The Ravens survived a scare from the Browns when these two division rivals met in Baltimore in Week 3. Now the Ravens travel to chilly Cleveland where they could face a similar challenge from the Browns. Or they could smash the Browns. Really, it could go either way at this point in the season. Here's what I'll be watching for Sunday from my warm living room in Hampden:
2. The hungry, blind cat: Ray Lewis raised eyebrows when he talked a little smack on Browns running back Peyton Hillis, who rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown in their previous meeting. "A blind cat will find a meal every once in a while," Lewis said. "[As] our team's leader, it won't happen again. I hope [the Browns] understand that." Hillis appears to be wearing down from the heavy workload (he was mostly a fullback in college and his first couple of seasons in the pros). But Lewis' barb -- and Terrell Suggs claiming he didn't know who Hillis was -- might just get Hillis running angry again, something that gave the Ravens trouble the last time around.
3. Boldin loves the Browns: Ravens wideout Anquan Boldin had his finest game as a Raven against the Browns, humiliating cornerback Eric Wright as he had eight catches for 142 yards and three touchdowns. Wright has since gone on the injured reserve, and the Cleveland secondary has gotten its act together, but don't be surprised if Boldin and Joe Flacco hook up in the end zone on Sunday. No, not that kind of hooking up, perv. I mean more touchdown passes.
4. The real McCoy?: Colt McCoy has fared as well as one could expect a rookie third-round draft pick to fare under center, completing 65.8 percent of his passes and throwing five touchdowns to three interceptions on the season. Now he'll have Lewis, Suggs and Haloti Ngata coming hard for him Sunday. "I expect to see a lot of pressure," McCoy said. "How we handle that is going to determine how successful we are in the game." The Ravens have hammered young quarterbacks, though, and as much as I like McCoy's potential in the Browns' West Coast offense, you have to figure they'll hammer him, too.
5. Winning the special-teams battle: The Ravens didn't get their return games going until a few weeks ago, but overall, they have had one of the top special teams units in the NFL. Billy Cundiff and Sam Koch are both serious Pro Bowl possibilities, and their mastery against return specialists has made things easy for the coverage units. The Ravens will be booting the ball to Josh Cribbs, one of the top three return guys in the game, and they might be missing some key contributors (and kick returner David Reed, too). That means Cundiff and Koch need to bring it again Sunday.
