AFC Championship Preview - S1 - Ravens vs Browns

by Crimsion | 4 years ago | 1 Comments

The AFC side of things will continue a hard fought rivalry between two AFC North teams with the Cleveland Browns hosting the Baltimore Ravens. Baker Mayfield and company were able to squeak out a divisional title and it's paying off here as they'll enjoy some home cooking before looking to punch their ticket to the Superbowl.

These two are obviously familar with one another, already matching up twice this season, their last battle taking place mere weeks ago in week 14. They also took the field against one another to open up the season, both Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson were looking to kick start their 2020 campaigns with a bang, however neither was impressive to open up the year. 

The Cleveland signal caller was unable to find the endzone through the air in week one, although he did complete 20 of his 29 attempts the keys to the offensive were handed to Nick Chubb for the most part. On the other side of things Lamar Jackson also lacked in the passing game, completing only 9 passes all night, but was very impressive on the ground. An 11 carry, 178 yard performance found Jackson in the endzone but not on the winning end and the Ravens took a wake up shot early.

Both teams perofmed well going through the bulk of their regular seasons and matched up in a crucial battle for positioning in week 14. This time around it was a different story, the Quarterbacks in question were able to hit the mark through the air and record some scores while doing so, but it was a rookie runningback who stole the show. J.K, Dobbins had entered into the starting role by this point and showed why, recording 127 yards on the ground and finding paydirt once in a 35-17 win.

Baltimore was unable to get some help from other teams to make a push atop the AFC North, but still found themselves in the post season and locked in. The run game has proven to be the heartbeat of both of these squads as their runningbacks eclipsed the 100 yard mark in their Divisional match ups, while the quarterbacks are surely feeding off of this play.

While the offensive units have been eye opening, I think this game comes down to who wins the battle in the trenches. Who ever can control the game and cause the most trouble with their front seven will likely have the upper hand, and while both pass rushing attacks have been elite, only one can be victorious.

Prediciton - Baltimore - 31 / Cleveland - 26