BALTIMORE -- Welcome to the Humiliation Bowl between the Browns and Ravens Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.

The defending Super Bowl champions were blown away by the Broncos, 49-27, in their opener on national television, and Peyton Manning strafed them with seven touchdown passes to tie an NFL record. The Browns, meanwhile, were rocked 23-10 by the Dolphins in what was supposed to be a winnable game in their home opener.

The offense couldn't convert on third down, and Brandon Weeden was under siege all afternoon. He threw three interceptions, was sacked six times and drilled a total of 16.

"Everybody was hoping that we were going to come out with a bang and win, but that still doesn’t change my mindset about my team,'' said running back Trent Richardson. "I still think we’re going to have one of the best teams in the NFL this year.''

In Denver, the vaunted Ravens' defense -- minus departed stars Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Paul Kruger -- surrendered a league-most 510 yards to land at the bottom of the heap.

The great Joe Flacco, reigning Super Bowl MVP, looked ordinary, with two interceptions to match his two touchdowns, and completed only 54.8% of his passes.

But the Browns haven't changed their opinion of the Ravens -- who've won straight in the matchup -- heading into their first meeting of the season.

"They're still the defending Super Bowl champs, and we know they're going to be ready for us after what happened last week,'' said former Ravens and current Browns linebacker Paul Kruger.

Some things to watch during Sunday's game in Baltimore, where the Ravens are 33-7 since 2008:

1. Flacco vs. the Browns' defense: Flacco is now 10-0 vs. the Browns with 12 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 92.5 rating. His 10 straight victories tie John Elway for the most vs. an opponent since the 1970 merger. He's big, he's hard to bring down, and he's got the Browns' number.

"He's really sharp,'' said cornerback Joe Haden, who sat out last year's first meeting on an Adderall suspension. "He doesn't really try to think too much. One thing he does really well, if he sees a matchup he likes, no matter what the coverage is, he really tries to take advantage of the matchups. ''

It should help the Browns to have Haden on hand in Baltimore this season, but Flacco will try to exploit cornerbacks Buster Skrine and Chris Owens, who struggled last week against Miami's Brian Hartline.

"It was just little stuff,'' said Haden. "They missed a tackle by a little bit or they were a little bit out of position, but my boys, they're going to fight back. We've been doing a whole lot at practice this week as far as communication and stuff like that, so we should be really good.''

Pressuring Flacco will be huge, and fortunately for the Browns, his supporting cast is nowhere near as good it was last year.

2. No Boldin, Pitta, or Jones: Flacco discovered last week in Denver how much he already misses receiver Anquan Boldin, who caught 13 passes for 208 yards and a TD in his 49ers debut. In the Browns' 23-16 loss in Baltimore last season, Boldin dominated with nine catches for 131 yards, including 8 for 125 in the decisive second-half. The combination of no Haden and an unstoppable Boldin was too much for the Browns to overcome.

"It's different,'' Haden said of the Ravens without Boldin. "Them not having him on their offense is definitely going to take a toll."

Flacco still has deep threat Torrey Smith, but tight end Dennis Pitta is on injured reserve for at least half the season and receiver Jacoby Jones has been ruled out this game with a knee injury. Last season, Boldin, Pitta and Jones accounted for 34 of Flacco's 62 completions of 20 yards or more, and seven of his 11 touchdown TD passes from 20-plus.

"I don't think you can put into words how much you miss Anquan,'' said Flacco. "But we have to adapt and adjust and I think we're doing that.''

3. A side of Rice: Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson proclaimed last week after the Browns held Miami to 20 yards rushing on 23 carries that "no one can run on us,'' but the Ravens will try to make him eat those words, along with a side of Rice.

Running back Ray Rice has rushed for 922 yards in 10 games against the Browns, with four touchdowns. He's also caught 30 passes for 191 yards and a TD. In 2011, he dropped a career-high 204 yards rushing on the Browns.

"I think now they're really going to try to get Ray Rice more involved, because he's the best player on offense,'' said Haden "He can run the ball, he can catch the ball, he's a three-down back. He uses blocks, he can catch, he's just an all-purpose, all-around back. He's really, really special.

But times are different in Browns town these day, according to Ray Horton's bolstered crew.

"We want to go out and show that the defensive performance put out there on tape (against Miami) wasn't a fluke,'' said safety Tashaun Gipson.

Added Jackson, "We definitely plan on stopping the run for 16 weeks. It wasn't just for one week.''

4. Right 0-Line vs. the World: While Flacco will go to work on the right cornerback, his defense will attack the vulnerable right side of the Browns offensive line, which struggled mightily against Cameron Wake and the Dolphins last week. Schwartz surrendered three sacks and nine quarterback disruptions, according to profootballfocus.com, and Oniel Cousins surrendered two sacks and three hurries, while also committing four penalties. They've barely had time to recover before running into premier outside linebackers Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs. Dumervil has nine sacks in four games against the Browns, and Suggs has 13 in his 19 games, but also has seven forced fumbles. Both Cousins and Schwartz have vowed to have better days, and Brandon Weeden is counting on it.

5. Weeden vs. the Ravens' shellshocked D: Weeden picked a fine time to ruffle this tiger, coming off that beatdown by Manning. The Ravens have surely noticed by now that Weeden struggles and often overthrows his passes under duress. The Ravens got a horrible performance out of their secondary last week -- safeties Michael Huff and James Ihedigbo ad cornerbacks Corey Graham and Jimmy Smith -- but they'll be looking to intercept Weeden this game. Last year, he threw no TDs and three picks against them. With Josh Gordon out, Weeden will need better performances out of Greg Little and Travis Benjamin, who caught only seven of the 18 passes thrown their way last week for 70 yards. Fortunately for Weeden, he developed a rhythm with Jordan Cameron (nine catches, 108 yards) and Davone Bess (five for 47). Benjamin is questionable with a thigh bruise, which could shave a millisecond off his world-class speed, but he insists he's fine. Weeden will have to scramble away from pressure at times to stay alive.

6. Give him the darn ball: Trent Richardson made it clear this week he wants to be the bellcow and that he disagreed with the Browns abandoning the run in the second half against the Dolphins, when he carried just five times for 14 yards, and not at all in the fourth quarter. The numbers back up his beef: when Richardson rushes for 20 yards or more, he averages just under 100 yards a game, and the Browns are 3-2. When he rushes fewer than 20 times, he averages 47.1 yards, and the Browns are 2-9. Suspect run-blocking like the Browns got against Miami and falling behind don't help matters.

Last season, Richardson rushed for 105 yards in the second meeting against the Ravens and isn't fazed by a unit that's allowed the second-fewest 100-yard rushers (31) since 1999, topped only by Pittsburgh's 26.

"I reckon they will have a bull’s-eye on me and that’s how I look at every team,'' said Richardson. "It just makes me want to work harder, makes me want to be that guy that’s always rushing for 100 or 90-plus. They're fast. They're bullies and they're going to do anything they can to stop you and they're not just talented up front, they're talented all around. It's an All-Pro defense.''

7. Kruger and his pass-rushing bros: Kruger is still miffed that the Ravens gave him only 17 snaps in the Super Bowl (22 on the official playbook) and will carry that Gibraltar-sized boulder into M&T Bank on Sunday. The Ravens let Kruger walk in free agency, and didn't try to prevent him from defecting to the Browns. He's eager to step out of Terrell Suggs' shadow and to darken Flacco's door all at the same time.

"I know inside he’s digging deep for this one, he really wants this one,'' said D'Qwell Jackson. "A lot of guys want to finish where they start, so to be let go and to come here, to know we have something good here that we’re building, I know he’s going to be building up inside for this one.''

Meanwhile, he and his pass-rushing partners, who opened with four sacks last week, are planning to rattle Flacco. No. 6 overall pick Barkevious Mingo, coming off a bruised lung, will make his NFL debut, and Desmond Bryant, who had two sacks last week, will try to keep them coming.

"I hit Flacco a couple of times last year, but didn't sack him,'' said Bryant. "This time around, I've got to get him.''

Kruger and Quentin Groves also had sacks last week, and with right tackle Michael Oher struggling with an ankle injury, he might be ripe for the picking.

"We have a lot of confidence in this defense,'' said Jackson.