Ravens top Browns, move to 3-1; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Playing for the 4th time in 18 days, the Baltimore Ravens did just enough to beat the Cleveland Browns tonight. With the 23-16 win, the Ravens move to 3-1 on the season, and now get some additional days of rest and preparation prior to their October 7th game at Kansas City.

The Good:

1) After allowing 1 first down on the Browns initial series, the Ravens forced a Cleveland punt. The Ravens brought pressure on 3rd down and Kruger almost came away a pick in the flat.

2) On 2nd down of the Ravens first possession, Harewood had a good block and Rice used a stiff-arm to gain a new set of downs. Several plays later, Rice picked up 8 more yards on an inside screen.

3) Webb came up and made a tackle on 1st down on the Browns 2nd series. On 2nd down, the Cleveland line got a good push, but the Ravens defense pushed back and wrapped up Richardson after the Browns RB ran into his own blocker. Weeden and the Browns picked up a 3rd and 5, but were quickly forced into another 3rd and long which they did not.

4) The Ravens were forced to punt for a second time after their second series. While you do not like to see anyone hurt, Ellerbe delivered a legal smash on Cribbs’ attempted punt return which forced a fumble, and was recovered by Baltimore. This gave the Ravens excellent field position, as McClain recovered at the Browns 40.

5) Coming off the Cribbs fumble, the Ravens quickly went to Rice twice picking up a 1st, followed by a second 1st down over the middle to Smith. Smith made a nice adjustment to a throw on his back shoulder. The no-huddle got going, and the Ravens dumped down to Rice for 7 more. The Ravens were on the move and looking good until (see Ugly 1).

6) Following Flacco’s 1st Quarter interception, Richardson picked up 18 yards on a screen. After that, the Browns moved backwards on a penalty and soon faced 3rd and 17. With the Browns unable to threaten down the field, the Ravens quickly wrapped up underneath.

7) The 2nd Quarter started with the Ravens continuing their 4th series. Flacco found Doss on 3rd and 7 for 39 yards, followed by 34 more yards to Smith taking the Baltimore to the Cleveland 9. Several plays later, Flacco found Smith for 18 yards and the Ravens first score. Baltimore went 85 yards over 6 plays, with the drive lasting just under 3 minutes.

8) Up 6-0, the Ravens forced the Browns into a 3 and out. Ellerbe had good coverage on 3rd down.

9) After Cleveland’s 4th punt, and a Browns penalty on the punt; the Ravens began their first full 2nd Quarter drive from their own 41 yard line. Flacco found Leach for 8 yards, followed by a 15 yard gainer from Smith over the middle. Tucker capped the drive with a FG from 45 yards out for the 9-0 lead with 11 minutes left in the 1st half.

10) Baltimore rushed just 3 defenders on 3rd and 7 during Cleveland’s 5th series. Kruger was still able to come up with the sack, and the Browns were forced to punt for the 5th time.

11) Koch’s 2nd punt had Cleveland starting their 6th series from their 6 yard line.

12) Subsequent to the Browns first score, the Ravens started from their own 19 yard line with 2:26 left on the 1st half clock. Rice gained 11 yards on 1st down. Flacco found Boldin for 6 more, and gained another 1st down on a 7 yard pass to Jones right after the 2 minute warning. It was a promising looking drive, which stalled on a penalty by Oher.

13) Webb had a great play knocking away a potential catch on 3rd and 7, with less than a minute left in the 1st half.

14) Starting from their own 11 yard line to begin the 3rd Quarter, Rice picked up a 1st down with a good run on 3rd and 2. On a back shoulder throw Boldin made a perfect catch for another Baltimore another 1st into Cleveland territory. On 3rd and 7, Flacco was able to step into his throw and delivered a strike to Boldin for a 21 yard gain to the Browns 26. On Boldin’s 3rd catch of the drive, he gained extra yards by keeping his legs moving, taking the ball to the Cleveland 2. On 3rd and Goal, Flacco took the ball in himself on the roll-out. He would have found Pitta, but Pitta had fell down. The 13 play, 89 yard, 5+ minute drive to begin the 3rd put the Ravens up 16-7. This was an absolutely fantastic way for Baltimore to come out of the locker-room.

15) Baltimore had good kickoff coverage following their 3rd Quarter TD.

16) Cleveland’s first series of the 3rd Quarter, saw the Browns move down the field to the Ravens 35 yard line. The Baltimore defense was able to tighten-up at that point, and force a FG attempt.

17) Leach started Baltimore’s 2nd drive of the 3rd Quarter, with a 17 yard gain. After Flacco found Boldin for 7 more, Pierce used a great block from Osemele for a 21 yard rush up the middle. Completed passes to Boldin, and Smith gave the Ravens a 1st and 10 from the Browns 18 yard line. After being pushed back to the 39 on a sack, and penalties; the Ravens picked up 10 yards on a pass to Boldin which set-up a 49 yard attempt for Tucker.

18) On the Cleveland series following Tucker’s missed FG, Cary Williams jumped a Weeden pass to the sideline, and took the ball to the house. With the made extra-point, Baltimore went up 23-10 and again took control of the game with the 3rd Quarter coming to a close.

19) With the Browns facing 3rd and 11 from the Ravens 32 early in the 4th Quarter, the Ravens brought an all out blitz and forced another long FG attempt.

20) Ngata had a good game, making his presence felt against Alex Mack (a 2010 Pro Bowler).

21) Baltimore’s defense had a good series of plays on Cleveland’s first full posession of the 4th Quarter. The forced 3 and out gave the Ravens the ball back with 9 mts left in the game, and a 10 point game.

22) A TD game with under 4 minutes left, Flacco was still attacking down the field, finding Boldin for 28 yards.

The Bad:

1) Cleveland’s first series started with a Richardson run for 7 yards, followed by a quick slant to Little for a Browns first down. On the Richardson run, the Browns line blew the Ravens off the ball.

2) Michael Oher was beat by Rucker, and charged with holding on 3rd and 2; ending the Ravens first series.

3) Weeden picked up 3rd and 5 on the Browns 2nd series, when Baltimore’s pressure was not quite quick enough.

4) The Ravens 2nd series started with an unnecessary cute reverse to T. Smith. Followed by an illegal formation which moved Baltimore back 5 yards. On 2nd and 15, Harewood got pushed back by Winn, who wrapped up Rice for a 2 yard loss. On 3rd and 17, Osemele jumped and Baltimore moved back 5 more yards setting up 3rd and 22.

5) After Smith’s 34 yard reception gave the Ravens a 1st down on the Cleveland 9 yard line, Pitta committed a false start which moved Baltimore back 5 yards. After Smith scored his TD, Cox had another bad snap and the Ravens failed to score the extra-point.

6) The Ravens first full drive of the 2nd Quarter started from their own 41, and had Baltimore obtaining a 1st down on the Browns 30. When Flacco was not able to find Pitta on 3rd and 7, the Ravens had to settle for a FG attempt.

7) Baltimore went 3 and out on their 2nd full drive of the 2nd Quarter. On 2nd down, Flacco was hit when Birk was beat. On 3rd down, Rubin sacked Flacco to end the series.

8) Oher was called for another penalty, backing the Ravens up on their 2nd to last drive of the 1st half. The offense had been moved, and stalled after this.

9) Aided by a poor Cleveland punt, the Ravens started their last drive of the half from their own 45 yard line with 40 seconds, and a timeout remaining. Any chance for points was wiped out, when Flacco faced pressure from both sides (Oher, and Osemele were both beat) and was sacked by Sheard for a 9 yard loss.

10) Bad decision from Thompson running the Browns kickoff out to start the 2nd half, as he only reached the 11 yard line.

11) Having allowed a Ravens TD to start the 2nd half, the Browns tarted their first 3rd Quarter possession from their own 14. The Baltimore defense was not able to match the Baltimore offense, with a strong statement of their own to begin the 2nd half; allowing Cleveland to convert 3rd and 2 with a 15 yard gain from Richardson. That was followed by a 13 yard pass over the middle to Watson, with a unnecessary roughness penalty on Pollard. This gave Cleveland a 1st down on the Ravens 35. Dawson would strike from 51 yards out, pulling the Browns back within 6 at 16-10.

12) The Ravens 2nd series of the 3rd Quarter saw Baltimore get to a 1st and 10 on the Browns 18 yard line. Flacco was sacked on 1st down by Young for a 6 yard loss, and on 2nd down Pitta jumped again, pushing the Ravens back 5 additional yards. On 3rd and 21, Osemele was charged with a 10 yard penalty. Replays showed Yanda could have been called as well. On 4th and 21, Tucker missed from 47 yards out.

13) A 20 yard gain to Richardson to start the 4th, gave Cleveland a 1st on their own 43 yard line, and the sense of new life. A couple of plays later, Weeden used play action to find Little down the field for a 22 yard gain to the Ravens 31. While the Ravens were able to force another long FG (Dawson converted from 50 yards out), the relatively quick score made it a 10 point game (23-13) with over 12 minutes remaining.

14) Facing 3rd and 3 from their own 48 in the 4th Quarter, the Ravens were unable to pick up the 1st down. On the punt, Anthony Allen was charged with interference, giving Cleveland an additional 15 yards.

15) Yet another penalty from Oher, erased a nice run from late in the 4th. He could have made things worse with his tantrum after the call.

16) Cleveland started their last series at their 10 yard line, with 1:05 left on the clock, and down a TD. It took them just 20 seconds to reach midfield. And with 23 seconds left they were on the Ravens 33. Instead of giving them the middle of the field and letting them have an opportunity to have realistic shots at the end-zone, why not just play your regular defense?

The Ugly:

1) The Ravens looked to be on the verge of gaining their first points of the game, when Flacco was picked off by LB Craig Robertson in the end zone with just over 3 minutes left in the 1st Quarter.

2) The Browns were facing 3rd and 4 on their own 12 yard line in the middle of the 2nd Quarter. Cleveland picked up the 1st when Richardson ran for 6 yards. A stop would have given the Ravens good field position. Several plays later, Little beat Williams down the field for 43 yards, taking the ball to the Ravens 39. Webb missed a tackle on Benjamin, giving Cleveland another first down. On 1st and 10 from the 27, Richardson ran through McClain, dragging him for several yards. A 5 yard check down to Ogbonnay, gave Cleveland another 1st from the Ravens 15. Benjamin then caught a pass in-front of Smith to the Baltimore 1. Richardson culminated the drive with a 1 yard drive on the pitch left. 11 plays, 94 yards, 4 minutes 52 seconds on the drive making it a 9-7 game.

3) The Ravens were also forced to punt on their 2nd series of the 4th. Up 10 with just over 6 minutes left, they allowed a 40 yard Punt Return from Benjamin, letting Cleveland start their series from the Baltimore 46. Another 50+ yard FG from Dawson made it a TD (23-16) game with 4:33 left.

4) Horrible personal foul on Kruger at the end of the game. This gave Cleveland a 1st down, moved the ball 15 yards closer, and gave them another shot. Just completely unacceptable.

Notes:

The Ravens again had 400+ yards of offense.
Baltimore held Cleveland to 3 of 15 on 3rd down.
Flacco threw for over 350+ yards for the 2nd straight game.
Boldin went over 100 yards for the first time in 2012.
Neither Pitta or Dickson had a catch.
Rice was limited to 2.7 yards per carry on his 18 attempts.
Pierce averaged 8 yards per carry on his 6 attempts.
The Ravens allowed 4 sacks.
Weeden was 25 of 50 for 320 yards.