The best part about this game is we have put ourselves in position to excuse the Ravens from this year's postseason. we certainly possess the firepower to do it.

Lamar cannot hurt us if he is tethered to the bench. Use our run game to control the clock.

But more than anything else, we NEED to play two CONSISTENT halves of football. I don't care how big of a lead we have in the first half. If we fail to do that, sooner or later, that is going to come back to bite us.

Baker is hitting his stride. Just like Sipe did in that magical 1980 season, he is spreading the ball to multiple receivers. If we play OUR game, I am not concerned in the least what the Rats do.

Lastly, The Rats are currently 6-5 and out of the playoffs. But they are shooting their slimy mouths off they are going on this magical 5 game winning streak to finish at 11-5 - no respect for us. Typical of these assholes - they break Covid protocols, and then cry to the league to kiss their asses to rearrange everyone's schedule......

The hell with that - send them back to Hades from where they came.

Mack Wilson AVAILABLE next Monday night - not diagnosed with a concussion.

Game just took on a hole new meaning with the Steelers losing to the WFT.

Bullseye, DF.

Yes, it still is in the extreme longshot category, but.....

Until all the games are played, it is just supposition that Shitsburgh wins the division.

I think last night's result will give this squad a renewed jolt of energy down the stretch as long as it is still mathematically possible that we are alive for the division crown.

The Steelers have not the easiest of schedules the last four games.

at Buffalo

at Cincinnati

INDIANAPOLIS

at Cleveland

Our remaining four are:

BALTIMORE (Monday night)

at New York Giants

at New York Jets

PITTSBURGH

Let the scoreboard watching begin.

Starting to get some love...SportingNews just posted this:

What shape will the Ravens be in? Will they be "whole" as a team, everybody back from their Covid debacle? I know they were already descending, just curious.

It gets real if we win and the Steelers lose this weekend. Then it's 1 back with 3 remaining including a head to head.

I really think if the scratch plays out (Steelers could be underdogs to Colts), it would land with a pair of 12-3 teams in the finale.

So this weekend decides whether it's just not happening (Steelers win or we lose)... or actually becomes more likely than not. Big turn.

Thought: Lamar is where WRs go to die. He can't throw deep with accuracy and struggles outside the hashes. Denzel isn't as important to this game as he was to the last, really.

It's more about having our front 7 intact, and tacklers Goodson, Takitaki, Phillips, and Wilson ready to chase. Box safeties, too. Since he's been fully healed, Wilson has looked like a different player. Phillips is healthy and our fastest LB. We drafted him for this.

In a way, the whole LB corps seems to be about the Ravens.

Teller is on the COVID list...Gustin comes off.

If Teller is a 'high risk' close contact, he has to stay on for 5 days and should be back for Monday night. Fingers crossed.

If the contact was yesterday, he'd be cleared on Saturday. He's tested negative thus far. Fingers crossed, indeed. He's so key to our running game, takes us to the next level.

He, Bitonio, and Chubb should all be Pro Bowlers and All Pro candidates.

Confirmed it was 'close contact' If the last contact was yesterday he is ready Saturday...but even if today he is cleared on Sunday and can play Monday night against the Ravens. YAY!!!

This breaking news affects us next Monday Night - Dez Bryant pulled off the field in pregame warm-ups and tested. Came back positive. He will be out Monday.

He also says he's done for the year, can't deal with this shit (!). Still cray cray after all these years. I hear Kyrie and Russ are available to party (Russ is the DD), figure out all the world's problems.

Forgot that Ronnie Stanley is done for the year. Could be a huge Myles game, now that he's all rested up.

Lamar keeps clarifying that he's not real good throwing the ball. They're a pretty one dimensional offense right now... right when we've made it clear that we're not.

Baker's last game was historic based on 90% adjusted accuracy and over 10 yards a target. I can't recall how rare, but it's really rare.

Bottom line, even though they're both running teams: The QBs are the story. Baltimore will throw pressure at Baker and he (and Stef) have to figure out a way to beat it. Conversely, Lamar has been turtling more and more, turning into a QB who runs well but throws super meh. How do they make that work, especially if they fall behind?

Stef sounds pretty damn hopeful about Ward. That's great news, clearly not as bad as Wyatt's was. And speaking of Wyatt, he's still on track, no positive tests.

I feel a good evening coming on.

I really don't want to get ahead of myself, but.....

We are on the verge of touching some serious history here after having been down for so long as a franchise. Good times ahead, folks.

I'm torn. They've been playing poorly lately and were pretty unconvincing in their win over an already-bad-but-now-decimated Cowboys team. At the same time, Baltimore are finally back healthy and they are utterly desperate for a win. They just cannot afford to drop this game, and they're confident against us - they kicked our ass earlier this year, have kicked our ass for years, and they still view the Browns as an easy W.

Meanwhile, we've never been in this position. I was seeing our guys can lock up a playoff spot with a win over Baltimore, I don't know if that's because 10 wins is enough or because we should be guaranteed 11 with at least a win over one of the New York teams, but that's a big moment for our guys in the bright lights of Monday night. Besides, can we string together another top performance?

Ravens are slightly worse against the run than Tennessee, but top 10 against the pass, and I feel their offense is versatile enough to trouble our young, banged up D.

I want to believe we just kick the shit out of them and prove, once and for all, we're a threat. I just don't know.

I don't get the "want it more/need it more" narrative.

Sure, the Ravens are basically out of the playoffs if they lose.

BUT

For the Browns, a loss means

1) they are all but eliminated from winning the AFCN

2) they are 0-2 against the Ravens...who could be a 1st rd opponent

3) they could drop from 5th seed to 7th seed (or drop out if they lose to the Giants)

As for the confidence factor...they beat us week 1...since then they are 6-5...we are 9-2. Besides, Baker THRIVES off of perceived disrespect...and now it seems the TEAM has adopted that attitude.

On to the stats:

Ravens are DEAD LAST in offensive passing (169 y/g)

Browns are 27th and rising (206.5)

Ravens are #1 in rushing (169)

Browns are #3 (157.8)...but with Chubb in the lineup it is over 190 y/g

Ravens are #13 against the pass (226)

Browns are 23rd (256)

Ravens are #13 againt the run (111.6), more importantly 4.4 y/c

Browns are #8 (104.3)

Other keys...Ravens have given up 11 20+ runs and 2 40+ runs

Browns have given up 4 20+ runs, and ZERO 40+ runs

Assuming we've figured out what to do with Lamar's running, it's a pretty good matchup for us.

- We're damn good against the run, just shut down one of the best. Our LBs are getting respect finally. Goodson has been as advertised against the run, Takitaki is doing the same, and Mack looks like a different guy the last two weeks, healed up.

And none of those are even our highest PFF rated (Malcolm Smith) or the highest upside guy (Jacob Phillips).

- I have a feeling we'll see more of those five-man fronts with Vernon standing up and Mack Wilson sometimes sliding between him and the DT. It really bothered the Titans run offense.

The difference? They could do something about it in the second half and just throw. As a passer, Tannehill is miles and miles better than Lamar. The latter is uncomfortable as hell beyond 15 or outside the hashes.

Take a lead, stop the run, spy Lamar, and that offense stalls. They're not a shadow of what they were last season. They do NOT want to play from behind.

- They are not a juggernaut defense. They'll try to rattle Baker but they'll have to do it against the best pass blocking line in the NFL.

Against the run, our strength? They just aren't good. Period. Queen is having a nightmare season and it's showing up. If we can run consistently, and I think we can, this becomes a very, very difficult game to win for the Ravens.

- The Ravens are a one dimensional offense. They're bad at passing. Sure, it helps to get Andrews back but we know he'll try to throw at him like 65% of the time, possibly more. Nobody's gonna forget about him.

Conversely, the Browns have served notice that while they're the league's most powerful rushing attack when Chubb's in, and he is, they can shift gears and throw for 340 yards.

Baker will torch you downfield off play-action if you stack the box. Big, accurate downfield game... and the Ravens just don't have that.

If we don't get "cultured," like we just can't get past thinking they have some kind of culture magic, we should win this game. The only place we're compromised is pass defense and this is the ideal time for that.

I get where you're coming from DF but we've got a lot less to lose in this game. We're talking about a team, who were widely predicted to be a Superbowl contender and even predicted by some to be an undefeated team, falling to 6-6 and finding their playoff chances dashed.

And it isn't just poor play from them. We can't ignore their litany of missing players due to COVID-19 and the likes. We're all dealing with injuries, but the Ravens and their base fervently believe their amazing season has been derailed because of these challenges and now they're back healthy and ready for a major comeback.

They're a hyper-focused team with nothing to lose and a chip on their shoulder, playing on a national stage against the risk of THE BROWNS ending their season, pushing them to a near guaranteed 3rd in the division and watching us seal our own trip to the post season in the process.

That's a dangerous situation, and it's made worse by the acknowledgement this team actually has been derailed by COVID-19 issues. They're better than their record and they just got a shitload of refreshed talent back who want to make up for lost time.

If you don't "get it" that's fine but I guarantee they're hoping our roster doesn't get it too. I feel like this is a team willing to fight and bite for every yard this week and our guys better be ready for that battle.

I'm not writing us off. We're hot as fuck and it seems like it is really starting to click in to place. Our "average" performances are getting more and more deadly and our "holy fuck" performances break first half records. We can go toe to toe to Baltimore, I just hope we're ready to do so on the big stage.