The last week of the regular season is here, with the Cleveland Browns heading to play the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore (9-6) enters this game looking to pick up another win, while Cleveland (7-8) would like to get things going with a win. The game will air Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
The last meeting between the Ravens and Browns came in Week 3 when Cleveland lost a close one to Baltimore 23-21. Taliaferro had a good outing in that game, carrying the ball 18 times for 91 yards and one TD. Smith Sr had a great game as well, adding 101 yards on five receptions. Hoyer had a solid outing passing the ball for Cleveland, connecting on 19 of 25 passes for 290 yards and one TD. Hawkins contributed with 87 yards on seven catches.
The Ravens are a huge eight-point favorite at home and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is set at 42 points. Heading into Week 17 of league action, the Ravens are 9-6 Straight Up (SU) and 8-7 Against The Spread (ATS). In their five most recent matchups, the Ravens went 3-2 SU and 2-3 ATS. Judging from past Browns games this season, expect to see a heavy dose of the Ravens run game. The Browns currently ranks 32nd in the NFL with 142.1 rushing yards allowed per game. Nobody can put up points against the Ravens, who have the league’s best scoring defense at home with 14.1 points allowed per home game. Cleveland’s offense will need to use all of its options against the fourth-ranked Ravens run defense, which gives up just 86.6 rushing yards per game. The Browns will need to stop Baltimore’s defense from stripping the ball in order to be successful in this game. The Ravens rank fourth in fumbles recovered with 0.9 per home game. The Ravens are one of the best in the league at scoring in the fourth quarter, averaging 8.6 points.
Over on the other sideline, the Browns have a record of 8-6-1 ATS and 7-8 SU. Over their last five games, the Browns have a SU record of 1-4 and a 3-2 record ATS for those betting with them. Running the ball is very important for the Browns away from home. They attempt 32.1 rushing plays per road game. Switching gears to the Cleveland defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of as well. Cleveland, only allowing 56.8% of passes to be completed, has a good chance of shutting down its competitor’s passing offense.
Predictions: SU Winner – BAL, ATS Winner – BAL, O/U – Under
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Baltimore’s last 6 games.
Baltimore is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games.
Baltimore is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Baltimore’s last 7 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Baltimore’s last 8 games when playing Cleveland.
Baltimore is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games when playing Cleveland.
Baltimore is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Cleveland.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Baltimore’s last 5 games when playing at home against Cleveland.
Cleveland is 4-2 SU when leading at the half this season. Baltimore is 5-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
This season, Cleveland is 3-4 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, and 2-3 SU when losing the turnover battle.
Cleveland is only 1-5 SU this season when allowing at least 3 sacks in a game. The Baltimore defense is currently averaging 3.1 sacks over the last five games.
According to overall NFL pass rankings, Cleveland is rated higher on both sides of the ball. Its 21st-ranked offensive passing game will face the 27th-ranked pass defense of Baltimore, while its seventh-ranked pass defense will look to limit the 14th-ranked aerial attack of the Ravens.
Cleveland has allowed 21.7 points per game on the road, which is ranked 10th in the league. Baltimore has put up 26.1 points per game at home (ranked ninth overall).
