CLEVELAND — After a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football last week, the Cleveland Browns are ready to get back into the win column, and they will face quite the challenge within the AFC North Division.
The Browns (1-2) will open their AFC North schedule with the defending division champions, the Baltimore Ravens, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in a rare early-Sunday afternoon start for Cleveland this season.
Despite their 1-2 record following the 20-13 loss to the Rams, the Browns find themselves just one game out of a first-place tie with the Ravens, who like Cleveland, is coming off of a loss, a 33-28 setback against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium last week.
“Big division game this week,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said after breaking down film of the Ravens. “Baltimore is playing really good football. Everything we do in this division goes through Baltimore. They are the defending champs of the division.
“We are looking forward to the challenge. It will be a physical game. They always try to create that. We want to form our identity to do the same thing.”
Here are three things to watch for in today’s game between the Browns and Ravens.
Strong rushing attack
The Ravens’ physical style of football starts with their desire to run with the one-two punch of quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Mark Ingram II.
Jackson has completed 63 of his 100 attempts (63.0 percent) for 863 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception. The elusive Jackson has been sacked just six times for 33 lost yards, and he has added 172 yards and one score on 27 carries.
Currently, Jackson is top five in the NFL in passing touchdowns, quarterback rating, yards per attempt and 20-yard completions.
Ingram has gained 257 yards and scored five touchdowns on 43 carries, including three scores in the loss to the Chiefs, and has caught six passes for 62 yards this season.
“They have done a great job with Lamar and his skill set,” Kitchens said. “He has improved as a passer.
“Everything kind of runs through him and Mark. Mark has come in, stepped right in, kind of takes on our mantra of being physical. He is a downhill, physical-type runner that can make you miss in space, so we have our work cut out for us defensively.”
Browns’ level of focus
The Browns are not where they want to be.
Not with the record, within the AFC North Division standings or with a consistent level of production from the offense, but heading into today game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, nobody is hitting the panic button yet.
“I am not panicking,” Kitchens said. “I am not panicking about anything about our program. Our program is going to stay the same and is going to continue to evolve and continue to get better. That is the way we are going to approach it. That is the way it was in March. That is the way it was during the spring. That is the way it was during training camp. That is the way it is going to be during the season.”
The Odell Effect
The only time Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. shared a football field with the Baltimore Ravens, it was memorable for him and changed how defenses have focused ever since.
Beckham Jr. reached a career high when he converted eight receptions into 222 yards and two touchdowns in helping the New York Giants to a 27-23 victory over the Ravens at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on October 16, 2016.
Late in the third quarter, Beckham Jr. caught a 75-yard pass from quarterback Eli Manning, but he was not done with the second-half heroics.
With less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation and the Giants down by a 23-20 count, Beckham Jr. caught a pass and took it 66 yards to the end zone for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
“They played a lot of one-high man-to-man,” Beckham Jr. recalled. “That’s why that doesn’t happen much. I’m just too confident in me, like, ‘I’m going to win, and if you play me man-to-man all game…’ The worst part about me is you could do great all game, and then, one play, it’s going for 90, and that hurts.”