The Ravens are a better team than the Browns, a team that looked like it ‘mailed it in’ at Arizona last week.
WHAT: Week 16, Game 15 at Cleveland Browns
WHEN: 1 p.m. (EST); Sunday, December 22
WHERE: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland (73.718)
RECORDS: Ravens, 12-2; Browns, 6-8
LIFETIME SERIES (regular season): Ravens lead, 30-11, but Cleveland has won two of the last three overall meetings. In Cleveland, the Ravens are 14-6 and were riding a four-game win streak there, and they’ve won in nine of their previous ten visits to Cleveland–until losing in overtime last season.
TV: Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, booth; Tracy Wolfson, sidelines
REFEREE: Alex Kemp
About the Browns
—Along with the Baltimore Colts and San Francisco 49ers, the Browns franchise was born as part of the All-America Football Conference in 1946. Cleveland won all four of that league’s championships. Since joining the NFL in 1950, the Browns have won 18 division titles and earned 24 total playoff berths (tied with Washington for the league’s eighth-most) in 69 full seasons. The Browns’ recent history has not been nearly as spectacular.
—The Browns are one of four franchises that have never appeared in a Super Bowl. The others are Houston, Jacksonville, and Detroit. Cleveland last won an NFL championship in 1964–two seasons before the Super Bowl was born. Cleveland hasn’t had a winning record since going 10-6 in 2007, a year when the team still missed the playoffs. The team hasn’t been to the postseason since 2002, which is their only playoff berth since returning to the league in 1999.
—The Browns are 0-3 in the modern-day AFC Championship Game, losing to Denver in 1986 (in “The Drive”), 1987 (in “The Fumble”), and 1989 (in “The Blowout’). Since returning to the league as a 1999 expansion team, Cleveland has no AFC North titles, has made just one playoff appearance (2002), and has had only two winning seasons (2002, 2007). The Browns finished last in the AFC North for seven straight years before 2018, last avoiding the cellar before that by going 5-11 in 2010.
—When the Baltimore Colts were part of the NFL, they met the Browns on 15 occasions, winning only five of those games and losing their last five straight matchups with Cleveland before moving to Indianapolis. The teams met three times in postseason play with the Browns winning the 1964 NFL title game at home, 27-0. The Colts returned the favor four years later, 34-0. That win put the team in Super Bowl 3.
—With Sunday’s intradivisional matchup being played in Cleveland, the game will continue a trend that saw the return match being played in Cleveland in three of the past five years. Despite that, the Ravens have swept this head-to-head series 12 times–including in three of the last five years. The Browns have recorded two sweeps (2001, 2007) and will be going for their third sweep this weekend. There have been six splits with the most recent occurring in 2015 and 2018.
—The Browns’ home venue is a considerable upgrade from the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. That stadium stood for over a half-century before being knocked down after the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996. The team’s current stadium was completed in just over two years at the cost of just under $300 million. The playing surface is made up of Kentucky bluegrass with a sand-soil root zone, and an underground heating system made up of 40 miles of tubing. The venue covers 1.64 million square feet on a 31-acre site.
—Cleveland had a tough early schedule, going on the road to play in Baltimore, San Francisco, New England, and Denver–and with a home game against Seattle in the middle of that run. Based on optimistic expectations for the Browns, the schedule was perceived to be easier down the stretch–with two games against Cincinnati, a date with the Dolphins, and a game at Arizona packed in the team’s final month.
—The Browns have lost two of their last three games after a 3-0 midseason stretch nearly got them back into playoff contention. Currently, Cleveland is eighth in the AFC standings, but are two games behind the final wild-card playoff spot (held currently by archrival Pittsburgh) with two regular-season games left. Cleveland stays alive in the playoff hunt only if it wins on Sunday.
—Statistically, Cleveland has characteristics of a mediocre team. The Browns have no significant point differential in any of the four quarters. Cleveland has committed 13 fumbles to the opponents’ 12 and has intercepted 13 passes while its foes have picked off 17. The per-game time-of-possession average is almost even.
—The Browns’ Achilles heel has been penalties. They committed 18 accepted infractions in a Week 1 loss to Tennesee, and the trend has continued. Currently, the Browns have been flagged for 111 penalties, the league’s fourth-highest total, and 15 more than Baltimore. The Browns’ 22 false starts are tied for the league’s second-most, and they have been called ten times for defensive holding. Individually, guard Chris Hubbard leads the team with eight penalties, while tackle Greg Robinson and cornerback Greedy Williams are tied for second with seven apiece.
—Through 14 games, Cleveland is ranked 17th in total offense (tenth rushing, 19th passing) and is averaging 21.2 points per game (21st in the league). The same is true of the team’s third-down conversion rate (18th) and the red-zone touchdown percentage (19th). On defense, the Browns are ranked 17th overall (27th vs. rush, sixth vs. pass), and are allowing 23.5 points per game, tied for 17th leaguewide. The Browns’ red-zone defense is ranked 19th, but the third-down defense has allowed conversions just 34 percent of the time–the league’s third-best figure (probably because teams haven’t faced nearly as many third-down situations against the Browns).
—Head coach Freddie Kitchens, a former college quarterback at Alabama, is one of six new head coaches around the NFL this year. He is the 17th full-time head coach in Browns’ franchise history. After being promoted from offensive coordinator in midseason, Cleveland finished in the top five in most major offensive categories, including fourth in total yards per game. Before arriving in Cleveland, Kitchens spent one year on the Dallas staff and 11 years with Arizona.
–Second-year quarterback–and 2018 top overall pick–Baker Mayfield is a 6-foot-1, 215-pound Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma. He didn’t play last year until Week 3 when he replaced an injured Tyrod Taylor. He finished the season, nearly breaking several Browns rookie passing records with a passer rating in the 90s. He has regressed this season, though, completing barely over 60 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, and a passer rating below 80. He has been sacked 34 times.
—On the ground, 2018 second-round pick Nick Chubb (35th overall pick and the cousin of Denver pass rusher Bradley Chubb) set the Browns’ single-season rookie rushing record last year. The previous record-holder was ex-Brown and Raven back Trent Richardson. This year–with the trade of pass-catching back Duke Johnson–Chubb has had to shoulder the workload. He is making that decision pay off, too, with over 1400 rushing yards, a 5.2-yard-per-carry average, and six touchdowns–including an 85-yard scamper in Baltimore. Chubb also has 36 receptions, third-most on the team. Former Kansas City running back Kareem Hunt served an eight-game suspension and is now the backup.
—The Browns’ receiving corps is not as deep as it used to be. But it has more marquee talent in the form of ex-New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., who burned the Ravens the only time he has faced them as a Giant (222 yards on eight catches). Beckham, who was mostly held in check in the earlier meeting in Baltimore, is second on the Browns with 67 receptions, a 13-yard average, and two touchdowns. Ex-Miami Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry leads the team through 14 games with 74 receptions, a 13-yard average, and five scores. Hunt has chipped in with 30 receptions.
—The Browns’ offensive line has allowed 34 sacks but has paced a solid running game all year. It was hit by injuries early in the season with the right tackle and ex-Pittsburgh Steeler Chris Hubbard missing some time, as well as backup tackle Kendall Lamm. Besides that, the unit is mostly made up of the same cast of characters with the newest member being fifth-year NFL left tackle and former Detroit Lions free-agent pickup Greg Robinson, who’s now in his second year with the team. The rest of the line has been constant with Joel Bitonio at left guard, Hubbard at right tackle (when healthy), and ex-Green Bay Packer starter JC Tretter at the center. The right guard was the only new face: 30-year-old seventh-year vet Eric Kush, now with his seventh NFL team, but he has been supplanted by Wyatt Teller, a second-year player from Virginia Tech.
—Cleveland gets a pretty good pass rush from its front four. As many of the team’s ten sacks have come from this unit and a team-high ten of them–including one in four straight games at one point–have been authored by defensive end and former first-round pick Myles Garrett, who is under suspension for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, interior rusher Larry Ogunjobi has added 5.5 sacks. He served a one-game suspension last month. The starting unit is rounded out by former New York Jets standout Sheldon Richardson and former New York Giants/ Miami Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon. In four career games against the Ravens, Vernon has 4.5 sacks.
—The Browns’ linebacking corps was hurt when Christian Kirksey, a veritable tackling machine, was put on injured reserve. But fourth-year middle linebacker Joe Schobert (team-high 79 tackles, team-high four interceptions, one fumble recovery) has taken up the slack. He is flanked by outside linebackers Mack Wilson (47 tackle, second on the team) and Adarius Taylor. Wilson, a rookie from Alabama taken in the fifth round this year (155th overall), is athletic and versatile as an occasional contributor on offense and special teams. Taylor is a five-year veteran from Florida Atlantic who played earlier for Carolina and Tampa Bay. Taylor started a career-high ten games for the Buccaneers in 2018.
—The Browns’ secondary had all four of its starters on the seven-man game-day inactive list for the first Baltimore game. That list included starting cornerbacks Greedy Williams and Denzel Ward, who were the team’s first-round pick the past two years. The same was the case with a fifth-year free safety and former Green Bay first-round pick, Damarious Randall, and strong safety Morgan Burnett, Randall led the Browns in tackles last year. Jermaine Whitehead and Eric Murray are the backup safeties, and reserve corner TJ Carrie (40 tackles, third on the team, one fumble recovery), who was plagued with penalties last year, is a key contributor. So is Juston Burris, a fourth-year safety from NC State, who has a pair of interceptions.
—Six different players have returned kickoffs for Cleveland this year, but the main specialist is Dontrell Hilliard, a second-year player from Tulane who went undrafted in 2018. He has 17 returns for a 24-yard average. The team is averaging 21 yards per return, while the coverage unit is allowing 20 yards per runback. On punts, Hilliard has returned 14 of them with nine fair catches and a nine-yard average. But wideout Jarvis Landry, while returning fewer points, has maintained a double-digit average for most of the season. As a team, Cleveland is both allowing and averaging about six yards per runback, which statistically is around the middle of the pack in the NFL.
—Undrafted free-agent rookie kicker Jamie Gilbert is the team’s new punter. He has had a steady season, putting 24 of 54 punts inside the coffin corner with five touchbacks. He is grossing 45 yards per punt and netting over 40, including a season-high 71-yard boot. As for rookie placekicker Austin Seibert, the fifth-round pick from Oklahoma (170th overall) is being counted on to settle down the revolving door at that position. He has had a good season despite missing three extra points. He has converted on 23 of 27 field-goal tries
Prediction
The Browns are, at best, an average team that is performing below that level. It’s always difficult to pinpoint why things have gone so wrong, but it is fair to say that the Browns’ rookie coach has had to deal with combustible egos in an organization that doesn’t know how to win.
That said, one of Cleveland’s six wins came against Baltimore. Baltimore, on the other hand, hasn’t lost since and is on the verge of sealing the conference’s #1 playoff spot.
The bottom line is that the Ravens are a better team than the Browns, and they should be able to dispatch the inferior, overrated Browns–even though the game is being played on the road. Yes, Cleveland is capable of surprises, but this is also a team that looked like it ‘mailed it in’ at Arizona last week.
Baltimore 34, Cleveland 17
