Joe Woods Stayed True to Himself Against Ravens, Defense Shined in Pivotal Victory
The Cleveland Browns defense has gotten better over the course of the season because they've stayed true to the vision defensive coordinator Joe Woods established for this group at the start of the season. Despite playing twice in three weeks, the Browns defense remained steadfast in their approach and the Baltimore Ravens had trouble finding ways to beat it.
Outside of a few elusive scrambles and pinpoint passes from backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, the Ravens struggled to move the ball and sustain drives.
The Browns used the same philosophy as the first game, which is consistent with their season overall. Operating largely out of Cover-3 and Quarters, they paired their man coverage calls with blitzes to change tendency, keep the opponent honest and forcing them to get ball out quickly in long yardage situations.
While teams like the Miami Dolphins utilized a heavy blitz scheme to stifle the Ravens and frustrate Lamar Jackson, the Browns opted to try to contain him and allow him to make his own mistakes.
In the first game, the Browns capitalized with four interceptions. The second, they largely just tackled the ball short of the line to gain until he suffered the injury which knocked him out of the game.
Their generalized approach proved prescient as it allowed them to defend the Huntley-led offense without changing their game plan.
The Browns only allowed the Ravens to convert one third down conversion out of twelve opportunities in the game. Including the three fourth downs they converted, it still only adds up to a 25 percent conversion rate on money downs.
The Browns used quarters to combat the Ravens passing game more than any other coverage, per data from TruMedia and PFF. On 18 drop backs, Ravens passers completed 13 of 15, but only producing 82 yards with a long of 14.
The Ravens completed passes, but they were tackled quickly, preventing them from doing any meaningful damage. On first down, the Ravens were seven of nine for 37 yards with a long of 12, setting a tone for numerous drives.
The Browns saw 13 drop backs against Cover-3, allowing six of ten passing for 82 yards and generating a sack. This is the coverage in which Greedy Williams was beaten on a deep pass to Rashod Bateman on the left sideline, netting 36 yards, the longest offensive play of the entire game for the Ravens.
Averaging 8.2 yards per attempt, it drops down to 5.1 without that deep completion. Huntley placed the pass well, Bateman made the catch and they deserve credit. The coverage from this look was sound.
Woods is pretty averse to utilizing Cover-0 and the numbers bear out why. They called it, bringing blitzes on five pass attempts. The Ravens completed three of them for 52 yards, averaging 10.4 yards per attempt.
It's worth pointing out that Woods tends to only utilize this look in long yardage situations with the goal of forcing the ball out of the quarterback early and making the tackle. It largely did that, but they yielded a 30-yard pass as well. It can be effective, but comes with risk.
Woods is far more comfortable utilizing Cover-1 to blitz opponents while still having the security of a deep safety as the last line of defense.
It was more effective than Cover-0. The Browns gave up a 32-yard pass to tight end Mark Andrews in this look, but Ravens passers were otherwise six of eight for 14 yards and two sacks. This is the coverage the Browns were in to seal the victory as Denzel Ward recognized the route combination and tackled the receiver almost as soon as he got the ball.
The other overarching point with the Browns defense is why they don't blitz all that often. In this game, the Browns blitzed 10 passing calls, 19.6 percent of the passes overall.
When blitzing, the Browns surrendered six completions on nine attempts, registering one sack. Included in those six completions were passes that went for 32, 30 and 20 yards. That adds up to 86 yards and the Browns gave up 90 in total when they sent extra pressure.
It's an all or nothing proposition for the Browns. It may have its uses but they are not consistent enough covering behind it to use it with regularity. That is something they may be able to improve with more time and in the future, but they are far more sound when they drop more players into coverage.
Against coverages where the Browns didn't send extra pressure, the Ravens had one explosive pass in 41 drop backs, completing a 32-yard pass. Overall, the Ravens passers completed 25 passes on 33 attempts for 181 yards, getting sacked three times. That's only 5.97 yards per attempt, dropping to 4.65 when removing the one deep completion.
Critics may not like that the Browns don't send extra pressure, but the defense is simply better when they stay back, forcing opponents to beat them. It may not be the optimal approach against teams with quarterbacks that can sit back and carve up the defense, but that certainly was not the case against the Ravens.
Woods put his group in the best situation to succeed and the group shined, continuing to improve under his leadership. They were good enough on that side of the ball to win the first matchup and carried the team to victory in the second.
