After a hard-fought matchup that resulted in a Week 1 defeat, the Cleveland Browns are ready to face off against another AFC North rival, the Baltimore Ravens.
After Baltimore had all eyes on them during Sunday night’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, quarterback Lamar Jackson and his lethal offense will be determined to get their first victory of 2025. Against the Bills, starting running back Derrick Henry carried the Ravens’ offense with his 169 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Lamar Jackson also did his part with three total touchdowns and 270 total yards of his own. Overall, it was hard to ask much more of a Ravens offense that put up 40 points on a playoff-contending defense.
Advertisement
On the defensive side, the Ravens will be much happier to face former longtime Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco than reigning MVP Josh Allen. The Bills quarterback was able to pass for 396 yards and two touchdowns on Baltimore’s defense, and did it all without throwing an interception. While that’s not the reputation they want to keep, Baltimore will do all they can to stop the Browns’ offense from doing the same. Also uncharacteristically, the Ravens’ defense allowed 108 rushing yards and three touchdowns to the Bills’ rushing attack—something the Browns would love nothing more than to repeat.
Before this Sunday’s matchup, let’s take a look at the five Baltimore Ravens players that Cleveland will have to focus on in Week 2:
QB Lamar Jackson
The Browns’ defense will have its eyes set on Lamar Jackson for all four quarters of this game. Even with their dominant running back Derrick Henry, Jackson still proves to be the most lethal threat on this Ravens offense. After an unbelievable 2024 campaign that could’ve won him back-to-back MVP awards, he didn’t miss a beat in Week 1 of 2025. Against the Bills, he managed to collect 279 total yards and three touchdowns—two passing and one rushing. This earned him a solid 79.2 overall PFF grade to open the season.
Advertisement
While stopping Jackson is easier said than done, the Browns have a talented defensive line that could be disruptive. Cleveland’s defense did a great job of stopping star Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in Week 1, but Jackson can be a much more difficult player to game-plan for. Expect a lot of quarterback contain from defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz as he tries to stop this Baltimore offense and its star quarterback.
S Kyle Hamilton
One player who can easily bring out an interception-prone Joe Flacco is 2023 All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton. He started the season off with a great first step, earning an NFL-best 93.4 overall PFF grade among safeties. While he’s not known to be an interception machine, his fantastic zone coverage abilities can force QBs to make some costly throws—which Browns fans know can quickly happen with Joe Flacco.
Despite the stellar play of Hamilton, the Ravens defense still managed to give up 41 points in Week 1. Even though the Bills are considered to have more spread-out talent, this shows that the Baltimore defense is definitely vulnerable. It would be smart to follow a similar game plan that can open up the defense for head coach Kevin Stefanski and his offensive scheme. We’ll see if avoiding Hamilton will be enough for the Browns to find some success on offense.
Advertisement
RB Derrick Henry
The biggest challenge of the day for Cleveland will be trying to stop one of the NFL’s best running backs, All-Pro Derrick Henry. The veteran back is coming off an NFL-best performance, where he led the league in rushing yards during Week 1 with 169. He also added two touchdowns during his unstoppable showing in a Sunday night matchup against the Bills. After holding the Bengals to just 2.0 yards per carry last week, the Browns now try to build on their success against one of the NFL’s biggest challenges: stopping Derrick Henry.
The Browns’ defensive line did an outstanding job of stopping the Bengals’ rushing attack early and often last week. After giving up a rushing touchdown on the opening drive, Cincinnati ended with only 49 rushing yards and what is expected to be a season-low 2.0 yards per carry. If they’re able to repeat anything similar to this, it could lead to multiple game-changing opportunities for the Browns’ offense this Sunday.
LB Roquan Smith
When looking for the top defensive threat in Baltimore, you have to consider Ravens star linebacker Roquan Smith. Against the Bills on Sunday night, he collected a whopping 10 tackles, which included 8 solo stops. This earned him an impressive 83.3 run-defense grade, ranking 10th among all NFL linebackers. With the Browns only averaging 2.0 yards per carry last week, Smith will be the main hurdle in trying to fix this problem on offense.
Advertisement
The Browns’ offensive line had a solid warm-up against the Bengals’ defensive line in Week 1. Veteran guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller led the Browns offense with 81.1 and 75.2 overall PFF grades. This was a huge part of Joe Flacco only being sacked twice in the contest, which was mainly due to his immobility in the pocket and the length of plays. If the Browns offensive line is able to keep Smith off Flacco, then it could open up the offense similar to last week against the Cincinnati Bengals.
WR Zay Flowers
After having the best wide receiver performance in the NFL in Week 1, it’d be ridiculous not to include Zay Flowers on this list. Flowers torched the Buffalo Bills‘ secondary on Sunday night, hauling in 7 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown. He had 108 more yards than the team’s second-leading receiver in the matchup. Luckily for the Browns, cornerback Denzel Ward and their secondary will still be facing similar or tougher competition than what he saw last Sunday.
Last week, the Browns were tasked with shutting down one of the NFL’s best passing attacks: Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins. After successfully doing so despite a defeat, the team is expected to follow suit with their game plan from last week and do all they can to shut down the Ravens’ passing offense. If Denzel Ward can handle Ja’Marr Chase, it’s expected that he can contain the talented Baltimore wide receiver as well.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: 5 Ravens players the Browns must focus on in their Week 2 matchup