Baltimore Ravens vs Cleveland Browns: Game Preview

I summed this Browns’ team up pretty well with my article on Tuesday, but I didn’t exactly explain what the matchups will be like.

Don’t be surprised if it’s low scoring, for two reasons: One, both of these teams have among the better defenses in the league, and although both possess solid offenses, the defenses should be overpowering. The second reason is that whenever AFC North rivals play each other, the games are always close.

Quarterback Brian Hoyer has done a good job for Cleveland through the first two weeks of the season. Not great, but good. Believe me, Browns’ fans will be just fine knowing that they have a solid QB under center, because they haven’t such a player in quite some time at that position.

Here are the big questions though: How good is Brian Hoyer, and how long will he be the starting quarterback for the Browns?

The first question will take care of itself. As for the second, you all know who I’m referring to – Johnny Manziel. The Browns drafted the Texas A&M standout with the 22nd overall pick in this year’s draft and have yet to use him significantly. He has received less then ten snaps this year and most of his snaps were runs.

Here are the big questions: How good is Brian Hoyer, and how long will he be the starting quarterback for the Browns?

It will be interesting to see what Brian Hoyer can do against the rejuvenated Ravens’ secondary. The Ravens will have all four of their starting cornerbacks playing for the first time this season. The big name returning on Sunday will be

, who injured his back on the second day of training camp and has been absent since then. He is likely to play against Cleveland.

I think the Ravens’ secondary shouldn’t have such a hard time against this Browns offense which contains a solid quarterback and very few weapons. Without Josh Gordon for the first ten games, they will have to rely on Miles Austin to be their number one receiver for the next eight weeks. Trust me, that’s not a scenario in which the Browns would like to be in.

With that being said, I expect the Ravens’ secondary to put up their best performance yet against these weak Browns’ receivers.

However, although the Ravens’ defensive line has been fantastic through the first two games, they will be going up against one of the best offensive lines in the league. Joe Thomas and Alex Mack are both two of the best at their position. Who will win the battle of the big guys – will it be Haloti Ngata and Brandon Williams or Joe Thomas and Alex Mack?

You can’t really take any of this stuff too seriously though, because when the Ravens travel to Cleveland, all that is thrown out the door. No matter how much better one team looks or one team is, these two teams find ways to keep it close in almost all of their competitions.