This is in no way meant to be a trash-talking post.  I just thought you might like to know.

On Offense - Protecting and developing rookie QB Joe Flacco is almost as important as winning the game.  This wasn't a year the Ravens planned to contend, but Flacco is absolutely instrumental to our future.  This showed in the offensive gameplan against Cincinatti, where the Ravens ran 46 times.  That said, the Ravens offense should look eerily familiar, as Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron was the former mentor of the Browns OC Rob Chudzinski, including the unbalanced offensive line.  With former Bengals T Willie Anderson scheduled to play Sunday, there is some speculation that the Ravens will have sets where a Tackle reports eligible.  Most people seem to think it will be RT Adam Terry reporting eligible, but I suspect it might be LT Jared Gaither, who at 6 foot 9, could be a surprising pass catcher, especially in the end zone.  In any case, our offensive line is young and athletic.  They absolutely dominated the Bengals converting a perfect 6 out of 6 3rd and 1 conversions.  While both both of our starting tackles are question marks in pass coverage, we probably have one of the best interior offensive lines in the NFL. I noticed people ripping on Rexx for claiming this, but Guards Ben Grubbs and Marshall Yanda are tough players that rarely make make mistakes, and Jason Brown was named as an all-pro by SI last year as a guard (Dr. Z referred to him as a human bowling ball.  To me, the Shaun Rogers verses Jason Brown matchup will be one of the most exciting when the Ravens have the ball (I like line grudgematches).  In the passing game, we've so far relied on short passes, quick drops, the shotgun formation, no-huddle, and screens.  Flacco's largest completion against the Bengals was for 15 yards, although he underthrew a deep pass that had TD written all over it.  The key for Cleveland (this is kind of obvious) will be to force Flacco to win the game.  If the Ravens can make their gains with runs and screens, they'll keep beating it in all night.  Cincinnati controlled the ball for less than 7 minutes in the second half two weeks ago.  Obviously our passing game, quarterback (and WRs) are our biggest weakness, but I honestly don't know how weak they are, as they haven't really had many opportunities.  TE Todd Heap was terrible against Cincy, but I expect that was just a little rust and a lot of statistical noise, he has had two whole weeks to stew over it.

On Defense:  Everyone knows what the Ravens defense is about.  And everyone knows who Ed Reed and Ray Lewis are, so I won't go into that.  Our Defense was 6th in the NFL in yards allowed last year, but still was a disappointment due to a severely injured secondary.  Neither Chris McCallister nor Samari Rolle played 8 games last season, but both will play Monday.  In addition, Ed Reed will play despite his injury, although he likely won't be doing much hitting, instead being held back to play center field (which was usually his job last year).  Fabian Washington, who the Ravens brought in for CB depth last year, will most likely not be ready to play, as he is still recovering from a neck injury.  I believe that Ravens nose tackle Kelly Gregg is one of the (if not THE) most underrated player in the NFL.  Although he never has made a pro-bowl, he regularly stops running plays dead cold, often making the tackle himself despite being double teamed.  However, he is ruled out on Sunday due to a knee problem.  His replacement, Justin Bannan, is not much of a break for Cleveland, as the kid is very strong.  Our weak point is definitely our corner backs, but Samari and Chris are quite good, and will play through pain.  If I were Cleveland I'd try to play out of 3WR 1TE 1RB sets to attempt to expose our nickel backs, as they are not very good players (Nickelback Fabian Washington is good, but he is doubtful for Sunday).  A good 3rd WR would severely expose our lack of depth at corner.  That being said, what do the Browns have behind Edwards and Steptoe if Stallworth and JJ don't play?  Kellen Winslow is definitely our biggest matchup problem, but SS Dawan Landry is really quite a good player, and the Ravens may employ a linebacker to hit Winslow at the line of scrimmage and then use Landy in coverage.  Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan lives and dies by the blitz, and we may well need it verses Clevelands excellent O-line.  That being said, I'm a bit disappointed Eric Steinbach may not be playing (This is something I don't understand, why would a player be unable to practice for 3 straight days and then be listed as QST instead of DBT?).  I was looking forward to the Steinbach match-up verses Haloti Ngata.

I do believe this team is better than last years team was.  Trevor Pryce, Samari Rolle, Chris McCallister, and Todd Heap all being healthy works wonders for the teams performance.  In addition, Joe Flacco may be a rookie, but he simply can't perform worse than Steve McNair did the first half of last year.  I think this Ravens team has improved at least slightly at the QB, RB, OL, TE, DL, and CB positions due to players coming back from injuries or replacements coming in, or in the case of the Oline, a better coach and some added experience for rookie players.  This is not to say that the Ravens will return to 2006 form, but this is a much tougher game for the Browns than it was last year.