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Game Overview

Two teams that used to take up residence in the Dawg Pound are going to meet on the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football betting festivities in Week 4, as the Cleveland Browns take on the Baltimore Ravens.

This is going to be a tough draw for the Browns, knowing that they are already facing an 0-3 start to the season and now have to get ready for the Baltimore no-huddle attack with just three days of preparation. The defense hasn’t necessarily been the problem for Cleveland this year though, knowing that the team has allowed the same number of points that the Pittsburgh Steelers have. Offensively though, this is a significantly different story. The offense has just five touchdowns on the year though, and it is one of the worst units in the league. We knew that this was going to be a growing year for the Browns, as they are trying to groom QB Brandon Weeden and RB Trent Richardson. Richardson is only averaging 3.5 yards per carry, but he has clearly been the more effective of the two rookies. He has 175 yards on the ground and 65 through the air, totaling three scores. Weeden has a QB rating of just 60.5 this year thanks to his six picks, and he is only completing 56.5 percent of his passes. However, he has at least taken some major steps in the right direction after that first brutal game of the year against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Baltimore really just has to worry about complacency in this game. The team is 2-1 and is right in the thick of things as one of the favorites in the AFC for the second straight year. The defense has allowed a few more points than Head Coach John Harbaugh would have preferred, but we do have to remember that there have been some good offensive teams that have taken on the Ravens thus far this year. QB Joe Flacco isn’t quite in that elite discussion yet, but he did throw for 382 yards last week in the victory over the New England Patriots, including generating the game-winning drive at the death. Flacco has one of the three offenses in the game this year that is averaging at least 300 yards per game through the air, and that’s really, really dangerous for a team that also has RB Ray Rice to turn around and hand the ball to. Rice almost quietly has right around 400 total yards this year, and he feels like he is set for an explosion of a game.

Prediction

The problem that we have with the Ravens in this one though, is that they have to still be riding an emotional roller coaster. Between the revenge factor from last week against New England and everything involving WR Torrey Smith and the unfortunate death of his brother, Baltimore just has to be all over the place. It’s going to be hard to focus on the Browns. Don’t get us wrong; the Ravens will win this game. But they won’t win it by two touchdowns. Baltimore 23 – Cleveland 14