Ravens vs. Browns key match up: Battle of the trenches

We have six days until the Baltimore Ravens take on the Cleveland Browns. That means we have six match ups to break down each day until it’s time ot have some fun. Today it’s the battle in the trenches:

The Baltimore Ravens play the Cleveland Browns in the season opener of the 2020 season. This is obviously a game that will be decided in large part by  what happens at the line of scrimmage. The Browns figure to be a run first team, one that just about a year ago had their way on the ground with the Ravens. The Ravens have a revamped front seven and that makes this critical match up incredibly interesting.  The Browns just drafted Jedrick Wills, so Baltimore will be facing a rookie offensive tackle. While Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield are still the quarterbacks and while Odell Beckham Jr. and Marlon Humphrey will keep doing battle, the fight at the line of scrimmage is going to be a very new one.

It’s going to be new on both sides. The Ravens will be starting a new player at right guard.  At the moment it looks like it could be Tyre Phillips, a third round pick from the 2020 NFL Draft. The last time the Baltimore offense faced Cleveland they obviously had Marshal Yanda.

The offensive line won’t be that changed however. The Ravens are still going to have Ronnie Stanley, Bradley Bozeman, Matt Skura and Orlando Brown Jr. doing their same jobs from last season.

For the Baltimore defense there are two clear goals in this game. First, they must stop Nick Chubb and the Browns’ rushing attack. Secondly they must prove that they can provide enough pass rush with the moves that Eric DeCosta pulled off this offseason. Making Mayfield deal with pressure is important. For the Baltimore offense the goal is to dominate up front the way they did all last season. Let’s start by breaking down the battle at the line of scrimmage when the Browns have the ball.