CLEVELAND Browns out of it, but will look to play the spoiler
Cleveland will face the Ravens and Bengals in the final two weeks
CLEVELAND (AP) -- They're not going back to the playoffs, and they're certainly not going to win the AFC North. However, the Cleveland Browns can decide who does.
Reduced to the role of spoilers in a calamitous season, the Browns (4-10) will face co-division leaders Baltimore and Cincinnati in the final two weeks.
Because the Bengals own tiebreaker advantages over the Ravens if the two teams win out, the Browns have a chance to push the Ravens to the brink of elimination.
And that would be just fine with Cleveland tackle Barry Stokes.
"We dislike them, the Baltimore Ravens," Stokes said. "From ownership [former Browns owner Art Modell] all the way down the line. I don't think I've heard anybody say anything good about the Ravens."
The Browns, who have lost four straight and seven of eight, are looking for a little payback. In their first matchup with the Ravens (8-6) on Sept. 14, Cleveland got run over -- literally.
Lewis set NFL record
Baltimore's Jamal Lewis rushed for an NFL-record 295 yards on 30 carries in the Ravens' 33-13 win in Week 2. As if that wasn't bad enough, a few days before the game, Lewis told Browns linebacker Andra Davis in a phone conversation that if he got the ball 30 times he was going to have a "career day."
Little did the Browns know Lewis meant a "career day" for himself and one better than every other running back who has ever played in the league.
"Very embarrassing," Davis said this week. "We still feel it to this day. We want to get out there and make up for it. I mean, you can't say how embarrassing it was."
Not only did the Browns not tackle Lewis, but they didn't even catch on that he was writing his name -- and theirs -- in the record book until it was too late.
"We were still talking the whole time," Davis said. "Every time we made a tackle on him, we were like, 'You ain't going to get the record on us.' And he was like, 'I just got it.' "
Browns made it to easy
The Browns feel as if they made it too easy for Lewis. They missed tackles and didn't stay within their game plan. In truth, it was just their second game in first-year defensive coordinator Dave Campo's system, but that's not enough of an excuse for what Lewis did.
Davis said it won't happen again.
"The runs he broke, he could have easily tripped," Davis said. "It was just his day. The first run, he went 80 yards. He stumbled for 5 yards and caught his balance. He's not Superman or anything like that. He's a great back, but he's stoppable."
Lewis didn't want to make any bold predictions this week, and wouldn't say if he had been chatting with Davis. Anyway, the only record Lewis is interested in changing is Baltimore's -- on the positive side.
The Ravens gave up their one-game lead over the Bengals last week with a disappointing 20-12 loss at Oakland, and they can't afford another one today.
"It's a must win because of how things happened," Lewis said. "We need to play our best and take care of business."
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