Cleveland Browns Visit Baltimore Ravens Searching for First Win

The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens—each looking to bounce back from disappointing Week One performances—will face off in Week Two as the brown and orange head to M&T Bank Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Baltimore. While both teams are still in search of their first win of the 2025 season, their concerns heading into this matchup couldn’t be more different.

For Cleveland, the struggle to put points on the board remains a familiar story. In their season-opening loss to the Bengals, the Browns managed just 16 points, hampered by dropped passes and kicking issues. On the other side, Baltimore’s biggest concern lies on defense. The Ravens surrendered 41 points to the Buffalo Bills, including a staggering 22 in the fourth quarter, exposing cracks in a unit that’s typically been their strength.

After holding Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to just 113 passing yards in Week 1, the Browns' defense now faces an even greater challenge: containing the dynamic duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. The pair was electric in their season opener, combining for 239 rushing yards and three touchdowns, with Jackson also adding 209 passing yards and two scores through the air.

Even if the Browns' defense manages to contain Baltimore’s explosive offense, a Cleveland victory will likely depend on Joe Flacco and the offense finding the end zone multiple times. The Ravens averaged 30.1 points per game in 2024—third-best in the NFL—and their Week One performance suggests they have no intention of slowing down. Meanwhile, the Browns eclipsed the 30-point mark just once last season, and that came in a primetime loss to the Broncos in Denver.

The last meeting between these AFC North rivals saw the Ravens come out on top, with Lamar Jackson posting a strong 92.8 quarterback rating in a dominant 35–10 victory. However, with little on the line aside from draft positioning, the Browns started Bailey Zappe under center in what was essentially a meaningless season finale for Cleveland.

This time, it will be Joe Flacco under center for the Browns, set to face his former team for just the second time in his career. Flacco’s first matchup against the Ravens came in 2022 as a member of the New York Jets, a game Baltimore won 24–9. The Super Bowl XLVII MVP will be looking for a much different outcome in this reunion.

Adding an extra layer of emotion to Sunday’s matchup, the Ravens are set to kick off their “Ravens Forevermore” campaign, a season-long celebration marking the franchise’s 30th year in the NFL. However, the decision to launch the festivities with Cleveland in town hasn’t gone unnoticed, drawing criticism from some Browns fans who view the timing as a subtle jab.

Barring an unlikely tie, either Cleveland or Baltimore will notch their first win of the season on Sunday—while the other faces an uphill battle toward playoff contention. Since 2007, only 17 NFL teams have overcome an 0–2 start to reach the postseason, while 132 have fallen short. That said, recent history offers a glimmer of hope: the Broncos, Rams, and Ravens all made the playoffs last season after starting 0–2.

Notably, the Browns have never started a season 0–2 under head coach Kevin Stefanski. After making an unfortunate kind of history in Week 1—losing to a team they held to just seven yards of offense in the second half—Stefanski will be eager to avoid another entry in the record books this week.