When the Ravens defeated 38-6 Cleveland Browns In Week 1, it seemed like nothing would change in 2020 for these two franchises.
Baltimore, which finished with the best record of the regular season in 2019, was one of the favorites to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LV, while Kevin Stefanski He debuted as the 10th coach in Cleveland since 2004 and, at least in that first game, it seemed that not much was going to change in one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL.
Thirteen weeks later, the narrative is completely different for both teams.
The Ravens finally snapped a three-game losing streak after beating the Dallas Cowboys to improve to 7-5, which has them third in the AFC North Division.
After a outbreak of COVID-19 who left out several starters, including the starting quarterback Lamar Jackson, Baltimore regained some of its DNA in that win over Dallas with 294 rushing yards, including 101 of Gus Edwards, 94 from Jackson and 71 from rookie J.K. Dobbins.
The second place in the sector belongs to Cleveland (9-3), which enters Week 14 with morale through the roof after beating the Titans, 41-35 in Tennessee.
On Monday night, the Browns host Ravens in the game where Cleveland can shake off the stigma of being a perennial loser and establish itself as a contender in the American Conference.
To do this, Stefanski’s team must be able to replicate what was done in Tennessee against Derrick Henry.
The Browns defense limited the league’s leading running back to 60 yards rushing and four touchdown passes from Baker Mayfield In the first half, Cleveland built a 38-7 lead, and so the final score can be misleading.
On Monday, the Browns host the team that runs the ball the best. Baltimore averages 169 rushing yards per game (5.17 per play) and that backfield is a four-headed monster., with Jackson (669 yards, 4 touchdowns in 2020), Edwards (487-4), Dobbins (451-4) and veteran Mark Ingram (260-2).
But if the Browns manage to contain Baltimore’s rushing game, then they’ll face the worst passing offense in the NFL and it’s well documented that Lamar Jackson doesn’t have a good time when asked to be a pocket quarterback.
And Stefanski would like nothing more than to force Jackson to throw the ball. Last week, the Cleveland forward welcomed him back to defensive end. Myles Garrett, who missed two games after becoming infected with COVID-19. At the Tennessee game, Garrett had only one sack, but he rushed Ryan Tannehill all afternoon.
Monday Night’s duel can turn into a running back battle.
The Browns have the second-best running offense, with 157.8 yards per game.
Nick Chubb he averages 6.0 yards per carry and is fifth in the NFL with 799 yards, despite missing four weeks with a knee injury. Your partner in the backfield Kareem Hunt, add another 739 yards.
Unlike the Ravens, Cleveland has options if its running attack doesn’t work.
Mayfield finished with 334 passing yards in the campaign-highest victory over the Titans. The controversial Browns quarterback has 11 throws to the end zone and zero interceptions in the most recent five, and since Oct. 25 he has had 156 passes without being intercepted.
You have to give credit to Stefanski, whose 9-3 record is the best among the five rookie coaches at 2020. That’s also the best mark for a coach in his first 12 games with the franchise since Blanton Collier (9-3) in 1963.
But neither he nor his team will have credibility if they don’t defeat the Ravens in prime-time on Monday, who have won three of the most recent four in this rivalry.
“I said it after the first game of the season, that it was a good football team.”said John Harbaugh, the Ravens’ coach. “It was very easy to see where they were going and what they were building. They are a good football team. And from then on it was a good football team ”.
So good that, starting Monday night, many might call him, for the first time in many years, a “contender.”
