Baltimore vs. Cleveland (BAL -8.5 44.5)
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Baltimore vs. Cleveland | Sunday, October 27, 2024
The Cleveland Browns will face a high flying Ravens team this weekend, in less than ideal circumstances. Quarterback Deshaun Watson, who carries not only an extremely controversial profile, but also a stunning $72 million cap hit in each of the next two seasons, is now out indefinitely with a confirmed ruptured achilles.
The team demoted Jameis Winston to third string at the weekend, meaning when Deshaun went down, it was Dorian Thompson-Robinson that came into the game. Cleveland traded away Amari Cooper the week leading up to the injury, and while they got Nick Chubb back, it feels as though the offense is waving the white flag several weeks too early in 2024.
The team is 1-6, while ranking 29th in points per game (15.6), 32nd in yards per game (253.9), 32nd in yards per play (4.0), and 32nd in third down conversion. In other words, they were the league's worst team in several categories before their franchise quarterback got hurt.
On the plus side, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz continues to get the best out of his unit, particularly in the secondary. The Browns have been forced to play a lot of defense this year, and yet still hold the number two record in completion percentage allowed, at just 58.79%. Still, they’re not taking the ball away in the pass game, with just 0.7 takeaways per game.
The division rival Ravens have the league's hottest offense right now, which will text this Brown's unit for four straight quarters. They are wearing teams down with Derrick Henry, while using Justice Hill brilliantly out of the backfield both in relief of Henry and in the screen/pass game.
Rashod Bateman just had a huge game in the Monday Night win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, catching four passes for an explosive 121 yards and a touchdown, as the Ravens once again put up 41 points.
That's the second time in three games they’ve scored 40+, and the fifth straight with at least 28 points on the board. Lamar was clinical against Tampa Bay, throwing 17 of 22 passes for 281 yards and a stunning five touchdowns, while Derrick Henry put 169 more rushing yards on the stat sheet in the win.
Henry’s addition to the Ravens offense has made them almost unplayable at times, and the star running back has now posted 130+ rushing yards in four of his last five games.
Unsurprisingly, the Ravens are the leagues #1 rushing team in just about every category. Posting over six yards per rush, over 200 rushing yards per game, and over 34 rushes per game too.
At 5-2, the Ravens are in some of the league's greatest form, and look to be one of the AFCs greatest contenders at the midpoint of the season.
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Ravens -8.5