This week 14 loss will surely leave a sour taste in your mouth. When Buck Allen scored a rushing touchdown to put the Baltimore Ravens up nine points over the Pittsburgh Steelers with just 6:44 left in the fourth quarter, a win felt like it was in the bag. ESPN had the Ravens win percentage at 91.2%, a near assured victory. Even with the Steelers driving the field with one minute left in the game, ESPN still put faith in the Ravens by putting their odds at 61%. However, the Ravens would ultimately lose by one point to their hated rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, thanks to a defensive collapse of historic proportions, confirming the idea that only one unit, offense or defense, can play well at a time. Losses like this one should give Ravens fans hope for the future that the Ravens can do well in the playoffs, but should also give pause because the quarterback landscape of the playoffs will only get tougher for a secondary that was just shredded for over 500 yards. At this rate, the playoffs will be tough. Fortunately for the Ravnes, though, they are not the Cleveland Browns.
At some point, you really do have to feel for the poor Cleveland Browns. With only three games left in the season, the Browns play the Ravens and Steelers, almost guaranteed losses, and the Chicago Bears. Sitting currently at 0-13, this very well may be the second ever winless team in NFL history in addition to the 2008 Detroit Lions. Under Hue Jackson, the Browns could quite possibly have the worst ever two year stretch in NFL history by going a combined 1-31. Really, Baltimore- at least we are not the Cleveland Browns.
Without further ado, let us take a look at the key storylines that will help the Ravens avoid embarrassment by not losing to the winless Browns.
Key Storylines
Can the Ravens Contain Josh Gordon After Failing to Contain Antonio Brown?: It is absolutely no secret at all that the Ravens had a little bit of a problem trying to cover Antonio Brown on Sunday Night Football against the Steelers. In fact, it was Antonio Brown who ultimately put the Steelers in position to win the game. On 3rd and 4 from the Steelers 36, Ben Roethlisberger found Brown deep down the right sideline for a gain of 34 to set up the game winning field goal. It was a continuation of Brown’s huge game in where he finished with 11 catches for 213 yards.
We all know that Antonio Brown is widely considered to be the best receiver in the entire NFL, but that does not make him necessarily the most difficult to cover. That title, if the Los Angeles Chargers’ Casey Hayward is to be believed, belongs to the Browns very own Josh Gordon. Standing at 6’3” and weighing in at 225 pounds, Gordon is significantly larger than Brown and with 4.5 speed, Gordon has the speed to get deep. Essentially, think of Julio Jones or DeAndre Hopkins size and physicality, but take away a lot of the polish and replace it with much higher upside. Simply put, Gordon is good… really good. And he is damn near uncoverable when he is on his game, which after three years off, fortunately is not happening, yet. However, the Ravens seem to have a knack for letting players find their groove. Remember, in 2013, Gordon was a first team All-Pro after finishing with over 1600 yards and nine touchdowns in just 14 games, so he is very capable of taking over a game. Will that be the case on Sunday for Josh Gordon?
How Does the Offensive Line Bounce Back Against Myles Garrett?:
Ronnie Stanley and Austin Howard have generally been really great this season for the Ravens offense, especially as run blockers. However, there have been a few hiccups on the season, including against the Pittsburgh Steelers where Stephon Tuitt and TJ Watt both beat on the Ravens tackles like oversized drums. Between the two Steelers pass rushers, they amassed 12 total pressures and Watt’s infamous strip sack. It just adds to Stanley’s five total games of allowing at least three pressures in a game.
The Ravens will definitely need Stanley to have one of his four games this season where he has allowed just zero or one pressure if they have any hopes of containing Myles Garrett. For just a second, let us take a trip down memory lane. Do we all remember when Jadeveon Clowney was at South Carolina? Do we remember the hit against Michigan and the immense hype that came with him into the 2014 draft? Well, at the time, I vividly remember a lot of people saying, “If you think Clowney is good, wait for Myles Garrett. He is only a true freshman now, but wait until he is in the NFL.” Clowney was an incredibly rare and unique specimen as a pass rusher and Garrett is supposed to pass that as the Andrew Luck of pass rushing prospects. That is the type of match up that Stanley is having to look forward to on Sunday. With three pressures in seven of eight games and five sacks on the season, Garrett has the absolutely potential to be a game wrecker early in his career. For all our sanity, let us hope that it is not on Sunday against Ronnie Stanley and Joe Flacco.
Can the Ravens Avoid Losing to Yet Another Winless Team?:
Here is a little bit of not so fun history for you all that will have absolutely no meaning in this game on Sunday… until it does have meaning.
Back in 2007, going into week 15 of the NFL season, the 4-9 Baltimore Ravens were traveling down south to take on the Miami Dolphins, coached then by future offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. The Dolphins sat at 0-13 and were looking like quite the sorry team who would get beat down in most of the games that they played that season. But, as mentioned before, the Ravens have a strange way of giving these teams the help and boost that they need to do well. It was on that day that the Dolphins would earn their one and only win of the 2007 season.
In truly ominous fashion, the Ravens are playing the 0-13 Browns in week 15 of the NFL season. The only difference is the Ravens are sitting at 7-5 in the thick of the playoff hunt and are not starting Kyle Boller at quarterback. Still, there has to be a slight level of concern in the back of the minds of the coaches and players so that they do not have a repeat performance of 10 years ago.
Final Score Prediction:
Bad defensive performance aside and the rest of the 2017 season aside, the Ravens and the Browns generally play each other really close. Even in what ended up being a 14 point win for the Ravens in week 2, the Browns looked highly competitive when Cody Kessler came in for a brief stint at quarterback. The Browns are 0-13, but that never really matters when the two division rivals play.
Final Score: Cleveland Browns: 21, Baltimore Ravens: 27
At some point, you really do have to feel for the poor Cleveland Browns. With only three games left in the season, the Browns play the Ravens and Steelers, almost guaranteed losses, and the Chicago Bears. Sitting currently at 0-13, this very well may be the second ever winless team in NFL history in addition to the 2008 Detroit Lions. Under Hue Jackson, the Browns could quite possibly have the worst ever two year stretch in NFL history by going a combined 1-31. Really, Baltimore- at least we are not the Cleveland Browns.
Without further ado, let us take a look at the key storylines that will help the Ravens avoid embarrassment by not losing to the winless Browns.
Key Storylines
Can the Ravens Contain Josh Gordon After Failing to Contain Antonio Brown?: It is absolutely no secret at all that the Ravens had a little bit of a problem trying to cover Antonio Brown on Sunday Night Football against the Steelers. In fact, it was Antonio Brown who ultimately put the Steelers in position to win the game. On 3rd and 4 from the Steelers 36, Ben Roethlisberger found Brown deep down the right sideline for a gain of 34 to set up the game winning field goal. It was a continuation of Brown’s huge game in where he finished with 11 catches for 213 yards.
We all know that Antonio Brown is widely considered to be the best receiver in the entire NFL, but that does not make him necessarily the most difficult to cover. That title, if the Los Angeles Chargers’ Casey Hayward is to be believed, belongs to the Browns very own Josh Gordon. Standing at 6’3” and weighing in at 225 pounds, Gordon is significantly larger than Brown and with 4.5 speed, Gordon has the speed to get deep. Essentially, think of Julio Jones or DeAndre Hopkins size and physicality, but take away a lot of the polish and replace it with much higher upside. Simply put, Gordon is good… really good. And he is damn near uncoverable when he is on his game, which after three years off, fortunately is not happening, yet. However, the Ravens seem to have a knack for letting players find their groove. Remember, in 2013, Gordon was a first team All-Pro after finishing with over 1600 yards and nine touchdowns in just 14 games, so he is very capable of taking over a game. Will that be the case on Sunday for Josh Gordon?
How Does the Offensive Line Bounce Back Against Myles Garrett?:
Ronnie Stanley and Austin Howard have generally been really great this season for the Ravens offense, especially as run blockers. However, there have been a few hiccups on the season, including against the Pittsburgh Steelers where Stephon Tuitt and TJ Watt both beat on the Ravens tackles like oversized drums. Between the two Steelers pass rushers, they amassed 12 total pressures and Watt’s infamous strip sack. It just adds to Stanley’s five total games of allowing at least three pressures in a game.
The Ravens will definitely need Stanley to have one of his four games this season where he has allowed just zero or one pressure if they have any hopes of containing Myles Garrett. For just a second, let us take a trip down memory lane. Do we all remember when Jadeveon Clowney was at South Carolina? Do we remember the hit against Michigan and the immense hype that came with him into the 2014 draft? Well, at the time, I vividly remember a lot of people saying, “If you think Clowney is good, wait for Myles Garrett. He is only a true freshman now, but wait until he is in the NFL.” Clowney was an incredibly rare and unique specimen as a pass rusher and Garrett is supposed to pass that as the Andrew Luck of pass rushing prospects. That is the type of match up that Stanley is having to look forward to on Sunday. With three pressures in seven of eight games and five sacks on the season, Garrett has the absolutely potential to be a game wrecker early in his career. For all our sanity, let us hope that it is not on Sunday against Ronnie Stanley and Joe Flacco.
Can the Ravens Avoid Losing to Yet Another Winless Team?:
Here is a little bit of not so fun history for you all that will have absolutely no meaning in this game on Sunday… until it does have meaning.
Back in 2007, going into week 15 of the NFL season, the 4-9 Baltimore Ravens were traveling down south to take on the Miami Dolphins, coached then by future offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. The Dolphins sat at 0-13 and were looking like quite the sorry team who would get beat down in most of the games that they played that season. But, as mentioned before, the Ravens have a strange way of giving these teams the help and boost that they need to do well. It was on that day that the Dolphins would earn their one and only win of the 2007 season.
In truly ominous fashion, the Ravens are playing the 0-13 Browns in week 15 of the NFL season. The only difference is the Ravens are sitting at 7-5 in the thick of the playoff hunt and are not starting Kyle Boller at quarterback. Still, there has to be a slight level of concern in the back of the minds of the coaches and players so that they do not have a repeat performance of 10 years ago.
Final Score Prediction:
Bad defensive performance aside and the rest of the 2017 season aside, the Ravens and the Browns generally play each other really close. Even in what ended up being a 14 point win for the Ravens in week 2, the Browns looked highly competitive when Cody Kessler came in for a brief stint at quarterback. The Browns are 0-13, but that never really matters when the two division rivals play.
Final Score: Cleveland Browns: 21, Baltimore Ravens: 27