Baltimore Beatdown
Cleveland Browns (3-10)
The Browns put together one of their best offensive performances of the season last week but still came up short of a victory. Their stingy defense surprisingly gave up 31 points and 184 rushing yards to the Tennessee Titans at home. That overshadowed their offense totaling over 400 yards and 22 first downs.
Cleveland was stymied on the ground, gaining just 61 yards on 20 carries. Quinshon Judkins (26 yards on 14 attempts) was shut down by the Titans’ defensive front. Shedeur Sanders, albeit completing only 55% of his throws, posted a career-high 354 passing yards with three touchdowns and another 29 yards rushing. The Browns had a chance to tie the game late but botched a two-point conversion try with a minute remaining.
If Sanders and the passing attack’s season-best showing can carry over into this week, they could challenge the Chicago Bears at home. It won’t come as easy, though, as the Bears are playing for postseason positioning and have a takeaway-happy defense. Also, the Browns are on the road instead of at home.
Running the ball more efficiently will be important to protect the football and sustain possessions. The Browns’ defense also needs to do a better job against the run. That will be a tall task against the Bears, who rank second in the NFL in rushing yards per game on the season.
Baltimore Ravens (6-7)
The Ravens lost a second straight divisional matchup on home turf last week, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers by five points (27-22). Baltimore was on the wrong end of some highly questionable officiating calls that proved costly, but that’s far from the sole reason for their defeat. The Ravens played incomplete football in all three phases, which has been a recurring theme for much of the year.
Offensively, the Ravens had just two scoring drives and nine total points in the first half. When they started sustaining drives and scoring more in the second half, their defense struggled to get stops to give the offense a chance to take the lead. On special teams, a missed extra point and two penalties were less than optimal. All of this played a part in the team falling to 6-7 and losing their division lead.
With no margin for error remaining, the Ravens are seeking to right the ship and avenge their Week 13 loss to the Bengals this coming Sunday. Lamar Jackson seemed to find some life last week, which will hopefully carry over into Cincinnati. Jackson and the Ravens’ offense struggled two weeks ago versus the Bengals, who are still plenty vulnerable defensively, so a bounce-back performance is more than possible.
On the other side of the ball, the Ravens have struggled to slow down Cincinnati’s offense in their past several matchups. They had more success in the first half in Week 13 but still wound up surrendering 32 points. The Ravens need to do a better job of generating pressure on Joe Burrow and containing Ja’Marr Chase,...
