It is acknowledged that the Russian ships in the area would be meat in any engagement, but that isn’t what they are there for.
They are a trip-line, and Putin is daring the Gay Media Messiah to cross it. In addition, the Russians, and the Chinese, have been working on a lot of new toys to knock down cruise missiles, and drones, among other things, like Gen3 GPS spoofers.
Obama has given Putin more than enough time to get the latest toys in theater, were they can be tested in a limited engagement.
If this turns into any sort of major conflict, (conventional or otherwise), America's days of being the world's biggest superpower are over. We're almost there now, even without war.