Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens
Saturday, 12/24/11, 1:00 PM EST, TV: CBS
Opening Point Spread: Baltimore -14.5
Current Betting Line: Baltimore -13
Opening Total: 39
Current Total: 38.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
The Baltimore Ravens have the San Francisco 49ers to thank for helping them control their own destiny in the AFC North over the last two weeks of the regular season. The Ravens (10-4) remained tied atop the division when the 49ers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-3 on Monday Night Football. Baltimore will go for a sweep of the struggling Cleveland Browns (4-10) in another divisional matchup on Saturday and would win a tiebreaker with the Steelers based on winning both meetings with them earlier this year.
Last year, Pittsburgh hosted the Ravens (-13, O/U 38.5) in the playoffs after winning the tiebreaker and ended up using that game as a springboard to the Super Bowl. Baltimore has not hosted a playoff game since the 2006 season, which is the last time the team won the division.
The Browns have lost the last seven meetings in the series with the Ravens, going 1-6 against the spread. They have also dropped four straight and seven of eight overall with a 4-4 mark ATS. Four of those covers have come in the past five games for Cleveland, but the one game in which the team did not beat the spread during that stretch came at home against Baltimore in a 24-10 loss.
Seneca Wallace made his first start of the season for the Browns at quarterback in a 20-17 overtime loss at Arizona. Wallace replaced the injured Colt McCoy (concussion) and completed 18 of 31 passes for 226 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions while running three times for 21 yards.
Baltimore QB Joe Flacco threw for exactly the same number of yards in a 34-14 loss at San Diego last week on Sunday Night Football, but his performance left a lot to be desired for a team that had won four in a row. Flacco threw two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he was sacked five times for 40 yards.
Ravens running back Ray Rice carried the ball just 10 times for 57 yards against the Chargers, and he had a career-high 204 on the ground in the last meeting with Cleveland. Baltimore is a perfect 6-0 this season when Rice has at least 20 rushing attempts, which was the case in every game during the team’s recent winning streak.
The UNDER is 3-1 in the last four games overall for the Ravens and 7-2-1 in the past 10 for the Browns. The UNDER is also 4-1 in the previous five meetings between the teams.
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