The Baltimore Ravens will have their first home game of the season against the Cleveland Browns, this Sunday. The Ravens typically have success against the Browns, but they almost always are tough games. These are three players who are vital to a Ravens win this week.
Terrell Suggs
The ageless wonder Terrell Suggs, seemed to turn the clock back last Sunday against the Bengals as he had two sacks (almost a third), a forced fumble and a deflected pass which led to an interception by Lardarius Webb. He bullied the Bengals inexperienced left tackle, but this week he faces a much different player. Browns left tackle Joe Thomas is as good as it gets at the position, so Suggs is in for a challenge.
Terrell Suggs and Joe Thomas have been going at it for years. They are both future hall of famers. This will be a battle of titans come Sunday. Suggs doesn’t have to play as good as he did last week, but he still needs to make his presence felt. If he can pressure Browns rookie quarterback Deshone Kizer, then he could make some costly mistakes against this vicious Ravens defense.
Terrance West
The Ravens will look to continue the success they had running the football in week 1 against the Bengals. It wasn’t flashy but Terrance West and Buck Allen were able to get yards when needed most to sustain drives and bleed the clock. Terrance West will need to have another strong performance if the Ravens want to control this game. I don’t believe Joe Flacco is ready to take over a game completely yet after playing for the first time since the beginning of training camp last week.
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This is a young and hungry Browns defense and they will be looking to continue the success they had against Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Le’VeonBell last week. They held Bell to just 32 yards, and the Ravens don’t have a RB even close to Bells talent level. West needs to help keep the offense on the field for as long as possible and to keep the pressure off of Joe Flacco.
Joe Flacco
Joe Flacco only threw the ball 17 times last week. Mainly because the Ravens held the lead for the entire game, and ran the ball nonstop to take time off of the clock. Flacco looked solid for a quarterback who missed all of training camp and preseason with a back injury. His biggest play came on a slant route to his newest receiver, Jeremy Maclin on third down that Maclin took 48 yards for a touchdown. I expect Flacco will open things up more offensively this week against the Browns defense.
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Like I said earlier, this is a young Browns defense. Flacco has a chance to show just how young and inexperienced they are in the passing game. I don’t think Joe will throw the ball more than 25 times, but I think he will throw more effectively this week. With this defense, his biggest priority should be protecting the football. Any touchdown passes will just be icing on the cake hopefully. Turning the ball over will only feed to the momentum of a hyped Browns defense. Hopefully, Flacco will take the air out of their tires quick.