No challenges.
That is the blunt, confident message that Jerry Jeudy delivered to the media during his midweek press conference on Sept. 10 heading into the Cleveland Browns first matchup of the of the season against their division rival the Baltimore Ravens.
The lack of challenge Jeudy is referring to is in the Ravens secondary, which boasts big names like Jaire Alexander, Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey. Jeudy, who caught five passes for 66 yards in the Browns week one loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, believes that the Ravens secondary poses no significant threat to himself or his counterparts at the receiver position.
This confidence may stem from the fact the the Ravens just allowed 41 points to the Buffalo Bills in their week one matchup, including 22 in the fourth quarter. They were torched for 394 yards in the air from Josh Allen who connected with nine different receivers in the game.
The Browns Joe Flacco led offense didn’t exactly explode against a middling Cincinnati defense in week one, and on paper the Ravens certainly pose more of a threat to Jeudy and a receiver room that lacks depth.
Ravens Heavily Favored Over Browns
Baltimore is favored by 12.5 points over Cleveland this weekend, with the Browns money line currently set at a whopping +575. This 12.5 point spread is the widest in this weeks slate of NFL games by a pretty significant margin; the next closest margin is the seven points the Bills are favored over the New York Jets.
Even after a disappointing finish in week one against Buffalo, who stormed back from a 15-point deficit to win in the final seconds, Baltimore’s looked unstoppable across the board in that game, and that was against a very good Bills defense. Derrick Henry rushed for 169 yards while Lamar Jackson had 70 and Zay Flowers had 143 receiving yards.
The Browns defense fared better than most would’ve expected against a potent Bengals offense, holding Joe Burrow to just 113 passing yards, only 33 of which came to Tee Higgins and 26 to Ja’Marr Chase. They also limited the Bengals rushing offense to just 46 total yards.
Now, they have a bigger test going against a Ravens offensive unit whose confidence is sky-high after their week one explosion.
The AFC North Once Again Looks Like One of the Most Competitive in NFL
The Browns and Ravens were the two losers in the AFC North in week one while Cincinnati got the aforementioned win over Cleveland and Pittsburgh won a thriller over the New York Jets led by a rejuvenated Aaron Rodgers.
If the Bengals have the comeback season that most are expecting from them and Aaron Rodgers reverts back to Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers, the North looks like it could very well have three members in the playoffs come January.
After this weeks matchup against the Browns, the Ravens won’t face another divisional opponent until week 11 when they play Cleveland again. Their final six weeks will feature two matchups against the Bengals and Steelers each, making the easier middle part of their schedule much more important.
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