Troy Smith Set to Make His Debut?

The chips are already in the Browns' favor for this Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens. Backup Kyle Boller has been named the team's starting quarterback due to another injury to starter (and the ineffective) Steve McNair. Boller had had some success against the Browns in the past, but any time that has occurred, it has been in relief of McNair or another quarterback. When he has started versus the Browns, he has resembled what the Ravens offense is this year: awful. What happens if Boller doesn't last the entire game? What if he suffers an injury and is forced to leave the game?

If Boller leaves, rookie quarterback and Ohio State alumni Troy Smith will make his NFL debut. It would actually be quite ironic if Smith played against the Browns, because at this time last year, the general consensus amongst a large percentage of Browns fans was that the team should draft Smith in the second round if he was still on the board. Some even went as crazy as saying he should be taken in the first round, but that changed after Ohio State's BCS Championship meltdown. Instead of taking Smith in the draft, the Browns took Brady Quinn, who isn't even close to becoming the Browns' starter after the success that Derek Anderson has had.

Some other Brownies for this week's game:

1. Ravens' Corners: The Ravens have been without both of their starting cornerbacks for the past two weeks. While Chris McAlister will return to face the Browns this week, Samari Rolle has been ruled out due to an undisclosed illness. When these two teams met earlier this season, the same situation occurred -- McAlister played, but Rolle did not.
2. Point Spread: The Browns are favored by three points over the Ravens this Sunday. I agree with that, but it still seems weird that we've come so far after last season to be so confident on the road against Baltimore. We're so confident, in fact, that at the time of this posting, 100% of the 20 voters in the poll to the right believe we're going to win.
   
   EDIT: I guess I had some voters vote in spite of the previous statement. Shortly after mentioning that, two people voted for the Ravens.

Don't forget to head over to Baltimore Beatdown, which just put out an article about the good (Derek Anderson), the bad (Jamal Lewis), and the ugly (Gary Baxter) in terms of former Ravens playing with the Browns presently.