By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Colt McCoy was enjoying a beautiful Thanksgiving evening until he flipped on the TV and witnessed the Ravens' defense sacking the stuffing out of 49ers quarterback Alex Smith nine times and making mincemeat out of premier back Frank Gore.
That was without linebacker Ray Lewis, who has missed two games with a foot injury and is questionable for Sunday's game.
"We've got a lot on our plate this week, a lot to handle," the Browns' quarterback said. "They're really good up front and they've pressured more than anybody we've seen. We understand they're a tough test for us and we've certainly got to be ready."
The Ravens' nine sacks -- which helped snap the Niners' eight-game winning streak -- tied a franchise high and catapulted them to the top of the NFL with 38 on the season. They're also tops in the league with 16 forced fumbles and second with 10 recoveries.
"You have to trust your guys," said McCoy. "You have to trust your running backs. You have to trust your offensive line to pick up the protection and you have to trust your guys to get open. We're excited about the challenge."
Fiercest among the Ravens' attackers is linebacker Terrell Suggs -- also known as Sizzle -- who owns the Browns. His 12 sacks against them are the most by any defender in league history and the most he has against any team. He has three multi-sack games against the Browns and has also forced seven fumbles -- his most against an opponent.
"Yeah, he's pretty good," said left tackle Joe Thomas, who will see plenty of Suggs. "It's the same thing every year when we play them. He's been doing it as well as anybody since before I got in the league, so it's always a good challenge."
The Ravens move Suggs around a lot, trying to create mismatches. Last week, he had three of the Ravens' nine sacks and has nine this season, tied for seventh in the NFL.
"They try to get Terrell Suggs on one of us, a running back, being that's a favorable matchup for them," said Montario Hardesty, who will return to action after missing the past four games with his calf injury. "We've got to know where he's at and move our protection to account for him."
One of the keys, said center Alex Mack, is for McCoy to make lightning-quick decisions.
"We need to run our offense well, know which guy we're blocking and then get the ball out," said Mack. "When you hold the ball and try to make things that aren't there, a couple of the sacks [against the Niners] came from that. If the ball gets thrown, there's no sack. It's hard to block everybody all day long."
Mack knows he'll have his hands full with two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, who has five sacks.
"From an eyeball's perspective, you can see he's enormous, so I mean he's a big guy with a lot of power and then he also moves well, which is a bad combo," said Mack.
All the pressure up front enables safety Ed Reed -- the notorious Browns killer -- to wreak his havoc on the back end. Reed picked off McCoy twice last December in a 20-10 Ravens victory and has 10 interceptions against the Browns -- more than against any other team.
"Ed Reed in my opinion is the best safety in football and one of the best safeties ever," said tight end Evan Moore. "His ability to the play the ball in the air and play physical too, he's about as good as it gets at that position.
"He's a threat in all phases. He can defend the pass, defend the run, he can blitz, he can do it all."
McCoy knows full well that he has to account for Reed on every play. He threw three interceptions in that game, his lone start against the Ravens, and earned a 27.0 rating.
"You can't get caught sleeping and trying to throw a quick route and not know where he is," McCoy said. "For me as a quarterback, that's obviously the first importance this week."
The Browns hope to counter with a healthy running game, bolstered by the return of Peyton Hillis and Hardesty. Hillis pounded the Ravens for 144 yards in the first meeting last year, but was held to 35 in the second meeting.
"We know that we have to approach this game with an aspect of being physical and aggressive and getting ready to go out there and hit them in the mouth, because you know that they're going to bring it, too," said Hillis.
The Ravens remain wary, despite Hillis' down season.
"He has a lot of pride, a lot of heart," said defensive end Corey Redding. "A lot of fight is going to come out of that man. So, whenever he straps on the pads, it's going to be war. He knows it, we know, so the best thing to do is go out there with the mindset of stopping it."
Added Suggs: "Everybody knows he is Peyton Hillis; he has the Madden cover. He likes to have good games against good defenses. I expect for the juggernaut to be up in there and try to run down some walls."
But there's no secret as to what the Ravens' game plan is.
"[McCoy] can obviously run. He can get the ball downfield," said Redding. "[We watched him] become a young Colt to a stallion -- a young guy to a big man. He's a very tough football player and he'll bring a lot of things to the game.
"We have to attack him and attack him early and get after him early and often. We have to take away his read, and when the ball is in the air, challenge him."
Tony Grossi’s Four Things on Ravens-Browns
- 1. The complete team? League leaders in quarterback sacks and average per rush on defense. Strong running game, yet capable of the quick strike with deep receiving threats and a quarterback able to put the ball on the money. Kicking specialists able to neutralize dangerous returners. If this isn’t the Ravens’ year to return to the Super Bowl, you wonder when it is.
- 2. Peyton Hillis and Josh Cribbs: Hillis has a chance to salvage something from this soap opera season with a big finish. He’s healthy and excited, and needs some big games to recapture interest in upcoming free agency. Cribbs took unwarranted flak all week for saying he’s “fed up” with losing. His intimation of unhappiness with his roles painted a bull’s-eye on himself. Plays from these two fellas would be very much appreciated by their teammates.
- 3. Why no letdown: The Ravens’ three losses have all come on the road to sub-.500 teams (at the time). Counting on a letdown Sunday is wishful thinking. There’s a reason the Ravens, Steelers and Bengals rarely, in recent years, lay giant eggs in Cleveland. Those division teams usually are locked in playoff races with each other and they know picking up an easy division win here is an absolute must to reach their destination. Nine times out of 10, the division team that loses here blows its playoff chance. The three rivals are 8-2 vs. Browns in Cleveland the past four seasons.
- 4. The streak: The Browns have yet to defeat a division rival with Colt McCoy at quarterback. They’re 0-2 vs. Cincinnati, 0-2 vs. Pittsburgh and 0-1 vs. Baltimore.
— Tony Grossi
-
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/12/can_cleveland_browns_keep_balt.html
No comments:
Post a Comment