{"id":365917,"date":"2025-09-13T23:13:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T23:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/365917\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T23:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T23:13:13","slug":"cleveland-browns-vs-baltimore-ravens-week-2-predictions-joe-flacco-returns-against-a-perplexed-defense-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/365917\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens Week 2 Predictions – Joe Flacco returns against a perplexed defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Sunday, the Cleveland Browns<\/a> take on the Baltimore Ravens. Below, we analyze a few advantages, disadvantages, or general thoughts about the two teams before getting to our predictions for the game.<\/p>\n

Joe Flacco Returns \u2018Home\u2019<\/p>\n

\"CLEVELAND,<\/a><\/p>\n

CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 07: Joe Flacco #15 of the Cleveland Browns warms up prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field on September 07, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n

Joe Flacco is a rather beloved figure among Browns fans, despite spending the first 11 years of his career with the Baltimore Ravens. Unlike Ben Roethlisberger, I don\u2019t know if I ever really hated Flacco; it was more like hate by association. What is hard to believe is the fact that it\u2019s already been seven years since he last played for Baltimore. And during those seven years in between, he has not played a game in Baltimore either.<\/p>\n

Since leaving the Ravens, Flacco spent a year in Denver, three years with the Jets, a year with the Browns, a year with the Colts, and is now back with the Browns. Even though the wins-and-losses may not show it, Flacco still looks as good as ever when he suits up on Sunday, and is more than ready to deliver in the clutch.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not viewing this as any type of revenge game for Flacco, but he\u2019s been ready for plenty of AFC North battles in his career. For all the times he beat Cleveland as a member of Baltimore, it\u2019d be nice to dish one right back at them. He\u2019ll face a Ravens defense that allowed a league-worst 497 yards of offense in Week 1, although that was a shootout game against the Bills. Still, it should be noted that last year, the Ravens had the top-ranked run defense but nearly the worst-ranked pass defense in the NFL. New assistant coach Chuck Pagano bragged that it\u2019s the best group in the secondary that he\u2019s ever worked with, but they fell apart in the opening week, and that\u2019s usually more of a telling sign as opposed to an anomaly. When it\u2019s just one week and the defensive coordinator has to talk<\/a> about accountability, maturity, and basically insinuating that people better not make the same mistakes defensively or they\u2019ll be replaced, that sounds like a team that will still be thinking too much as opposed to reacting and having good chemistry.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s This Weird Pattern<\/p>\n

\"Can<\/a><\/p>\n

Can Carson Schwesinger and Mason Graham elevate the Browns\u2019 defense to the top of the NFL? Getty Images<\/p>\n

For whatever reason, there\u2019s this weird pattern associated with the Cleveland Browns being able to really lock down on some special players over the years, even if it\u2019s a bad season. Three players immediately come to mind when thinking about it: Peyton Manning whenever he faced the Browns, Ja\u2019Marr Chase whenever he faces the Browns, and then Derrick Henry whenever he faces the Browns.<\/p>\n

I almost hate writing that about Henry, because it\u2019s sort of a \u201cknock on wood\u201d situation. For whatever reason, though, the Browns have been able to stop him over the years, as DBN\u2019s Thomas Moore highlighted this week<\/a>. There was also a little bit of banter among players this week, when Browns safety Grant Delpit indicated that Henry isn\u2019t that tough to bring down for a tackle. Henry responded by saying that we\u2019ll see what happens on Sunday. The real key for Cleveland is to prevent Lamar Jackson from escaping, to prevent him from making those \u201chero\u201d type of plays on the run. It\u2019s just one week, but the Browns rank 2nd in the NFL defensively after having a very good second half against the Bengals in the opening week. Hopefully they can carry that momentum into this week\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz talked about how the defense didn\u2019t start off well against Cincinnati, and he wants to make sure they are at the top of their game from the get-go against a good running team in Baltimore:<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we left a lot of plays. Like, we certainly weren\u2019t happy with the first drive of the game. We keep track of, like, not only different stats in the game, but whether you want a snap or lost a snap. A lot of different things go into it. But of those 14 snaps, we only won like two of the first 14. After that, we played really, really well. But it doesn\u2019t erase that first drive. So, we need to get off to a faster start, and I think that\u2019s probably the big thing. It did give a glimpse of what we can be, particularly the third and fourth quarter, but really started, I guess, the last drive of the first half. I mean, they had 20-some seconds left, a couple timeouts. See a lot of times around the league now because of these kicks people get in field goal position. I thought we came out to play there, and it carried over to the second half. But the carryover from last week, I mean, like I said, different players, different schemes, you know, everything there. For us to play well, we\u2019re going to have to limit their run game. They\u2019re the best run team in the NFL, and that\u2019s Derrick Henry, but also Lamar Jackson with the scrambles and design quarterback runs, which, you know, everybody sees a lot of. You know, we\u2019re going to have to do a good job on his scrambles, like I say, we\u2019re going to have to tackle some of their playmakers, particularly Zay Flowers. They get him the ball a lot of different ways. If we do those things, regardless of what happened last week, if we do those things, we\u2019ll set ourselves up for success on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone was asked a lot about kicker Andre Szmyt, but what was cool was how Joe Flacco said he would try to spend more time with the rookie to help instill more confidence in him. Ventrone had this to say about that:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it\u2019s great that all of our teammates are supporting one another. I think that\u2019s important. And I mean, Kevin (Stefanski) said this after the game, right? You win as a team; you lose as a team. That was the message on Monday. Yeah, you win as a team, you lose as a team. There\u2019s a lot of things that happen in a football game. A ton of things that happen in a football game that impact the game. Now, when you miss a PAT and a field goal, like, those are critical errors that need to be fixed. And it\u2019s like, we understand that. He understands that you win as a football team, you lose as a football team, but there\u2019s more impact at that position. That\u2019s just what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some other notes to look forward to:<\/p>\n

RB Quinshon Judkins was activated heading into this game, so he is eligible to play now. Reports are indicated that Judkins will also make his NFL debut against the Ravens. If so, it\u2019s certainly a fast-tracked situation for Judkins, who was away from the team for all of training camp and the preseason. My colleague, Thomas Moore, can\u2019t believe the team is rushing things with Judkins<\/a>, and fears he\u2019ll suffer a hamstring injury or something. If he is active this week, I think it makes no sense to activate him just to get his feet wet for a couple of plays. I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll have 20+ carries like the bell-cow back I think he\u2019ll eventually be, but I\u2019m thinking he\u2019ll play 40% of the snaps, splitting time with Dylan Sampson.I like what I saw from Joe Flacco in Week 1. It may not have been the biggest plays, but look back at that game and see how he just found the open guys over and over again to help move the chains. It\u2019s on our starters, Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman, to be better about executing. Flacco also did a nice job checking the ball down to Dylan Sampson, extending plays, and throwing the ball away at times. It was the version of Flacco that was low-risk, and put us in position to win multiple times.Carson Schwesinger had a solid opening game and has fans excited, but this will be a very interesting test for him to see how he reacts in situations when he needs to pursue QB Lamar Jackson. To his credit, LB Devin Bush was also great last week.Fingers crossed that Andre Szmyt can actually shake things off from the second half of Week 1.<\/p>\n

Here are predictions from multiple staff members at DBN:<\/p>\n

Chris Pokorny: \u201cBoth teams will be looking to make amends for their Week 1 loss. I have optimistic visions about the Ravens thinking they will walk all over Cleveland, but the Browns\u2019 defense steps up to deny the Ravens\u2019 offense repeatedly, and then Flacco calmly delivers against his former team. However, I also have some worries that the Bengals were a really bad team, and Cleveland still couldn\u2019t finish against them. I\u2019m taking what I think is the safer pick here until Cleveland proves they can buck the trend.\u201d Ravens 23, Browns 20<\/p>\n

Jared Mueller: \u201cI do not believe that the Browns will win this game, but I believe they can and that it will be much closer than the current spread indicates<\/a>. In Week 1, Cleveland showed that it can control the clock despite very little run game success. They may have RB Quinshon Judkins back for this game, but that is far from certain and may not be in the team\u2019s or player\u2019s best interest. Baltimore\u2019s versatile rushing attack is a concern, but the Ravens offense can sputter out at key moments. Expect the Browns to play with five defensive linemen on the field for much of the game and force Lamar Jackson to try to beat them through the air, and limit Derrick Henry\u201d Ravens 20, Browns 17<\/p>\n

Thomas Moore: \u201cThe Browns showed everyone how they will go about the season in Week 1. Do your best to run the ball and hit some low-risk passes to build long drives on offense, while the defense brings pressure in spots, and try not to turn the ball over or miss kicks.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, that may not lead to many victories, as we saw against Cincinnati. Still, it also will not make the Browns the unwatchable mess that many people feared\/predicted prior to the season. The games will be close more often than not, even if the result is not a positive one.<\/p>\n

Expect a similar script on Sunday in an emotionally charged game as Joe Flacco makes his return to Baltimore for the first time since 2018. It will be a close game, but ultimately the Browns will come out on the wrong side of the scoreboard.\u201d Ravens 17, Browns 10<\/p>\n

Barry Shuck: \u201cIf you watched the Bills-Ravens game last Sunday eve, you saw two of the best four teams in the AFC. I still can\u2019t believe Baltimore blew that 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, but losing fumbles will do that. The Ravens have an awesome offense and good tacklers on the D. Difficult to believe a club can score 40 points and lose. Despite the loss, I believe Baltimore is the best team in the AFC. Now, the Browns beat the Ravens last year, so it can be done – just not this week. Cleveland has no running game, which means the offense has to throw it a ton. Both Browns tight ends look really good, and at times so do Jeudy and Tillman. The interior of the O-Line has issues, as both Pocic and Teller struggled last week. The Browns\u2019 defense plays its heart out and is back. Will not be close\u201d Ravens 38, Browns 10<\/p>\n

Curtiss Brown: \u201cOn paper, the Ravens are probably better than what they were last year. However, for some reason this team can\u2019t get over this mental hurdle that\u2019s been plaguing them the past couple of years. Both teams should be 1-0 but mental mistakes are why both teams are potentially staring down the barrel of 0-2. The spread seems a bit disrespectful and the Browns clearly feel disrespected by it and you can tell by the questions that are being asked by the media and their responses. Cleveland\u2019s offense has some issues (mainly in the run game) and Quinshon Judkins coming back will help those problems in some way. This game will be close because the Browns\u2019s defense is capable of somewhat containing the Ravens offense as it\u2019s prone to stalling out. It\u2019ll come down to which team doesn\u2019t get in their own way and make the plays when necessary. Close game, super physical and tense but Baltimore has Lamar and the Browns don\u2019t.\u201d Ravens 26, Browns 20<\/p>\n

Ezweav: \u201cSorry I missed last week. I\u2019m just not afraid of this Ravens\u2019 team. We split with them about every year. Clearly we\u2019ve built a team that matches up decently enough with the team they\u2019ve built up. We won three games last year and they were one of them.<\/p>\n

Yes I would like for us to run the ball better but the way we were working the intermediate passing game last week pretty much accomplishes the same thing. We had over twenty more plays than the Bengals, which is the real mark of ball control.<\/p>\n

Of course Lamar is a problem, but so too is Myles. Our defense in totality looks to be back to top form; after fretting over slot corner all preseason it didn\u2019t come up as a problem even once last week against possibly the most aerial offense we will face all season. Derek Henry has had like two good plays against us his entire career.<\/p>\n

AND we\u2019re crazy underdogs AND it\u2019s \u2018hey we stole your team thirty years ago lol\u2019 celebration day over there, so I just feel like the good guys are going to bust up their good time.\u201d Browns 20, Ravens 13.<\/p>\n

Who do you think will win, Browns fans? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

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