Ravens vs. Browns: What's the Game Plan for Baltimore?

The Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns renew their AFC North rivalry when the two divisional foes face off on Monday Night Football. 

Baltimore enters this game at 3-7 and playing for only pride and respect. Last week saw the Ravens win a 16-13 thriller at home against the St. Louis Rams.

As for the Browns, they enter this game at 2-8 following their bye week. Their last game was a 30-9 blowout at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10. 

Cleveland secured the first matchup in Week 5 when it came into Baltimore and won 33-30 in overtime. The Ravens took a 21-9 lead in the third quarter before the Browns went on a 24-9 run to end the game, including the winning field goal in overtime. 

Here is a look at how Baltimore needs to game plan for this matchup in order to avoid an embarrassing sweep by the lowly Browns. 

Offensive Game Plan

It's pretty straightforward what Baltimore's offensive game plan needs to be: Run, run and run some more. 

This Browns defense has been putrid in stopping the run during the past two seasons. They finished dead last in rushing defense in 2014 and are currently ranked 30th this season. 

All of Baltimore's injuries should make them want to run the ball even more in this one. With Joe Flacco out, the starting quarterback for the Ravens will now be Matt Schaub.

Though the 34-year-old veteran has plenty of starting experience, his days as an NFL starter are behind him. If the Ravens are forced to rely heavily on the arm of Schaub, they will lose.

While he'll have to make some throws, Baltimore must depend on the ground game to carry it to victory Monday night.

Defensive Game Plan

Though Cleveland's offense is erratic, it can be very explosive and put up points. Baltimore learned this the hard way in Week 5 when the Browns scored 24 points in the second half and overtime to beat the Ravens. 

The good news is the Browns are very one-dimensional and can't run the ball effectively. Coming into Week 12, Cleveland ranks last in rushing offense, but it does rank 13th in passing offense. 

That's a bad mismatch for the Ravens' secondary, which has struggled mightily at times this season but has played better as of late. They've allowed just three passing scores over their last two games after giving up 16 over their prior seven. 

Last week, Baltimore held St. Louis to just 13 points, most of them coming off of Ravens turnovers. The defense was able to hold the Rams offense in check thanks to great play all around by the front seven.

That will once again be the key to getting a win this week. Timmy Jernigan, Brandon Williams and the rest of the defensive line must dominate the line of scrimmage and keep Browns offensive lineman off of the linebackers.

In turn, Elvis Dumervil, C.J. Mosley, Daryl Smith and the rest of the linebackers must keep the heat on Browns quarterback Josh McCown and keep him from picking apart the secondary again. 

Matchups and X-Factor to Watch

Ravens Offensive Line vs. Browns Defensive Line

If the Ravens are to win this game, the offensive line has to be what wins it for them. They have to dominate a Browns front seven that's among the NFL's worst in order for the entire offense to operate effectively. 

That won't be easy though with a host of injuries plaguing Baltimore's O-line. Starting guard Kelechi Osemele is probably going to miss this game with a knee injury.

Backup Ryan Jensen will likely fill in for him after doing the same last week. The starting left tackle is probably going to miss this game as well with a shoulder injury.

That means James Hurst will likely be the starting blindside protector in this game. That's not ideal going into a matchup versus a Browns defense that has some quality pass-rushers.

Still, the Browns front seven is a mess, and the Ravens offensive line must dominate them in order to win this game. 

X-Factor: Javorius "Buck" Allen

A Ravens' victory Monday night almost certainly will come thanks to a big rushing game. That won't be easy though after starting running back Justin Forsett was lost for the rest of the season due to a broken arm suffered last week. 

However, backup running back Javorius "Buck" Allen has looked very promising during his rookie season. The fourth-round draft pick out of USC totaled 115 all-purpose yards last week, and he could be ready for a breakout performance this week against a bad Browns defense.

There's no question Allen is going to be the X-factor of this game. Baltimore's offense right now is designed to win games with its ground game, which makes Allen one of, if not the most important, Raven in this game. 

Prediction

Neither one of these teams expected to be as bad as their records are this late into the season, but the Browns and Ravens enter Week 12 with a combined 5-15 mark. They're both closer to picking No. 1 overall in the next NFL draft than they are to contending for even a winning season. 

Despite all of this, this is a divisional rivalry between two hated franchises that would love nothing more than to inflict more misery onto the other's already miserable season. This will be a competitive, yet ugly game that comes right down to the wire, as has every Ravens game this season. 

And like almost every game for the Ravens this year, it ends up being one where one or two more plays could get them the win, but they fail to make them as Cleveland escapes with a close victory. 

Final Score: Browns 23, Ravens 16