Browns More Than A Touchdown Underdog For Matchup With Ravens

Still riding high off of a shutout win over the Arizona Cardinals, a sobering reality awaits the Cleveland Browns in Week 10.

A road matchup with the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens is ahead for Cleveland this weekend – a rematch of their 28-3 drubbing in Week 4.

Of course, the circumstances surrounding the Browns were much different back then.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson had just injured his shoulder one week prior, and a mere hours before kickoff the Browns named rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson their starting quarterback. It didn't go well for the fifth-round pick, as the score would suggest.

Six weeks later, it's a different story for Cleveland. Watson looked healthy and efficient at times in the team's 27-0 win over the Cardinals, helping the Browns unlock some new wrinkles in an offense that has struggled for most of the season.

The combination of Watson and a dominant defense was enough for Vegas to push the spread to 12.5 in favor of the Browns a week ago. With Baltimore looming this weekend, the line tells a different story.

According to the SI Sportsbook, the 6-2 Ravens are considered 6.5-point favorites at home against Cleveland. It's tied for the third-largest spread of the weekend.

Similar to Cleveland, Baltimore is fresh off of a completely dominant win of its own, cooling off Seattle 37-3. That performance marked the third straight week that the Ravens had put up 30-plus points in a win.

AFC Power Rankings Nine Weeks Into the Season

With Lamar Jackson now playing at an MVP level in Todd Monken's offense, the Ravens have taken off. They rank seventh offensively in terms of expected points added per play.

As good as their offense has been, their defense has been even better, coming in second for expected points added per play for that side of the ball. The only defense ranked ahead of them by the same metric is Cleveland. The Ravens hold the top spot in points allowed, though, yielding only 13.8 per game.