This AFC North clash features key battles between specific players, units, and coaches.
The Baltimore Ravens will be on the road for a second straight game in Week 8 where they will travel to play the Cleveland Browns in an AFC North showdown on Sunday afternoon. For the seventh straight week, the Ravens are favored to come out on top in this clash of divisional rivals who are heading in different directions.
However, games aren’t won on paper or decided by betting odds. There are some pivotal matchups between individual players, units, and coaches that will go a long way in determining the outcome of this contest.
Below are a handful of those key battles that could be deciding factors in Week 8.
Ravens offensive line v. DE Myles Garrett
Baltimore’s starting blocking unit has come a long way since their struggles to keep elite pass rushers on opposing teams at bay cost them dearly in their 0-2 start to the season but they’ve greatly improved since. This week their collective task will be making sure that the reigning Defensive Player of the Year doesn’t have a similar seismic game-wrecking impact as Chris Jones and Maxx Crosby did in the first two games.
Garrett has been heating up as of late with all four of his sacks coming in the Browns’ last four games and his average time to pressure of 2.15 seconds is tied for the fastest mark in the league according to FTN Data. Since he primarily lines up on the offense’s left side, he’ll be locking horns with Ronnie Stanley who is having a resurgent season in which he is the only left tackle in the league with a minimum of 50 pass-blocking snaps who has yet to give up a sack according to Next Gen Stats.
If he has no luck going up against the Ravens franchise blindside protector, Browns defensive coordinator Jim Swartz won’t hesitate to move him around the front to try to find and exploit a potential mismatch. He might try to take a page out of Jones and Crosby’s book and attack the right side of the line where the Ravens are starting second-round rookie Roger Rosengarten and first-time starting guard Daniel Faalele. However, he still might find tough sledding against them as well as both players have continued to make positive strides in their respective developments seemingly each week.
Ravens cornerbacks v. Browns wide receivers
Baltimore’s defensive backfield is pretty banged up on the perimeter at cornerback with first-round rookie Nate Wiggins being ruled out with a shoulder injury and illness and three-time Pro Bowl veteran Marlon Humphrey listed as doubtful to play with a knee injury. With those two out and unlikely to play, their remaining outside corner options include fourth-year pro Brandon Stephens, third-year pro Jalyn Armour-Davis who was just activated from injured reserve after fourth-round rookie TJ Tampa was placed on injured reserve and undrafted rookie Bump Cooper Jr. who was elevated from the practice squad for this game.
Thankfully, the Ravens aren’t going up against a receiving corps with a true No. 1 or upper-echelon X receiver after trading away Amari Cooper prior to Week 7. The Browns’ top remaining wideouts who play on the side include fifth-year veteran Jerry Jeudy and second-year Cedric Tillman, neither of which has even reached 300 receiving yards through the first seven games. Even with Humphrey unlikely to play, the Ravens are well-stocked with slot options between veteran Arthur Maulet who is set to make his regular-season debut, fourth-year pro Ar’Darius Washington who can play multiple spots in the backend and third-year safety Kyle Hamilton who spends time in a hybrid nickel role depending on matchups.
WR Rashod Bateman v. CB Denzel Ward
While second-year wideout and Ravens leading receiver Zay Flowers is expected to play according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter despite only practicing for one day as he works through an ankle injury, the Browns top corner will likely shadow Bateman more often than not in this game. The fourth-year pro has recorded new season-high receiving yardage totals in each of the last three games including a career-high 121 yards on four catches last week in which he was on the receiving end of a pair of a 40-plus-yard bombs.
As impressive as his explosive playmaking ability was to witness, where Bateman has been the most sensational and dominant has been in gaining separation. The former first-rounder’s nuance and skill in this aspect of being a pass catcher has been elite to the point where he is getting open at the second-highest rate in the league with a separation percentage of 76.6% according to Pro Football Focus.
The WRs getting open at the highest rate this year pic.twitter.com/1IcYQ9x8hp
— PFF (@PFF) October 23, 2024
Not to be outdone, Ward is also having a phenomenal season in which the three-time Pro Bowler has been lights out in single coverage this season with a league-leading 10 forced incompletions, no touchdowns given up and an overall PFF grade of 90.3 which is the second-best mark in the league. With Flowers not being 100%, the one-on-one battles between two of the best players at getting open and preventing others from getting open and reeling in the ball will be a fun one to watch and one that will likely occur early and often.
DB Marcus Williams v. QB Jameis Winston
The two former teammates with the New Orleans Saints for two years from 2020-21 will faceoff as adversaries for the first time since the former No. 1 overall pick’s final season as the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019 when he led the league with 30 interceptions. This will mark Winston’s first start for any team since Week 3 of the 2022 season and a prime opportunity for Williams to showcase his ability to still be a ballhawk because of the numerous likely turnover-worthy plays that will likely present themselves if the Browns can’t get their ground game going and the Ravens offense jumps out to an early lead. If and when Winston decides to push the ball down the field, it will give Williams ample opportunities to take it away or at least prevent long completions.
Ravens pass rush v. Browns offensive line
The Browns starting blocking unit’s 35 sacks allowed in seven games are the most in the league by a wide margin with the next closest team being the New England Patriots with 25. While they are expected to get three-time Pro Bowl guard Wyatt Teller back for this game after he missed the last four due to injury, they will still have their hand full with a Ravens pass rush that is tied for the fourth-most sacks in the league with 22. The unit has recorded multiple sacks in every game this season and is tied for the third-most quarterback hits with 53. Generating consistent pressure on Winston will be vital to forcing him into making errant passes that could lead to turnovers or incompletions as well as drive-ending or derailing sacks.
Ravens rushing attack v. Browns run defense
Baltimore is bringing the league’s top-ground game with them on the road, spearheaded by the lethal tandem of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. As a team, the Ravens are averaging 210.9 yards per game and 6.2 per carry—both rank first—while the Browns are allowing 126.1 yards per game—15th-fewest—and 4.4 yards per carry—eight-fewest—they have yet to face a rushing attack as diverse, explosive or physical as the Ravens. It is a different beast that has proven impossible to limit for an entire game even if they don’t get off to the strongest start in the first half. Like their star running back, the Ravens’ ground game gets stronger as the game goes along and is capable of taking over and dictating the pace of games with his proficiency and sheer dominance at times and for stretches in games.
Ravens linebackers v. TE David Njoku
Baltimore’s defense has struggled covering the middle of the field at times and in some crucial moments through the first seven games which has allowed opposing tight ends to have a lot of success. With Cooper gone, the Pro Bowler who is only a tight end in name only but is essentially a big-bodied receiver is the most dangerous pass-catching threat left on the Browns roster. Although he has recorded just 20 receptions for 165 yards in four games after missing three with injury, Njoku is coming off his most productive outing to date in which he hauled in 11-of-14 targets for 76 receiving yards and his first touchdown of the season. Two-time All Pro Roquan Smith, second-year pro Trenton Simpson and Hamilton when he lines up dime backer will be keyed in on limiting his impact in this game.