NFL Football
2013-11-03 - Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NFL Football
Sunday 3 November 2013 - Kick Off 4:25pm
9:25pm (British Time)
Preview
The Baltimore Ravens (3-4) would have been very happy with the timing of their bye as they had lost back to back games and 3 of their last 4 games to leave the Super Bowl Champions in a tough spot in the AFC North. With Cincinnati winning through that time, Baltimore had dropped behind in the race for the Division title, but the Bengals loss on Thursday Night Football has opened the door for the Ravens.
They will face the Bengals in Week 10, but they can't overlook another Divisional rival in the Cleveland Brown (3-5) who are not out of the AFC North Division race despite injuries piling up. Cleveland will continue with Jason Campbell at the Quarter Back position, but their competitiveness is a testimony to the coaching staff after many felt the Browns had given up on the season by trading away Trent Richardson.
Campbell has had some success in the NFL and he had a pretty good game against a legitimate Kansas City Defense last week in his first start after taking over from Brandon Weeden. The Quarter Back will have another challenging week behind this shaky Offensive Line that will be dealing with Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil up front and he will have to be careful in looking after the ball.
The Baltimore Defense has actually played well this season, aside from the blow out at Denver, even though they have lost some big name players from the team that won the Super Bowl in February. They haven't turned over the ball as much as they would like, but the pressure they are likely to get up front could force Campbell to press a little too much in this one.
Cleveland's Offensive Line has struggled to protect the Quarter Back and will have more issues with an immobile one like Campbell, but they have also been guilty of not opening too many lanes for the Running Backs. It is unlikely that Willis McGahee will punish his former team too much on the ground and it could be tough for the Browns to sustain drives.
The same could be said for the Baltimore Ravens Offense which has missed Anquan Boldin far more than the staff here would have imagines. Joe Flacco signed a big contract in the off-season, but he has found himself under a lot of pressure behind the Offensive Line, although there should be improvements with Eugene Monroe having a bye week to work out his Left Tackle duties.
Flacco won't have an easy day moving the chains in this one as Torrey Smith is likely to be blanketed by Joe Haden for most of the day and he just doesn't have a lot of other Receivers that he trusts. However, Flacco may just have a healthy Ray Rice for the first time this season and the Running Back is one of the better catching Backs in the NFL that will at least give the Quarter Back a safety valve.
Rice hasn't looked himself all season, but has admitted his injury earlier this year was worse than he let on but the bye week has allowed him to get back to full health. I am not sure we will see the best of Rice this week though in pure running calls as Cleveland have held teams to 3.7 yards per carry and are stout up front.
Head to Head
Baltimore have dominated the recent series between these teams and have won 10 in a row.
However, Cleveland will look to the game earlier this season which was close throughout and believe home field could turn things in their favour.
Prediction
This is a huge AFC North game which has a lot of Play Off implications, especially for the Baltimore Ravens who will be expecting to get back to the post-season. A win would give them some momentum ahead of the game with Cincinnati, while they would also own the tie-breaker over Cleveland going forward.
They can't afford to take the Browns lightly as that team is playing far more competitive football than anyone would have expected once they traded away Trent Richardson. Cleveland have also knocked off the Cincinnati Bengals at home this season and they have a legit Defense that matches up well with Baltimore's Offense.
Neither team will have sustained success in this one as far as I am concerned, but Joe Flacco is likely to make the bigger plays compared with Jason Campbell and a healthier Ray Rice could prove pivotal to the game.
John Harbaugh is also very strong coming off a bye and has his team well prepared to win that game and the Ravens have dominated the recent series between these teams. I hate how small the spread is because it looks a big trap, but I will back Baltimore to win and cover here.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Cleveland Browns 13-17 Baltimore Ravens
