which players will be active on Monday night. That allows us to give you an accurate three keys to victory for the San Francisco 49ers against the Cleveland Browns.

Monday Night Football has been pretty underwhelming so far through a quarter of the NFL regular season. Ever since the opening week, it has just been poor matchups after poor matchups. It kind of makes you wish that the NFL allowed these games to be flexed out.

Luckily for football fans, this Monday night will not be a low end game. The San Francisco 49ers will look to improve to 4-0 against the Cleveland Browns who are coming off their most impressive win of the season. The Browns have not lived up to the hype, whereas the 49ers are creating their own.

This is a great chance for the 49ers to show who they are on primetime and the only way to do so is by following these three keys to victory.

Continue to keep the offense balanced

What has led the offense of the San Francisco 49ers to be so lethal is how balanced they are. They don't favor just one aspect of the offense, which is why all of their counter and play-action calls work so effectively. It also helps that when they do dial up a run call that it goes for a significant gain. Running back Matt Breida is averaging 5.5 yards per carry, which ranks in the top 10 of all backs in the league.

I see no reason why that will not continue against the Cleveland Browns on Monday night. They are easily susceptible to these change of direction plays that Kyle Shanahan dials up. Their defense is undisciplined, though I am sure Browns' defensive coordinator Steve Wilks will hammer into his player's brains about it. Remember, Wilks was the Arizona Cardinals coach last season and swept the season series with 49ers. He knows the right formula to crack the code of the 49ers' offense.

However, that does not mean that red and gold should just abandon their identity. They must continue to stay balanced and get all of their players involved like they always do. From there, they can adjust and adapt to what they are seeing from Wilks and his defense. Whatever they are throwing at the 49ers, Shanahan will figure it out and do what he does best, which is counter.

Give support to rookie left tackle Justin Skule

For the second game in a row, a key to victory for the 49ers is to give support to Justin Skule. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Skule actually managed well on his own and only had some support every now and then. However, the pass rushers of the Steelers are of a much lower tier than the Browns. Skule won't be facing the same edge rusher over and over like how he did with Bud Dupree.

He will see matchups with both Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon because Steve Wilks has them switch sides on different plays. It's a smart strategy because it doesn't allow the offensive tackles to key in on an edge rusher's tendencies. Even so, it still would be hard for Skule to slow these guys down, especially Garrett who currently has the second most sacks (6) in the league. It really is a mismatch to have Garrett go against Skule.

Vernon is a tough matchup as well, but he doesn't compare to Garrett who is just a destructive player. Kyle Shanahan must give him an ample amount of support in a variety ways. Adding an extra blocker, using George Kittle to chip and even going up-tempo to tire out them out. That is just a few ways to ensure sufficient pass protection for Jimmy Garoppolo. If Skule ends up being tossed around, then this will be tough sledding for the 49ers' offense to get anything going.

Disguise defensive coverages

Now it may seem like it should be obvious for a defense to always disguise their coverage, but the truth is not too many do. At least not constantly or consistently. Depending on who the quarterback is, there really isn't a need to do too much or "get cute". However, with Baker Mayfield coming into town this is the perfect opportunity for the 49ers' defense to utilize it so they can confuse him. Doing so will allow them to create their own opportunities.

Mayfield will think that a receiver will be open on their play, when in reality the open play isn't there because he read the wrong coverage. There is evidence that he does this because he tends to predetermine and force throws to his wideouts. His interception last week against the Baltimore Ravens is a perfect example. He instantly went to Jarvis Landry thinking the middle of the field was open. I have no doubt that he will try to do the same this week, especially seeing that Emmanuel Moseley isn't the typical starting corner.

He could even try to force it to Odell Beckham Jr. since the two haven't had a solid connection so far through four games. Disguising coverages can not only force Mayfield into a mistake, it could help protect Moseley a bit. Moseley will be a player that the Browns will want to test early on to see if he is ready to defend Landry and Beckham. It'll be interesting to see what Robert Saleh has in store for the offense of the Browns on Monday night.