BEREA -- Despite the Cleveland Browns 2-7 record, the Ravens, this week's divisional opponent, had a lot of good things to say about the Browns defense.
"Oh, they're really good," John Harbaugh said earlier this week. "They have good players and good coaches. They're hard to go against. They challenge everything that you try to do offensively; they try to give you nothing. We just have to do a great job of staying ahead of the chains. When we've done that, we've been fine. But, (they're) tremendous, they do a great job."
The Browns rank second in the NFL defensively, giving up 264.9 yards a game. The Browns ranked second in passing defense (167.0) and 10th in rushing defense (97.9).
The Ravens offense is currently 20th in the NFL, averaging 318.8 yards a game. The strength of the Ravens offense has been their rushing game, ranking fifth in the NFL, with an average of 137.3 yards a game.
Derrick Henry has 704 yards rushing, including six touchdowns. He averages 4.8 yards a carry. Lamar Jackson is second in rushing with 216 yards (6.2 avg.), despite missing several games with a hamstring injury.
"(Browns) are a disruptive front," Henry said. "They're a really, really good defense. They play well. They do a lot of different stunts and do the stunts well. They got Myles Garrett. I think they're just a solid group, overall. They were the same way last year."
Henry said the Browns played well against the Ravens in the first game.
"We saw (during the) last game, they got the best of us," he said. "They were the better group the last time we played them. So, just looking at that film, seeing how we could be better, focus on it, practice executing it throughout practice and then let it translate to the game. But we know it's going to be tough. Their defense is solid from top to bottom."
The Browns held the Ravens to just 45 yards on 21 carries (2.1 avg.) in the first game that the Ravens won. They also held Henry to just 23 yards on 11 carries and Lamar Jackson to 13 yards.