Surging Ravens Aim to Dodge a Letdown Against Struggling Browns
Amid a 1-5 start to the year, where everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Lamar Jackson and company in their first six weeks, the Baltimore Ravens have seemingly turned things around since their Week Seven bye. With key starters returning from injury and both sides of the ball starting to find their rhythm, the Ravens have climbed right back into the playoff picture. They now find themselves in the thick of the race for their third straight AFC North Division title, trailing the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers by just one game. Baltimore sits at 4-5 after winning three straight, while the Steelers dropped their most recent contest against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football. Entering Week 11, Baltimore concludes a stretch of three straight road games, with the final one coming against the 2-7 Cleveland Browns, who are coming off a Week 10 loss to the New York Jets. As the Ravens continue to dig themselves out of their early-season hole, they’ll need to avoid any major hiccups over the final eight games of the regular season.
The Ravens head to Cleveland to face a Browns squad that, particularly on defense, has given Baltimore’s offense fits in previous matchups over the past few seasons. Despite their poor record in recent years, the Browns have often played the Ravens tough, as shown by head coach Kevin Stefanski’s 3-2 home record against Baltimore since the 2020 season. Cleveland’s most recent home victory over the Ravens came just last year, when former quarterback Jameis Winston led the Browns to an upset win. This time around, rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, formerly of Oregon, will be under center, a matchup that defensive coordinator Zach Orr will look to exploit by confusing the young signal-caller and forcing mistakes. Baltimore’s defense is coming off a strong performance against Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy, where Orr’s creative blitz packages and disguised coverages kept the rookie off balance. Following another slow start to the season defensively, the Ravens’ unit has turned a corner since the bye week, thanks to key players returning from injury, the additions of Alohi Gilman and Dre’Mont Jones, and improved communication across all levels of the defense.
On the offensive side of the ball, Lamar Jackson is coming off back-to-back strong performances in which he methodically picked apart both the Dolphins’ and Vikings’ defenses. The 28-year-old appears to be regaining his rhythm following the hamstring injury that sidelined him for three games, no longer needing to rely on “Superman” heroics to carry the offense. Baltimore will hope to replicate its Week Two success against Cleveland, when Jackson threw four touchdown passes in a 41-17 victory that saw the Ravens pull away in the second half. A key for the Ravens will be avoiding another slow start, as allowing the Browns to hang around could spell trouble, especially with star edge rusher Myles Garrett capable of wreaking havoc in the backfield. If offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s unit comes out firing and executes efficiently, Baltimore can assert itself as the more complete team early. Should the Ravens play to their strengths, they’ll be in an excellent position to secure their fourth straight win and climb back to the .500 mark for the first time since Week Two.
