The midway point of the season is upon us as the Ravens enter their eighth game of the season against the Browns - the first divisional rematch of the season for either team in 2008. Oh, how things have changed since that game win Week Three in Baltimore.

The Ravens enter at 4-3, riding their second two-game win streak of the season, and feeling good again. Not only are they winning, but the offense has shown signs of life against two weaker opponents.

Meanwhile, the Browns enter at 3-4, have won three of four games, including beating the defending champion New York Giants. The Browns reversed that 0-3 pretty quickly and confidence is running high in Cleveland these days. The big question is can the Browns keep up and truly return to the playoff-caliber team we saw last season?

As we look at this Week Nine match-up, here are two key player-to-player battles to keep an eye on…

Ravens Defense vs. Browns Offense

LB Terrell Suggs vs. QB Derek Anderson

The Ravens defense must not have liked getting embarassed by the Colts three weeks ago in Indianapolis. Since then, against two weaker offensive opponents, the Ravens defense has found its fire again, and the Dolphins and Raiders were the victims of all their built up rage.

Fronting the charge for this defense in both games, though, was not Super-Raven Ray Lewis. Instead, it was Lewis’ younger, pass-rushing protege Terrell Suggs that was really on top of his game and giving the defense its life.  Over the course of the season, Suggs has shown his strength not only as a Pro Bowl caliber player, but as a legitimate defensive leader.

In his last two games, Suggs has two sacks, a pair of tackles for loss, a pass deflection and an interception … that happened to be returned for a touchdown. Not to mention his 12 tackles. The only thing he’s missing from running the defensive stat table is a forced fumble and a recovery.

It’s been discussed frequently over the last few weeks, even by John Harbaugh, but Terrell Suggs is as much of a game-changer on the Ravens defense as Ed Reed… when he wants to be. So far this season, Suggs has been playing full-throttle every game, and it shows.  Suggs is the key to the Ravens pass rush and the key to Ravens defense controlling the Browns this weekend.

Opposite Suggs, Browns QB Derek Anderson (from here on known as “the one the Ravens let get away”) has struggled so far this season. His passer-rating through seven games is 67.1, and his 7 TD passes are no where close to the 29 he had last season.

Anderson’s struggles this season are hardly his fault alone. As a vigilant defender of quarterbacks that take too much heat, I’m happy to point the finger at receivers, tight ends, offensive lineman and, of course, offensive coordinators. All deserve a fair share of the blame for the Browns’ offensive struggles so far this season. In fact, Anderson is doing a fine job considering everything going on around him.

But nonetheless, Anderson will be the key to the Browns success offensively on Sunday. More than his receivers, more than his line, and more than running back Jamal Lewis.

The major shot at Anderson this year has been his decision-making. He has missed open receivers, thrown to covered receivers, and just plain looked flustered at times. And without a solid running game (Jamal Lewis is yet to top 100 yards and only once reached 25 carries), Anderson is all on his own for the most part.

The correlation is pretty clear. In his last four games, Anderson has been sacked just three times. And in those games he’s thrown just one interception. Simple, mistake-free football; even if his completion percentage and yards are nothing commendable. Compare those numbers to those of the weeks before. In Week 3 alone, against the Ravens, Anderson was sacked four times (twice by Suggs). And the result? He threw three interceptions.

The formula is simple. It’s very much the same for any quarterback, in fact. When they are hit and pressured, they start to make bad decisions. Bad decisions by quarterbacks turn very quickly into bad games for offenses.

Even if Anderson can avoid mistakes, there’s no guarantee the Browns win. Even while playing mistake-free, his offensive production has been fairly lackluster. But one thing is for certain: if the Ravens can get to Anderson, they will be rewarded.

Ravens Offense vs. Browns Defense

C Jason Brown vs. DT Shaun Rogers

Browns DT Shaun Rogers is a beast. The two-time Pro Bowl lineman and former Lion is plain mean. And so far this year he’s been having perhaps the best season of his career.

Already in 2008, Rogers has four sacks and 30-plus tackles. Last week against Jacksonville he had a sack, a number of solo tackles, blocked a field goal, and then recovered the blocked kick as well. He’s just nasty on the line.

Rogers is big. Very big. And fast for his size. He’s already been demanding double- and triple-team blocking schemes, making sure that even if he can’t get to the QB, someone on his defense will have the opportunity. But that’s been the first problem with this Browns defense so far this year.

While Rogers has done an admirable job of getting to the quarterback and taking up blockers, his teammates have failed to create similar pressure or even take advantage of Rogers’ efforts. The rest of the Browns defense has just seven sacks this season.

There’s another problem with this Rogers-led defense as well.  Even with the 350lb tank in the middle of the line, the Browns have trouble protecting against the run. Rogers is a pass-rusher, not a run-stopper in the middle of that line.  The only team to not rush for 100 yards against the Browns so far this season is the Bengals. The Giants and the Redskins, in fact, both went over 180 on the ground - both games coming in the midst of this recent Browns renaissance.

So, what about the Ravens against this pass-rushing beast that is Shaun Rogers? Well, the job of controlling Rogers is given to Jason Brown, the 4th-year guard/center. In their first match-up this season, Brown did a fine job (as did the entire line). The Browns recorded just one sack and it wasn’t Shaun Rogers that got it.

But for Brown, the key to controlling Rogers is all about game-planning. The Ravens should plan to use their run-heavy attack - as they always do. In running situations, Brown doesn’t need to block Rogers, he just needs to direct him. As has been noted, Rogers is a pass-rusher. He’s happy to stomp into the backfield and go after a quarterback… so let him. Just make sure the ball is already wide of tackle in the hands of Willis McGahee or Ray Rice.

So that’s it. Keep the ball out of Flacco’s hands as much as possible, and we don’t even have to worry about Rogers collapsing pockets and forcing mistakes. Run around him, run by him, run right at him… just run. Really. In addition to the 150+ yards the Ravens had rushing against the Browns last time, they also had three rushing TDs from inside of five yards!

It will only get truly interesting if the Ravens find themselves trailing and forced to pass. Then we’ll get to see Rogers in his element. And even if he isn’t getting sacks or forcing fumbles, he’ll be disruptive enough to force Joe Flacco into making mistakes. And as always, that spells disaster for the Ravens.