Browns hope to shine in MNF spotlight

11.16.2009

The Browns are back to the field and back in the Monday Night Football spotlight tonight as they host the Ravens in a key AFC North Division game for both teams.

Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. as Monday Night Football celebrates its 40th season in the place it started. ESPN has the national broadcast, and FOX-8 will also carry the game locally.

The Browns are hoping the extra rest and practice work they got over the bye weekend and long week will pay dividends as Brady Quinn takes the starting quarterback's job and looks to spark the offense.

The Browns believe the bye week came at the right time - the season's exact midpoint - and are expecting to put their best foot forward in front of what's sure to be a raucous crowd that's awaiting the Browns' first home victory of the season.

"I believe in this group of guys and I believe in the coaching staff and I believe in the things that we're doing," Browns head coach Eric Mangini said. "That belief won't change. What's important is [to] be able to show where things can change, because if you take the approach that they can't change, then you're lost at that point and that's not the case. Things are correctable and the belief system has not faltered."

The 4-4 Ravens have cooled after a 3-0 start, but they have a top 10 offense to match one of the league's best defenses and have reached a crucial point in their push towards the playoffs after the Bengals got to 7-2 by beating the 6-3 Steelers Sunday.

The Ravens beat the Browns in Baltimore in September, 34-3, as quarterback Joe Flacco had a big day and the Browns turned the ball over five times. That's something the Browns know can not happen again against the swarming, aggressive and multiple Ravens' front.

"The area I'd like to see us fix offensively is turnovers," Mangini said. "To me, that's the most important area because our giveaway, takeaway ratio is not good at all. The amount of points that are scored after a turnover, or are the result of a turnover, the net hasn't been very good. It's hard to win without starting there."

Last year the Browns came off the bye week and played their best game of the season in a home Monday nighter, clicking on all cylinders in a 35-14 win over the then-unbeaten Giants. The Browns face a similarly tall task in this one and are hoping for a similar result.

Ray Rice has emerged as the Ravens' go-to guy offensively, and the second-year back will attack a Browns defense that will play tonight without captain and starting linebacker Eric Barton, who was placed on injured-reserve early last week. With Barton and D'Qwell Jackson now lost for the season, look for the Browns to move veteran David Bowens from outside to inside, with rookies David Veikune and Kaluka Maiava getting extra work inside and Jason Trusnik continuing to play outside. Trusnik has 2 sacks since being acquired in early October and immediately being pressed into duty.

Offensively, the Browns know they'll need to establish the run to keep the Ravens on their heels. Quinn is back in the lineup after being replaced at halftime of the last Ravens game, and he's looking ahead - not back - with optimism and excitement.

"I'm focused on now," Quinn said. "Our goal is to execute this game, not worry about what's happened in the past.

"There's a lot of season left. We know we have to play better, and we're focused on doing that. It's a tough division. It's always a fight. We have to come out and execute and fight the fight."