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Upcoming Ravens vs. Browns won’t be a cakewalk, and overlooking them could be detrimental

NFL: Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens Patrick McDermott-USA TODAY Sports

Yes, the Cleveland Browns are three weeks from the ‘perfect season’. They are a bad football club, and it’s apparent. Week after week they’ve suffered another loss, and it’s ugly. But don’t mistake their horrible record for another ‘bye week’.

The Browns defense is good. Josh Gordon is not only back, but somehow still in incredible shape for a player missing three years of professional play. This squad is one game from screwing everything up for the Ravens, and misjudging or skipping over Cleveland is a death wish.

Cleveland is ranked sixth best against the run. They also have a young squad, eager for reps and to prove themselves. Nobody enjoys losing, certainly not professional competitors, and they’d love to play spoiler against their foes. If this game gets flipped on its head, and the Ravens somehow find themselves in a hole, Alex Collins can’t just walk them through to field goal range, nor can Joe Flacco just toss a couple passes to Mike Wallace. This is a full team effort, and even with the passion brought on from the loss to the Steelers, I suspect this game will be close and ugly. A grind-it-out sixty-minute contest.