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The Ravens are scuffling.
They're having trouble moving the ball, they can't put points on the board, and they haven't been winning the turnover battle.
So, who better to face back at home this Sunday than a team that has one winning season since 2002, and who has already lost two games this year to squads who finished a combined 7-25 in 2009?
The Cleveland Browns are said team, and they are the perfect opponent for the Ravens this weekend.
They rarely ever win in Baltimore (only three times have the Browns ever left Charm City with a victory), have an uncertain quarterback situation with Jake Delhomme still recovering from an ankle injury, and sport a defense which ranked 31st in the league last year.
That last part must sound like music to the ears of Joe Flacco and the Baltimore offense, who faced two top-five defenses the last two weeks in the Jets and Bengals.
Instead of Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Johnathan Joseph or Leon Hall at cornerback, the Ravens will see the much less fearsome duo of Sheldon Brown and Eric Wright.
Instead of facing a dangerous, physical running attack featuring Shonn Greene/LaDainian Tomlinson or Cedric Benson, the Ravens will face Jerome Harrison and Peyton Hillis.
John Harbaugh said all the right things publicly in his press conference yesterday about the Browns being a dangerous team, and to a tiny extent, he's right.
That Browns defense has held its own (albeit against weak competition) thus far this year, allowing just 16.5 points per game, and we've learned by now that you can't take any NFL game for granted.
But after starting the season with two incredibly tough road games against '09 playoff teams, the Ravens will get a bit of a breather this Sunday. They should roll over the Browns and get right back on track.
If they don't, we'll know something really is wrong.
