The AFC North rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns is significant, but there won't be much on the line when the two teams meet under the bright lights of Monday Night Football for Week 12. The Ravens sit at 3-7 on the season, well behind the Pittsburgh Steelers at 6-4 and the division-leading Cincinnati Bengals at 8-2. Cleveland is even worse off, with a 2-8 record.
Ravens vs. Browns 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
The Ravens and Browns don’t have much to fight for other than a divisional rivalry.
The playoffs are out of the picture at this point. The Browns were always a long shot for the postseason, with Josh McCown starting at quarterback and a young, inexperienced roster. There are some bright, young playmakers on the Browns, but they were never expected to be playoff-bound coming into this season.
Baltimore, on the other hand, won a Super Bowl recently and the Ravens were expected to do some damage. But they have dealt with some significant injuries this season, including a season-ending injury to wide receiver Steve Smith. Joe Flacco was struggling with so few weapons at his disposal on offense, and then sustained a season-ending ACL injury in Week 11.
That means Matt Schaub is now in at quarterback. He has not played a regular season snap this year, last playing significant time with the Houston Texans in 2013. He played in 10 games that season, completing 219 of 358 passes for 2,310 yards with 10 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. In 11 games with the Raiders, he threw no touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
Smith is still the team's leading receiver despite being gone for the past few weeks, with Kamar Aiken a full 200 receiving yards behind on on the stat sheet. Aiken has caught 37 passes for 456 yards and three touchdowns. Crockett Gillmore has caught 29 passes for 385 yards and four touchdowns.
On the season, Flacco had completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 2,791 yards -- both are solid -- but he threw 12 interceptions against 14 touchdowns this year. Ravens offensive coordinator Marc Trestman said that the Ravens won't have to adjust their offense much to accommodate the quarterback switch, saying that Schaub is familiar with what the Ravens like to do on that side of the ball. On the ground, Justin Forsett was running well, with 151 carries for 641 yards and two touchdowns. He has a per-carry average of 4.2 yards per carry, but he was recently placed on injured reserve with an arm injury.
Schaub and Forsett will face a Cleveland defense that ranks 29th in the league in yards allowed. That includes the league’s No. 24-ranked pass defense and No. 30-ranked rush defense. It’s probably a safe bet that Forsett will get more than his fair share of touches on Monday. Baltimore’s running game has them ranked 22nd in total rushing yards. Schaub inherits a passing offense that ranks ninth in the league.
McCown was the starter for Cleveland when the season got underway, but was eventually replaced by Johnny Manziel. Unfortunately, Manziel had off-field issues that relegated him to third-string status so McCown is back in charge. McCown has completed 65.0 percent of his passes for 1,897 yards with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions this year.
How to watch
When: 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
TV: ESPN
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters
Online: WatchESPN
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