Cleveland Browns Look to Upset Baltimore Ravens in Week 9 Matchup

A few weeks into the 2012 NFL season, the Baltimore Ravens were one of the Super Bowl favorites. With injuries to Ray Lewis and Ladarius Webb, the Ravens future does not seem as promising.

In their first game without their star linebacker and cornerback, the Ravens were blown out, losing to the Texans 43-13. Now, Baltimore looks to prove that last week’s contest was just an anomaly.

They are set to visit the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon in Week 9. The game will kick off at 1 p.m. ET on CBS. You can watch a live stream online by purchasing NFL Sunday Ticket Max.

The two teams already met once this season. The Browns came close to pulling the upset, losing by a touchdown, with a chance to tie things up at the last second.

The Ravens have dominated this AFC North rivalry lately, winning the last nine meetings. If the Browns want to stay alive in the division, they’ll have to win this game. At 2-6, they’re 3.5 games behind the Ravens.

Cleveland will have to shut down Ray Rice, if they want to pull off the upset. They held Rice to 49 yards rushing yards in their last meeting.

While Baltimore has traditionally been very stingy against the run, this season they’ve been one of the league’s worst. They’re 30th in the NFL, giving up 142.9 yards on the ground per game.

Trent Richardson has been one of the best rookies this year. The running back has 470 rushing yards in eight games.

Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden has shown improvement over the past few games. He has 10 interceptions on the year, but hasn’t thrown a pick in the past two games.

Betting line: Baltimore-3.5

Prediction: The Ravens are the better team, but they haven’t been as good on the road. They’ve won 14 straight games at home, but have lost two of their last three road games. With Weeden and the Browns improvement over recent weeks, they have a good chance to take advantage of a banged up Ravens team.

Predicted Score: Cleveland 24, Baltimore 23