NOTEBOOK: BROWNS' RUSH D TOUGH WHEN IT COUNTS; MEET THE REF

By Joe Platania

OWINGS MILLS -- There is an cliche that says, "Let a smile be your umbrella." Last week, we got a mouthful of rain.

All of a sudden, the bounces didn't go our way, the breaks of the game broke in the other direction and the replacement officials didn't help the situation much.

But in the end, there are no excuses. We readily acknowledge our dismal 7-9 performance -- several overtime games tipped the scale -- and move on, quickly.

We do so armed with a 29-19 record (60.4 percent), which still outshines several nationally known prognosticators.

This week, there's good news and bad news. The good news is there are seven intradivisional games on the schedule, including the Ravens' next prime-time foray, against the Cleveland Browns.

But the bad news comes in the form of the first bye week of the season, which means we can't rack up the kind of numbers we want until the byes end in Week 11. This week, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis will have Sunday off.

BALTIMORE 30, CLEVELAND 10 (Thursday night): The rigorous Ravens schedule -- tied with St. Louis for the league's fourth toughest -- gives them a bit of a breather here. But the Browns have incurred their three losses by 18 total points, so we suspect they'll hang in there for about a half.

ATLANTA 27, CAROLINA 13: We expected the Panthers to bust out last Thursday night against the Giants, and it didn't even come close to happening. Meanwhile, the Falcons went on the road and, as expected, took care of another pretender who thinks it's better than it is in the San Diego Chargers.

NEW ENGLAND 31, BUFFALO 30: The Patriots can't possibly lose in Buffalo for a second straight year, can they? They might, as the Bills' defense is playing hard and its offense has been better than advertised. The Patriots need to shake off what happened to them in Baltimore, and fast.

DETROIT 24, MINNESOTA 20: These two teams provided our biggest head-scratchers last week. The Vikings shut down the potent 49ers offense and dominated their usually rock-solid defense. Detroit needed some big plays just to stay with Tennessee, but it's at home and more of a contender than the Vikings are.

HOUSTON 23, TENNESSEE 10: The Titans got themselves a good win against Detroit, but they must now travel to Houston -- our preseason pick to win the Super Bowl -- where one of the league's toughest defenses await them. But Jake Locker seems to be developing faster than projected.

KANSAS CITY 20, SAN DIEGO 19: This is one of the toughest games of the week to pick, what with the underachieving Chargers offense and the Chiefs seemingly lacking inspiration at times. All four AFC West teams finished within one game of each other in 2011, so we'll see whether there's been any separation.

NY JETS 23, SAN FRANCISCO 17: On paper, maybe our pick doesn't make sense, considering how dominating the 49ers can be. But whenever a West Coast team travels east, we will continue to pick the home team until there's enough of a pattern the other way to make us change.

SEATTLE 31, ST. LOUIS 13: Even though the Seahawks won't have their home crowd helping them, we don't anticipate much of a problem for them on the road against a Rams squad we thought would be getting noticeably better by this points. The replacement officials won't need to help the 'Hawks during this one.

ARIZONA 27, MIAMI 6: The Cardinals are definitely for real, and they get to stay put in the desert to take on the Dolphins, who may have had all the wind taken out of them after an overtime loss to the Jets. The NFC West is the league's most improved division so far.

CINCINNATI 30, JACKSONVILLE 16: For a second straight week, the Bengals get to go on the road against an outclassed opponent. The Jaguars had to rally on the road to beat Andrew Luck and Indianapolis, but they likely won't have enough to stave off Andy Dalton and his cadre of receivers.

DENVER 23, OAKLAND 20: This is another barnburner between two teams in the evenly matched AFC West. The Raiders have shown what they're made of in the past -- especially with a stunning come-from-behind win against Pittsburgh -- but we like Denver's young defense and the fact that Peyton Manning still hasn't hit his stride yet.

GREEN BAY 40, NEW ORLEANS 30: You just know the Packers' hackles are red after what happened to them in Seattle, but how much can it really motivate them? As for the Saints, they have disappointed greatly so far, performing at a level below even what we expected. At least Drew Brees can tie John Unitas' touchdown-pass streak record.

TAMPA BAY 24, WASHINGTON 17: We're now a believer in the Buccaneers, who have been in every game they have played so far, but with two rough road losses at New York and Dallas to show for it. They're back home this time around, playing a Washington squad that still can't keep up with the rest of its division.

NY GIANTS 27, PHILADELPHIA 24 (Sunday night): The Giants have shown the ability to go on the road, play well, and score a few points while they're at it. The mistake-prone Eagles don't have that kind of talent around Michael Vick just yet, despite marquee names such as LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson.

DALLAS 20, CHICAGO 12 (Monday night): The Bears' defense will no doubt look at how well the Buccaneers controlled the Cowboys' biggest weapons, and it should have the same kind of success. But Dallas should score just enough points to win.

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JOEY P'S TRIVIA TIME: Today's question:

As is the case against most of their opponents, the Cleveland Browns have had a feckless history against the Ravens, losing 10 of their 13 games in Baltimore. The Browns have scored 20 or more points only twice during their Charm City visits.

The most recent was the wild 33-30 overtime win the Browns pulled out in 2007. Can you remember the other?

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of this entry.

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PRACTICE REPORT/CAP UPDATE: Tuesday's shorts-and-shells practice, held outdoors in near-perfect conditions, featured full attendance.

Sitting out Monday were guard/tackle Jah Reid (calf) and linebacker/special teamer Brendon Ayanbadejo (knee), but both were on the field early during the session.

The same is true of wideout Torrey Smith, who left the team after Sunday night's game to be with his family in Virginia as they mourn the loss of his 19-year-old brother, Tevin.

Smith returned to the team Tuesday morning and, through a team spokesman, said he would no longer be commenting on the tragedy.

The Ravens' relatively healthy state means that, at least for now, they don't have to part with any of their cap space to sign a stopgap veteran.

According to a published report, the Ravens are spending $1.72 million less than the $120.6 million salary cap. That's the fourth-lowest amount of any team in the league.

Yet, it's still another of the many elements that John Harbaugh and brother Jim, the ex-Ravens quarterback and current San Francisco head coach, have in common.

The 49ers have a league-low $550,000 in salary-cap space.

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BROWNS BITS: Last year, all four AFC North Division teams finished the season ranked in the top 10 in total defense.

That is hardly the case this year; the Ravens and Cleveland Browns come into their prime-time matchup at M&T Bank Stadium (8:30 p.m., Thursday; NFL Network, WBAL-TV; WIYY-FM) ranked 27th and 25th, respectively.

Both teams are struggling against the run as well, but there is one major difference.

While the Ravens have yielded five rushing touchdowns during three games -- matching their full-season total in 2006 and 2010 while surpassing their 2008 yield of four -- Cleveland is one of four teams that have not permitted any ground scores so far, the others being Arizona, Minnesota and Denver.

Cleveland has allowed an average of 4.1 yards per carry, with no rush longer than 22 yards. That doesn't seem to coincide with the team's 122-yards-per-game average, but it does seem to indicate that while opponents have been able to run on the Browns between the 20-yard lines, they have had trouble in short-yardage and goal-line situations.

Overall, Browns opponents have converted only 16 of 45 third-down plays, good for 35.6 percent, one of the league's lowest rates.

Despite that, what also hasn't helped is that the Browns haven't had the ball that much, never having more than 27 minutes and seven seconds of possession time during any of their three games, which they lost by 18 total points.

But the Browns' run-stuffing corps is a good mix of youth and experience, what with second-year end Jabaal Sheard on one side and ex-Cincinnati free agent Frostee Rucker on the other.

At tackle, Ahtyba Rubin was second in the NFL in tackles at his position last year and all-rookie selection Phil Taylor is close to recovering from a pectoral injury that has kept him off the field so far.

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SHEPHERD TO REF: In the wake of the controversial ending to Monday night's Green Bay-Seattle game, we continue our look at the replacement refs working Ravens games.

Mike Shepherd and his crew -- which will be in Baltimore for Thursday night's Browns-Ravens game -- did have a momentary lapse of reason on a call during last Sunday's Philadelphia-Arizona contest.

When the crew tried to enforce a holding penalty, it marked off the 10-yard infraction without getting a clear sign from anyone on the sidelines that the penalty would be accepted or declined.

After talking among themselves for several minutes, they got word that the penalty would indeed be declined and the ball was returned to its rightful place on the field.

After four weeks of preseason games and three regular-season weekends, such indecision should have ebbed away by now.

Besides the aforementioned Eagles-Cardinals game, Shepherd and his crew have worked Oakland-Miami during Week Two and Atlanta-Kansas City during Week One.

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FREE SCREENINGS: The "Melanoma Exposed" advocacy group will be conducting free screenings for the disease along the Ravens Walk pedestrian spine before Thursday night's Browns-Ravens game.

Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was diagnosed with melanoma many years ago, but it was caught early enough that he could make a full recovery. On the RavensVision boards during the game, Cameron will be featured in a public-service announcement.

The screenings, which licensed dermatologists will conduct, will take place from 4-8 p.m.

Maryland has the 11th-highest rate of melanoma diagnoses in the United States. Approximately one person dies every hour nationwide because of this disease, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: Ex-Ravens head coach Brian Billick and former defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis -- now Cincinnati's head coach -- each got their first career sideline wins by seven points against the Cleveland Browns.

The Ravens' coaching legacy has been a fruitful one, as the ultra-confident Billick recently pointed out when discussing John Harbaugh's progress.

"John has been brilliant," Billick said. "Part of it is because he came into a team that was -- I don't want to sound self-serving -- ... pretty good."

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JOEY P'S TRIVIA TIME ANSWER: Here's the question we asked you earlier in this entry:

As is the case against most of their opponents, the Cleveland Browns have had a feckless history against the Ravens, losing 10 of their 13 games in Baltimore. The Browns have scored 20 or more points only twice during their Charm City visits.

The most recent was the wild 33-30 overtime win the Browns pulled out in 2007. Can you remember the other?

ANSWER:

During the years Baltimore went without an NFL franchise, the fans dreamed of the day when then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue would present a Vince Lombardi Trophy to the owner of a Baltimore team.

After Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore in 1996, Browns fans had a dream of their own: for their new team to beat the Ravens in their new home.

Cleveland beat the defending Super Bowl champs, 24-14, in Cleveland in October 2001. A month later, not only did the Browns register their first-ever sweep of the Ravens, they did so with a convincing 27-17 win at what is now M&T Bank Stadium. Browns radio voice Jim Donovan marked the occasion by screaming, "This one's been a long time coming!"

Ravens quarterback Elvis Grbac, a Browns fan since childhood, threw four interceptions that day, three to journeyman cornerback Anthony Henry. Grbac was spotted crying on the sidelines, but he later said he was merely sweating.

Posted Sept. 25, 2012