Cleveland Browns Preview: These Baltimore Ravens Are Primed To Be Defeated

The Baltimore Ravens are primed to be beat, and the Cleveland Browns could deliver the blow, for the second straight time at FirstEnergy Stadium.

So, what makes this Ravens team so beatable?

First and foremost, there’s the Ray Rice noise. Sunday’s game marks the first time the Ravens have played a regular-season game on the road since the Rice video broke. On top of that mess, Friday’s report by ESPN.com stated the Ravens’ front office knew for months the explicit details of what happened in that elevator between Rice and his fiancee.

Normally, there’s no dearth of vitriol aimed from Browns fans toward the Ravens when the “Old Browns” visit the Lakefront. With that ESPN report dropping, the rest of the country will be rooting against the purple and black.

How much of a factor will this play? Time will tell, but a lot of front office folks with ties back to Cleveland (Ozzie Newsome, Kevin Byrne) have had their reputations sullied by the ESPN report. Remember, Byrne–the Senior VP of public relations– wrote this column with owner Steve Bisciotti’s blessing, and titled it, “I Like Ray Rice.” This was published after Rice was handed a two-game suspension, but before the video leaked on TMZ.

The Ravens announced they will address inaccuracies” in the story following the Browns game, but that won’t make the grey cloud hanging over the franchise disappear.

• On the field, Baltimore is running up against an uberly-confident Browns squad. In 2013, Baltimore wasn’t a strong road team (2-6), and lost to a Browns’ team quarterbacked by the forgettable Jason Campbell. That position has been upgraded with Brian Hoyer, who is coming off a Tom Brady-esque victory last week.

ESPN posted some pretty eye-opening stats on Hoyer, which showed the Cleveland native had a 112.2 QB rating when playing no-huddle ball, compared to a 74.9 rating when he huddles. Hoyer also completes more than 73 percent of passes when in the no-huddle. That number drops nearly 20 percentage points (54.7) when he huddles.

• Know how many yard Browns running backs rushed for during last November’s win against the Ravens? How about 42, thanks to Fozzy Whitaker and Willis McGahee. That position has been upgraded big time, with the emergence of “Baby Backs” Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell.

West is playing against his hometown team, and counts Ravens back Bernard Pierce as a mentor. The Towson product will undoubtedly have something to prove.

Sep 14, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine gets a gatorade bath after beating the New Orleans Saints 26-24 at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns won 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

Crowell passes the eye test every time he touches the ball. With a 5.4 yards per carry average on 16 attempts, Crowell’s future screams “feature back” every time he touches the ball.

• On the flip side, Baltimore hasn’t been all that dominant. Even after the smoked cleared from the Ravens 26-6 win against the Steelers in Week 2, the offense out gained Pittsburgh by just 22 yards ( 323-201). In Week 1, Baltimore gained more than 420 yards of offensive, but netted just 16 points in home loss to the Bengals.

• At running back, the Ravens have done well without Rice, who averaged 3.1 yards per carry a season ago–the worst of his career. In his place, Bernard Pierce and Justin Forsett have carried load and have combined for 239 yards through the first two weeks.

But Pierce has been inconsistent with just 17 yards in Week 1, followed by a 96-yard (22 attempts) effort in Week 2. He was limited in practice (thigh) Friday, and its unclear how much of a role he’ll play against the Browns.