Gameday Newsletter: Week 18, Ravens

The pregame information you need as this abbreviated version of the Browns wrap up their season in Baltimore this evening.

BALTIMORE, MD - NOVEMBER 12: Cleveland Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore (8) in action against Baltimore Ravens linebacker Malik Harrison (40) during the Cleveland Browns game versus the Baltimore Ravens on November 12, 2023 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

We actually did make it. The end of this season of misery happens today, which is great, but it also happens at 4:30EST on ESPN in front of a national audience. So, with the good comes some bad. But once this game wraps up we can put this season behind us and push forward into the heaviest offseason to date with so many key decisions to be made.

We watch today knowing the Browns loss (which feel imminent) could be paired with a Patriots and/or Titans win to improve the draft stock. If both lose your Browns will have the first overall pick, but we won’t know that until tomorrow. If either one losses then you get into the second slot. Plenty of good options to be had with a pick that high and it remains the final important piece for a busy puzzle looming.

The Ravens need to get a win today in order to wrap up the division and are likely to make a heavy early push to get the job done. There is no desire from either side for this to be a competitive game into the second half. The data tells us it won’t be as the Browns are missing nearly every core piece of an already shorthanded team and the quarterback will be Bailey Zappe. This type of spontaneous Week 18 quarterback start feels like a place we have been many times before but haven’t visited in a long time. A return to a place we know well, but don’t really want to be anymore. Alas.

If you have a desire to sit through this one today, bless you. It has a chance to be ugly quickly and leave us with a nasty taste for the upcoming seven months without football. Let’s hope they can cover this nasty 18 point line but do what they must and accept another loss. Man, I am tired of saying that. Here’s to better times ahead — hopefully.

I hope you have enjoyed these Gameday Newsletters all year as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing them.

Inside the weekly Gameday Newsletter you will get all the pieces of information paired with your Gameday Podcast to enhance your Sundays with this team.

BALTIMORE: In a sea of purple, Cleveland Brown fans show spirit during their teams 10-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at PSINet Stadium 26 September 1999 in Baltimore, MD. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/TIM SLOAN (Photo credit should read TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Per the usual, I request that you sit back, pour your beer or liquor, and try like hell to enjoy this delivery of all the best pre-game information from the BFB staff.

Looks like a windy day in Maryland. Sunny and around freezing, but the wind is whipping. If it was calm, it'd be okay, but it's a 3/10 to finish the season given the circumstances that usually join us for East Coast weather this time of year.