Browns vs. Ravens: Previewing Baltimore's Week 5 Matchup

The Baltimore Ravens are starting to get back on track following their Week 4 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

An 0-3 start had Baltimore on the brink of falling out of playoff contention by the time the first quarter of the season was over. Then came last Thursday's brawl with the Steelers in which the Ravens rallied from a 20-7 deficit to pull off a 23-20 win in overtime.  

Up next is another AFC North matchup when the Cleveland Browns come to M&T bank Stadium this Sunday. Cleveland is also sporting a 1-3 record after losing two straight coming into this one. 

Getting a divisional win is never easy, but this is another must-win game for Baltimore after its 0-3 start put it in such a big hole that it can no longer afford to lose home games to bad teams.

The Browns have shown flashes of being a good team, but they're still not far along enough yet that they should be able to beat the Ravens in Baltimore. 

Game Time: 1 p.m. ET

Location: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore

Date: Sunday, Oct. 11

TV: CBS

Week 4 Results and Recap

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Things looked bleak last week for the Ravens sitting at 0-3 and trailing by double digits on the road. 

After jumping out to a 7-3 lead in Pittsburgh, Baltimore watched as the Steelers stormed back to take a 20-7 lead in the third quarter. They appeared to have all of the momentum playing in front of their home crowd, while Baltimore appeared to be faltering as it had in its previous three games.

But that's when Joe Flacco and the offense finally came alive, scoring the final 13 points of regulation to send the game into overtime. The Ravens were aided by a pair of fourth-quarter missed field goals by Steelers kicker Josh Scobee that could have put the game out of reach.

After both teams failed to do anything offensively for much of the OT period, Baltimore's offense finally found enough rhythm to get into Steelers territory and close enough for Justin Tucker to attempt a 52-yard field goal.

Tucker drilled it with five minutes, nine seconds left in overtime to give Baltimore an improbable 23-20 win. It wasn't easy or pretty, but a win is a win, especially when it looked like the Ravens were bound for defeat and an 0-4 start. 

Here is a look at the AFC North standings after Week 4, which see the Ravens tied for last place with the Browns ahead of their Week 5 matchup.

AFC NORTH	W	L	T	PCT	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
Cincinnati Bengals	4	0	0	1.000	2-0	2-0	1-0	4-0
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	2	0	.500	1-1	1-1	0-1	0-2
Baltimore Ravens	1	3	0	.250	0-1	1-2	1-1	1-3
Cleveland Browns	1	3	0	.250	1-1	0-2	0-0	1-3

News and Notes

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Ravens Acquire Rams WR Chris Givens

For the second time this season, Baltimore made a trade for a player at a position of need. It's not often you see an NFL team make two trades in one quarter of a season, but general manager Ozzie Newsome has never been shy about acquiring players to boost positions of weakness.

According to BaltimoreRavens.com's Ryan Mink, the Ravens traded a conditional draft pick to the St. Louis Rams for wide receiver Chris Givens. This gives Baltimore more depth at arguably its thinnest spot right now, as injuries have depleted this position.

Givens, a 6-foot, 208-pound receiver out of Wake Forest, was a fourth-round pick in the 2012 NFL draft by the Rams. He's caught 88 passes for 1,433 yards and four touchdowns in four seasons, though most of that production came between 2012 and 2014. 

That's because Givens was so far behind on the depth chart this season that he caught only one pass for seven yards in three games before being traded to Baltimore. Givens also offers the Ravens another option at the returner spot with 28 career kickoff returns for 640 yards. 

Expect Givens to be active this week, but don't expect him to contribute much until he's had a few weeks to learn the offense and develop some chemistry with Flacco. 

Back Injury Sidelines Steve Smith Sr. 

Part of the reason why Baltimore traded for Chris Givens was the injury Steve Smith Sr. suffered during last week's win over Pittsburgh. Smith Sr. took a hard shot from Steelers safety Mike Mitchell that knocked him out of the game, and it turns out it will keep him out for at least this week's game against Cleveland.

That hit caused microfractures in Smith Sr.'s back, which should keep him out at least on game. Clifton Brown of Comcast Sports Mid-Atlantic reported head coach John Harbaugh has already ruled Smith Sr. out for this week against the Browns.  

This is bad news for a Ravens team lacking playmakers at wide receiver. Through four games, Smith Sr. leads the team in catches (29), receiving yards (373) and 20-plus-yard plays (seven). 

With Smith Sr. out, Kamar Aiken will be the No. 1 receiver against a stingy Browns secondary.  

Michael Campanaro to I.R. 

The Ravens just can't catch a break with injuries to wide receivers. According to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens have placed Michael Campanaro on season-ending injured reserve because of a herniated disk in his back. 

This comes after Campanaro was having a good game against the Steelers with two catches for 16 yards and a nine-yard scoring rush on a wide receiver reverse handoff. He suffered the back injury in the second half of the game before Baltimore rallied for the win. 

A seventh-round pick out of Wake Forest in the 2014 NFL draft, Campanaro has been plagued with injuries throughout his college and NFL career. He's played in just eight career games with the Ravens, as he's frequently been banged up. 

Still, this is unfortunate given that he appeared to be becoming a reliable receiver in this offense before going down. 

Latest Injury News

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

NAME	POSITION	INJURY		GAME STATUS
Canty, Chris	DL	Calf	DNP	-
Gillmore, Crockett	TE	Calf	DNP	-
Monroe, Eugene	T	Concussion	FP	-
Perriman, Breshad	WR	Knee	DNP	-
Smith Sr., Steve	WR	Back	DNP	-
Taliaferro, Lorenzo	RB	Foot	DNP	-
Yanda, Marshal	G/T	Ankle	LP	-

Injury report courtesy of BaltimoreRavens.com

The Ravens are dealing with several injuries to key players. Thankfully, they got a few extra days of rest since Baltimore played at Pittsburgh on Thursday Night Football in Week 4.

That's given guys such as offensive tackle Eugene Monroe extra time to get healthy for this next game. Monroe has missed the past three games since suffering a concussion in Week 1 at Denver.

That's crippled the Ravens offense at times because of James Hurst not being a capable backup with Monroe out. That will be the case again this week if Monroe is unable to go against a Browns defense that has nine sacks through four games.

The Ravens are also hoping to get starting defensive end Chris Canty back this week. Canty suffered a calf strain in Week 2 at Oakland before missing the next two games. 

Starting tight end Crockett Gillmore also may return this week after a calf injury suffered against the Bengals kept him from playing against the Steelers. Gillmore had seven catches for 110 yards and two scores through his first two games before going down against Cincinnati.  

Key Matchups to Watch

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Ravens WR Kamar Aiken vs. Browns CB Joe Haden

As mentioned earlier, the Ravens are really hurting at wide receiver because of injuries. That's left Kamar Aiken to be the No. 1 receiver when Baltimore hosts Cleveland, who features Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden.

Aiken has never been a No. 1 receiver for an entire NFL contest, but he will be this Sunday with no one else showing he's capable of filling the role. He'll get a big test going against Haden, who was voted by NFL players as the 23rd-best NFL player of 2015. 

Haden was also an NFL All-Pro selection in 2013 after registering four interceptions and 20 pass deflections. He had three more picks and 20 deflections in 2014 but has just one deflection and no picks in three games this season.

Part of that is because Haden missed last week while dealing with a broken finger. He was expected to play against the Chargers last week before being a late scratch, so look for him to play this week. 

Through four games this season, Aiken has caught 11 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown. His one score came against the Steelers last week on a 20-yard strike from Flacco. 

That helped Baltimore rally from a 20-7 deficit to defeat Pittsburgh 23-20 in overtime. The Ravens will need Aiken to have another good game if they are going to have any semblance of a passing game this week.

That will require winning matchups with Haden covering him. 

Ravens OL vs. Browns Front Seven

The Browns are 1-3 in large part because their front seven has struggled mightily at stopping the run. That was also the case last year when Cleveland finished dead last in run defense. 

A big reason why was Justin Forsett gashed the Browns for 182 yards on just 28 carries in his two games against the Browns. Through four games this season, Cleveland ranks 31st in rushing yards allowed per game. 

Baltimore's best shot at winning this game is once again in the trenches, as its offensive line matches up well against the Browns front seven. Cleveland is built more with pass-rushers who struggle to stop the run.

That's good and bad news for Baltimore's line, which has done better in run blocking than pass protection so far this year. At least that was the case last week when Baltimore ran for 191 against the Steelers but surrendered five sacks in pass protection. 

The Ravens need to punish the Browns on the ground in order to neutralize their pass-rushers and have their most offensive success possible. 

Prediction

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Despite last week's season-saving win, Baltimore cannot lose any more games like this if it wants to have any hope of making it to the playoffs.

The Ravens will be hosting a 1-3 Browns team that they simply must beat in the friendly confines of M&T Bank Stadium. After scoring last week's big win at Pittsburgh, it's unlikely Baltimore will have a letdown against Cleveland this week.

The Ravens will win this game in the trenches as the offensive line dominates the Browns front seven. That paves the way for Forsett to have another big game coming off last week's 150-yard performance. 

Baltimore jumps on Cleveland early and holds it off for a hard-fought win to improve its record to 2-3.

Prediction: Ravens 24, Browns 16