The GameDay Opening Drive 11/16: Protect Home Turf Against the AFC North
Browns host the Ravens today aiming to even the season series.
The Browns run it back with Ravens today in the second of their annual rivalry matchups. The Ravens comfortably won the Week 2 battle 41-17 in Baltimore and the Browns aim to try and even the score. Across Kevin Stefanski’s Cleveland career he’s only been swept by the Ravens once, back in his initial 2020 campaign, so he will try to get back on track today.
The Ravens come in winners of their last three in a row and aim to get back to .500 while the Browns try to snap a two-game skid that track backs three weeks. Plenty on the line for both sides today as the Browns try to right the ship amidst internal pressure and the Ravens attempt to get back closer to the Steelers atop the division. Should feel like a good “old school” battle in cool weather on the lake.
Inside the weekly GameDay Opening Drive you will get all the pieces of information paired with your GameDay Podcast to enhance your Sundays with this team.
GameDay Preview Podcast: Week 11, Browns vs Ravens
We’re back for Week 11 with your GameDay edition of the Browns Film Breakdown Podcast where you get all all the pertinent information available including stadium weather, television coverage, all-time series notes, FanDuel picks, injury updates, uniform selections, and much more. We also share our thoughts on key focus areas for the game as the Browns t…
So, sit back, pour some coffee, turn on the best pre-game Browns song known to man, and enjoy a fresh delivery of crucial Week 11 information from yours truly.
Cleveland weather should play a subtle factor in this one. Expect temperatures in the low-to-mid 40s°F with breezy conditions and a chance of light showers during the late-afternoon window. Cool, slick conditions could favor the more physical rushing attacks and impact kicking accuracy.
The Browns and Ravens history obviously isn’t as lengthy as many others because of the obvious reasons. As we know, the teams didn’t get to meet until the Browns arrived back in the NFL, AFC Central division at the time, and the Ravens were a wrecking ball by 1999. The results have been rough as the two have met twice each season since that return.
The Ravens lead the all-time series now 38-15-0 due to their win in Week 2. Overall, Kevin Stefanski is 4-7 against the division rival since his arrival in Cleveland.
This parlay on FanDuel gets us some nice odds without the boost but this morning you can lock in another 25% profit boost and get some better odds. We are once again leaning heavily on the tight ends, as trusting the receivers to be targeted is tough enough, let alone actually producing. We did like the low two reception number for Tillman and then a couple Ravens who are expected to get targeted as well. Nothing too risky but a solid payout if the teams can produce some average offense.
The Browns will wear their usual AFC North home game fit when they rock the orange pants and brown top. I will never hate on the orange pants — too clean. At this point, if they didn’t wear this combo for a home game inside the division I would be stunned.
The Ravens basically only bring two modern combinations to their road games against the Browns — purple pants or black pants. They never really wear the all-white look in Cleveland. Last year they wore the purple pants in Cleveland but today they return to the black pants combo. I prefer their purple pant combo personally.
Let’s quickly revisit last year’s Browns win over the Ravens in their Week 8 battle. The Browns were coming into this one in a similar spot: disappointing season with a quarterback change in full effect and a coordinator change as well. The Ravens were coming into this one 5-2 overall and winners of five in a row. The Browns went for 401 yards of offense on the day including 334 passing yards from Jameis Winston and a stellar seven receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns from Cedric Tillman. They also got 8/85 from Elijah Moore, 5/79 from Jerry Jeudy, and 5/61/1 from David Njoku. Those feel like foreign numbers to us this year.
It will take a repeat performance of strong offense in this one in order for the Browns to have a chance.
Catch us LIVE after the game on the Browns Film Breakdown Show where we will cover everything Post-Game at 7:45PM on our YouTube Channel.
As always, Go Browns!
