Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns: Ravens Big Favorites On The Road

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The Baltimore Ravens face off against the Cleveland Browns this week in what is sure to be an exciting match up.

I had you going there, didn’t I? The Ravens are currently 6.5 point favorites as the visiting team this week. Right now, only one home team gives more points than the Ravens. The Carolina Panthers spot 13.5 to the 49ers, and two other home teams are listed as 6.5 point favorites, New England over Miami and Arizona over Tampa.

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The spread for Baltimore versus Cleveland opened with the Ravens as 2.5 point favorites, but it quickly ballooned to 6.5. The Ravens hold an all-time record of 25-9 against the Browns, and in the past five years, Baltimore leads the series 8 to 2. The Ravens outscored the Browns by almost eight point on average for those games. While the Ravens dominate the Browns in win/loss record, they haven’t blown Cleveland out since 2009 when they won 34-3 in Baltimore.

Both teams are in the AFC North, but that is the only way you can call this a rivalry. If I was a Browns’ fan, this would be the biggest grudge match possible. The Baltimore Ravens came into existence when Art Modell left Cleveland with his NFL franchise.

These games lack the passionate brawl and intensity that they obviously deserve largely because the Browns barely resemble a football team. 1988 and 1989 was the last time they put up back-to-back winning seasons. Since then, they reached the playoffs only twice; only one of those times came since they reentered the league in 1999.

Next: AFC North Week 1 Review: Ravens Impress

Maybe with Sashi Brown in the front office and Hue Jackson coaching the players, this flaming locomotive of disaster will get back on the tracks. Until then, bet against them every week.