ITPV » There’s no easy road to the AFC playoffs.

However Zach Brown Jersey , the Baltimore Ravens may be on one. They’re facing a three-week pathway to the postseason deprived of much real danger. Don’t tell John Harbaugh that, though. Baltimore’s coach isn’t buying that his team’s last three regular-season games are gimmes, and he refused to allow his players to feel comfortable as they prepared to play their final road game on Sunday against the lowly Browns (0-13), who are hoping to dodge disgrace as the second 0-16 team in NFL history. Although Cleveland has come up short 13 times in 13 tries in 2017, Harbaugh insists the Browns can’t be overlooked. ”I feel like they have played well all year,” Harbaugh said. ”They have played well enough to win plenty of games this year. All you have to do is watch the tape to understand that. They are very well coached, a very hard playing team with talent. We are going to have our hands full with a very good football team, and that is how we are looking at it.” The Ravens (7-6) control their postseason destiny, and with a 3-0 finish they’ll return to the playoffs after a two-year absence. Their schedule appears to be favorable with the game at Cleveland followed by home dates against Indianapolis and Cincinnati – three teams with a combined 8-31 record. Yeah, the Browns are winless. And that’s what makes them perilous. They are the first team to go 0-13 to start consecutive seasons, and the Browns want to avoid further infamy. Getting a win in their last home game – that’s what they did last season to escape 0-16 – and spoiling Baltimore’s season would ease the pain of another forgettable year. ”If we are going to go and get our first win, we would love to get it in front of our home crowd,” said Browns rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer Shareef Miller Jersey , who threw three interceptions in Baltimore’s 24-10 win on Sept. 17. ”Obviously, the end of the season can go one of two ways: It can create momentum going into next year or you can reset after this year and try to squash and put it behind you. ”As a team, we have made a decision that we want to see momentum into next year.” ROUGH YEAR: Kizer was forced to leave the Browns’ first matchup against Baltimore with a migraine. It wasn’t his only malady this season. It’s been a bumpy baptism for the 21-year-old, who enters Sunday’s game leading the league with 17 interceptions. Kizer has been benched and beaten, but not broken. Despite his deficiencies, coach Hue Jackson believes Kizer can develop into a quality starter. ”There are some things that you continue to even scratch your head about, but I think he is working through it,” Jackson said. ”He gets it. He is accountable to it. He knows there are some things he has to fix, and he is trying.” CLUTCH COLLINS: Coming off the finest game of his NFL career, Ravens running back Alex Collins is poised to face the league’s sixth-ranked rushing defense. Collins ran for 120 yards, caught two passes for 46 and scored a touchdown in Pittsburgh. Not bad for a guy who started the season on Baltimore’s practice squad. ”Alex has been electric,” Harbaugh said. ”He has made some plays after contact; he has made plays in the passing game; he has been explosive and scored touchdowns. He’s been a difference-maker.” CLOSE, NO CIGAR: The Browns’ 0-13 record doesn’t tell the complete story. Cleveland has lost twice in overtime Devin Bush Jersey , four times by three points and seven of its losses have been by 12 or fewer. The Browns are overdue. ”You go into a game and you think, `Oh, we should beat this team,’ then you end up coming up short, and you’re like, `Why?”’ Baltimore rookie cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. ”It’s never a guaranteed win in the NFL. You have to treat every team the same, no matter what their record is.” SUPER SUGGS: At 35, Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs shows no signs of slowing down. He’s third in the AFC with 11 sacks and the six-time Pro Bowler is one tackle shy of 900 in his career. ”There are not very many people like him walking around on the planet,” Harbaugh said. ”He is kind of born and built to play football and to play defensive end, outside linebacker in this league.” CORNER ROOKIE: With cornerback Jimmy Smith lost for the season with a torn Achilles, the Ravens are counting on Humphrey to fill the void. His goal this week will be to shut down the Browns’ passing game and shut up Cleveland’s fans ”I love away games,” said Humphrey, who played at Alabama. ”I can play more clear when there’s a lot of hate and feel the energy like that.” Baltimore gave up 506 yards passing last week http://www.steelersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-diontae-johnson-jersey , and won’t have it easy on Sunday. ”The Browns have some pretty good receivers with (Corey) Coleman and (Josh) Gordon,” he said. ”It’ll be another good challenge for us. Their record doesn’t say much, but their skill players are definitely very, very elite.” — AP Sports Writer David Ginsburg in Baltimore contributed to this report. — THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Eric Weddle is one of the most durable safeties of his generation, and he never sat out an entire preseason in the first 12 years of his NFL career.When he joined the Los Angeles Rams, Weddle realized coach Sean McVay does things a little bit differently.Weddle and nearly every Rams starter didn’t participate at all in the just-completed preseason, and they won’t get their first real game action together until Sunday in their regular-season opener at Carolina.The veteran safety appears to be meshing splendidly with his new teammates, but Weddle truly won’t know how they all fit together until they finally get on the field for the first time.“I know for me personally, there are some benefits of playing (in the preseason), but the benefits don’t outweigh the negative enough to chance it,” Weddle said. “With the way we practice, the way we compete Justin Layne Jersey , it’s as game-like as it can be with the low risk of injury. You’d hate to lose a guy playing in one preseason game. You’ll get your timing down in a quarter or two, and you’ll be right back in the rhythm. We’ve had great work, though. We’ve pushed each other to the limit.”McVay kept his entire offense out of the 2018 preseason, preferring to preserve his players’ health at the expense of potentially beneficial experience. His extreme measures were met with a few raised eyebrows, but then the ostensibly rusty Rams starters went 8-0 and steamrolled the NFC West before reaching the franchise’s first Super Bowl in 17 years with one of the healthiest teams in the league.Much of the NFL edged toward adopting McVay’s philosophy last month, with many teams playing their key starters far less than in previous preseasons.The Rams started game preparations Monday with almost every significant expected contributor in good health. That was the goal when McVay decided to avoid the preseason again, preferring to keep his players fresh for the grind of defending an NFC championship.“There’s a difference in the preparation and the way that we’re approaching things right now,” McVay said Monday. “We’re focused on this year. I think our guys have done a great job of having that singular focus on just producing in the present.”The Rams’ only big injury in the preseason happened to linebacker Micah Kiser, a backup last season projected to be a starter this fall before he injured his pectoral muscle and required season-ending surgery. Because he was trying to cement his new role on the defense, Kiser was one of the few key players who suited up in the preseason.Los Angeles’ starters didn’t go without competition in August. They held joint practices with the Oakland Raiders and the crosstown Chargers, and McVay staged a handful of practice scrimmages for his team with officials and game-like conditions.But the revamped defensive lineup has yet to be in a real game, and the offensive line still hasn’t tested its two new starters. Center Brian Allen and left guard Joe Noteboom will make their first NFL starts Sunday.“I think people are going to say we haven’t played, or stuff like that http://www.steelersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-benny-snell-jr.-jersey ,” Allen said. “It’s not going to be an excuse. We’re going to be ready for Sunday, and we’ve been going live against our defense all camp. The Chargers, the Raiders, we’ve got action against other teams at a live pace. It’s not like we haven’t been playing football.”Noteboom said the offensive linemen have an advantage in practice preparation: They have to face Aaron Donald, the back-to-back AP Defensive Player of the Year.“When you go into a game, you know it’s going to be easy because you’re not going to see anyone better than him,” Noteboom said.NOTES: The Rams put backup LB Justin Lawler on injured reserve Monday after initially keeping him on the 53-man roster. The procedural move means Lawler can return from foot surgery after the first eight weeks of the season. … Los Angeles signed C Coleman Shelton to the active roster in Lawler’s place. Shelton, the ninth offensive lineman on the 53-man roster, was cut by the Arizona Cardinals last weekend. He is a Pasadena native who played at Loyola High School near downtown Los Angeles. Shelton said he was pleasantly surprised to hear from the Rams: “You never know who has been watching you on (video).” Shelton is the fifth University of Washington product on the roster, joining his former teammates Marcus Peters, Cory Littleton and rookies Taylor Rapp and Greg Gaines.