Monday night will see the Baltimore Ravens look to do the double over the Cleveland Browns in the NFL this season.
The Ravens romped to victory over Cleveland at the start of the campaign, and while it won’t be as easy this time around, Baltimore should be the ones celebrating come the end of the game.
Ravens Wary Of Browns Progress
While for most onlookers the 38-6 was a comfortable win for the Ravens over the Browns back in September, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh was the one talking up their opponents.
After that defeat on the opening weekend, Cleveland went on to win their following four games and have progressed to a 9-3 record to move up to second place in the AFC North.
Harbaugh has felt seemingly justified in his assessment of the Browns at that very early stage of the season and again he will take nothing for granted in the Monday Night Football.
“I said after the season opener that that was a good football team and a lot of you guys just rolled your eyes as I recall,” Harbaugh said. “It was pretty easy to see where they were going and what they were building. They’re a good football team, they were a good football team then.”
Expect the Browns to make life even more difficult for the Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium and there is very little to go from in the handicap, with Cleveland at 51/50 with a three-point head start.
Baltimore Struggle To Live Up To Billing
The Ravens are finding the current campaign much tougher than many expected and sit on a 7-5 record going into the trip to Cleveland.
After coasting to the AFC North title last year with a 14-2 record at the end of the regular season, Baltimore quarterback Lemar Jackson and his side have had a big target on their back this term.
The resurgence of divisional rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers has certainly made life more difficult for the Ravens and now they are having to battle hard to reach the playoffs.
Ravens Getting Back On Track
After a three-game losing streak with defeats to the New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens got back to winning ways last time out with a 34-17 win against the Dallas Cowboys.
Jackson looked like he was getting back to his best against Dallas and if he can produce a similar performance on Monday then Baltimore should be able to edge this one.
The Ravens are 4/7 for the win on the road in what could be a cagey affair, so under 45.5 in the total points market is also worth consideration at 25/26.
Cleveland’s progress has been one of the talking points of the season so far and the Browns deserve great credit for how they have improved with Baker Mayfield at quarterback.
But Baltimore have won eight of the last 10 meetings between these teams and might just have the know-how to get the job done.