With the Ravens aiming to rebound from the Week 1 meltdown at Buffalo and earn their first win of 2025 against Cleveland, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. This is a thankless matchup for Baltimore as the biggest favorite of Week 2. A blowout win over the Browns won’t bring any meaningful style points, but anything less will only reinforce criticisms from the season-opening collapse. A fast start is needed to keep the home fans from turning restless.
2. Coming off their sixth defeat after leading by two scores in the fourth quarter since 2022, the Ravens won their next game after those previous five, which eases hangover concerns. But Cleveland has split with Baltimore in four straight seasons, and we remember what happened in Week 2 last year.
3. Joe Flacco being present for the 30th season celebration was a foregone conclusion years ago, but no one would have predicted the 40-year-old starting for the opposition. You’d fully expect a warm reception for Flacco as he plays his first game at M&T Bank Stadium since 2018. Fun stuff.
4. Browns receiver Jerry Jeudy sees “no challenges” facing the Baltimore secondary, a remark that raised eyebrows. It’s ridiculous for Cleveland of all teams to be poking the bear, but Kyle Hamilton offered a measured response for a group that has no room to puff out its chest after Week 1.
5. Jeudy’s comment was one thing, but Cleveland safety Grant Delpit saying it’s “not hard” to tackle Derrick Henry is ridiculous trolling. In two games against the Browns last season, Henry rushed for 211 yards on 6.8 yards per carry. As the 252-pound back said, “We’ll see on Sunday.”
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6. Cleveland’s longest rush against Cincinnati in Week 1 went for five yards. Meanwhile, the Ravens averaged 8.2 yards per carry in Buffalo. Flacco eclipsing 60 pass attempts in a game for the third time in his career is certainly on the table after he had 45 last week.
7. Flacco targeted tight ends and running backs 24 times against the Bengals last week. In other words, the Baltimore linebackers better be ready to cover. Browns rookie tight end Harold Fannin is someone to watch after being targeted a team-high nine times in Week 1.
8. We always talk about the Ronnie Stanley-Myles Garrett matchup in these meetings, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Cleveland’s game-wrecking machine test the right side of Baltimore’s offensive line. Silly trash talk aside, the Ravens cannot take a defense that held Cincinnati to 2.9 yards per play lightly.
9. There’s no need to overreact to the struggles of Jaire Alexander, but the Ravens can’t underreact either, which is why his workload could decrease with the big picture in mind. If that means T.J. Tampa cutting into his snaps when Baltimore uses the dime package, so be it.
10. Tyler Loop wasn’t perfect in his debut, but it was more positive than not after he hit a pair of long field goals on drives the Ravens finished going in reverse. Meanwhile, Cleveland lost by one point after Andre Szmyt missed a 36-yard field goal and an extra point. Kickers.
11. Malaki Starks dropped an interception early and lost his footing covering Keon Coleman on the scramble drill resulting in the touchdown off a deflection, but the rookie was hardly the primary culprit in Baltimore’s secondary woes last week. I only expect him to look more comfortable.
812. The Ravens absolutely could have saved the 30th season festivities — they should instead celebrate the 30th anniversary anyway — for Monday Night Football next week, but unless John Harbaugh wears a Bill Belichick Starter jacket and the Ravens don Browns throwbacks, this just isn’t that big a deal, Cleveland.
Prediction: Relatively speaking, the Browns have done a better job slowing down Lamar Jackson than many opponents over the years and certainly should have Baltimore’s attention with the way their defense limited Joe Burrow and the explosive Bengals offense last week. For that reason, I’m not expecting the Ravens to put 40 points on the scoreboard again, but Cleveland lacks the firepower on offense to keep Baltimore from wearing down the Browns defense as Sunday’s game advances. While Flacco is more than deserving of a warm welcome playing his first game in Baltimore in seven years, a Ravens defense that’s been licking its wounds all week will have every design of treating him rudely after kickoff. The Week 1 collapse carried far greater consequences for January and the big-picture narrative than anything pertaining to Week 2 and the regular season, so I fully expect the Ravens to handle their business in a 27-13 win over the Browns. That’ll include a Henry stiff arm of Delpit at some point for good measure.
