Browns never owned a better record than the Ravens when meeting this late in a season – until now

Editor’s note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.

Four downs on Browns (9-3) v. Baltimore Ravens (7-5)

First down: Times a’changing.

Despite a record of 11-32 against the Ravens, some of the Browns’ most memorable triumphs in their expansion era have come against the former Browns franchise that Art Modell absconded to Baltimore in 1996. The Ravens still are the only team the Browns have defeated in a season opener (2004). They were the victims of the controversial Dawson Bar field goal in 2007, forcing the Ravens to return from a locker room celebration and lose in overtime. And just last season, the Browns inflicted their most lopsided victory of the series. Now the Browns, two games ahead of the third-place Ravens, have a chance to deal a heavy blow to their playoff chances. A loss by the Ravens may not eliminate them, but surely would demoralize them with three games to go. This is the first time in the 22-year history of the bitter rivalry that the Browns have the better record when meeting the Ravens this late in a season. In fact, only three other times have the Browns had a better record when playing the Ravens – and each was much earlier in the season. In 2002, the Browns were 2-1 and the Ravens 1-2 in an October meeting; in 2005, the Browns were 2-1 and the Ravens were 0-3 in October; in 2007, the Browns were 5-4 and the Ravens were 4-5 in November. And, of course, since the Ravens’ 38-6 win in this year’s season-opener in September, the Browns are 9-2 and the Ravens are 6-5.

Second down: Chasing Lamar.

The Ravens set out to develop their downfield passing game this year, and it looked scary for the NFL in the first meeting with the Browns in September. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was 20 of 25 for 275 yards and three touchdowns. He ran only 7 times (for 45 yards) because he didn’t need to. That turned out to be as good as it got for Jackson’s passing. After throwing 36 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions in his MVP season, Jackson is at 17 and 7 this year. (He missed one game on Covid reserve.) Although Jackson’s rushing totals are also severely down (1,206 and 7 touchdowns in 2019; 669 and 4 this year), the Ravens are offensively-dependent on Jackson’s legs to make things happen. Along with Gus Edwards and rookie J.K. Dobbins, the Ravens have overtaken the Browns as the No. 1 rushing team in the NFL. (Veteran Mark Ingram has been reduced to their No. 3 back). “The whole system again is built around [Jackson],” said Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods. “They do some very unique things in the run game. You have to be very, very sound. They really make you play gap responsibility football with a lot of stuff telling you to do something else. Their running game is very effective just because of the threat of him keeping the ball, as well as their ability to run it. All three of their backs, you can see that they run well, they all run downhill, they run with power and they can make you miss. It is very tough to deal with.”

Third down: No OBJ, no problem?

The state of the Browns passing game in the first meeting against Baltimore: Odell Beckham Jr. was targeted 10 times and caught 3 balls for 22 yards. On the first series of the second half, Baker Mayfield threw six times for Beckham. All six were incomplete, although Beckham drew defensive penalties on two of them. Beckham suffered a torn ACL on Oct. 25 chasing down Bengals defensive back Darius Phillips after Mayfield was intercepted throwing for Beckham. Since that pass – Mayfield’s first in that game against Cincinnati – Mayfield has not been intercepted. He is 102 of 156 (65.3 percent) for 1,347 yards, 11 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and a passer rating of 116.0. So I asked Chad O’Shea, Browns pass game coordinator and receivers coach, the question everyone is asking: Why does the Browns passing game look better without Beckham. His response: “That question is one I have never even thought about. What we have thought about is we try to tell our players and ask our players, ‘Let’s get better.’ The Odell injury happened when it did. Obviously, regardless of if Odell was hurt or not, we are going to ask our players to improve on a daily basis. That is all we ask of them is we need to get better. It is my expectation that this time of the year we should be better than we were at the beginning of the year or mid-year. It comes down to progress is made when you go out and you work extremely hard, which this group has done an outstanding job of working. When they put the time in and they invest in the preparation that they have, there is going to be improvement, regardless of who is out there playing.”

Fourth down: Fake punt revisited.

Two lasting images of the first Browns-Ravens game: Mayfield’s interception to end the first Browns’ offensive series and a failed fake punt to end their second. Since then, Mayfield has corrected his interception problem and the Browns have not attempted anything tricky on special teams. At least, not yet. This week, special teams coordinator Mike Priefer insisted the failure of the bizarre call – from the Browns’ 31-yard line with the Browns losing only by 7-0 early in the first quarter – did not moth-ball any future chicanery on special teams. “No, I don’t think so,” Priefer said. “We felt like we had a great opportunity there and if the punter [Jamie Gillan] stays outside he might have ran all the way to Cleveland, because we had a nice wall set up. It should have been a big play for us and we made a mistake. We have punt fakes in every week. We are always going to be ready for the right situation and whenever the head coach wants us to dial them up, we are ready to dial them up.” Bottom line: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Prediction: Browns 24, Ravens 16.

My record: 7-5.