The Browns defense is well equipped to defend the Ravens and Lamar Jackson, but he's special
After two weeks of dominance against underpowered defenses, Lamar Jackson came back down to Earth against the Kansas City Chiefs. That doesn't change the fact that the second year quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens looks the part of a true dual threat and poses a lot of potential problems for opponents.
The Cleveland Browns might be as well equipped to defend Jackson as any team in the NFL, but they'll have to go out and prove it on Sunday. What the Browns have that so few teams do is a defensive line with remarkable athleticism up and down the line and a pair of defensive ends that can play contain while getting pressure on the quarterback.
Myles Garrett is playing at an incredibly high level and he is terrifying for both offensive linemen and quarterbacks. Six sacks already through three games, he has tremendous power but the range and speed to give Jackson major issues.
Olivier Vernon has been a great pickup, playing both the run and rushing the quarterback, even if his box scores don't reflect it to this point. Lamar Jackson might be one of the biggest reasons the Browns went out and got Vernon, because he's an outstanding contain player that can get up the field, avoid getting stuck on a block, then find ways to get to the quarterback when they attempt to scramble to his side.
One of the issues that gave Jackson problems against the Chiefs was pressure from the interior. Chris Jones is as good as the league has to offer, but they also had other players get through the middle and basically fluster Jackson before he really had time to react.
The combination of having such tremendous edge rushers and the ability to pressure the interior could really make it difficult for Jackson to leave the pocket or find running lanes up the middle. Jackson is a special enough athlete where he'll find a lane at some point, so the linebackers have to be able to tackle him.
It wouldn't be a surprise at all if someone like Mack Wilson, Sione Takitaki or someone else is a dedicated spy on Jackson to specifically try to limit his ability to break the pocket and find yardage down the field, forcing him to beat the Browns with his arm.
The Ravens have a number of tight ends and Mark Andrews is the best of them. From a pure wide receiver standpoint, the guy the Browns have to be able to cover is Marquise Brown. This largely depends on health and the status of his hamstring, but Denzel Ward is the perfect corner to cover him. He has the agility and raw speed to follow him and limit his impact as a potential big play threat.
The Ravens offense provides a number of ways to try to confuse defenses and run the ball, which is challenging to deal with on a short week, but if the Browns focus on taking away Jackson as a runner and hit him whenever the appropriate opportunity arises, it could impact both the run and their passing game.
Similarly, being able to run the ball out of so many different looks also means they can set up playaction, so it's critical that players read their keys and not get fooled, because the Ravens have more big play ability than they have in years as Jackson is just better throwing the ball down the field and they have a potential gamebreaker in Brown.
The Browns have been tremendous defensively thus far in the year and defensive coordinator Steve WIlks has been great at gameplanning and with most of his calls.
For their part, the Ravens have a great coaching staff and a terrific offensive coordinator running this type of offense in Greg Roman. This will be a great chess match between the two, but the Browns should be one of the more difficult matchups that Jackson faces all year.
