The Baltimore Ravens (8-4) face off against the Cleveland Browns (6-6) this Sunday at 1pm at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, and the Browns are out for redemption after losing to the Ravens just two weeks ago in Week 12, a slugfest in which Baltimore won 16-10.
With the Browns coming off their bye week, they’ve had an extra week to prepare for this re-match, likely focused on getting their offense back on track. Plus, this is the Browns last chance to keep their division title aspirations alive, so they’re sure to pull out all the stops.
Meanwhile, the Ravens are coming off of a tough loss against the Steelers, where we saw their defense implode. Not only that, but Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is enduring the worst stretch of his young career. And then there’s the cruel, near-weekly occurrence of devastating injuries to key players this season, most recently with star cornerback Marlon Humprey, who was ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
Despite it all, at Betway, the Ravens are +120 to win this week, and if that holds true, it would make it the Ravens fifth straight win against the Browns. But not all sports analysts agree, with many siding with Clevland:
Fansided’s Randy Gurzi writes: “Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland offense has been struggling mightily over the past couple of weeks, and that includes their 16-10 loss to the Ravens before the bye week. That defeat brought out a lot of negative feelings about this team but with a week to prepare, it feels like this is the game where they’re going to make a statement. Even if they can’t make it to the postseason, they can still prove that they have a lot of fight as they score a win 21-17 over the Ravens.”
SB Nation’s Chris Pokorny agrees, saying “Kevin Stefanski got the Browns to be 4-0 after their bye week last year, and with the Ravens’ setback with Humphrey and some time to gameplan, these odds might as well be a pick’em. I like the Browns, and it would put them right back in the division race with four more games to go, and a chance to take 1st place the following week.”
That said, I’m sticking by the Ravens, but I think it’ll definitely be a close game.
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