Baltimore Beatdown
Risers and fallers after Ravens 29-24 loss vs. Cleveland
At this point, we can just chalk up losses like this for the Ravens before the year starts. In a game that felt eerily similar to Baltimore’s Week 5 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers last year, the Ravens dropped multiple passes on offense and defense that allowed the Cleveland Browns to gain their second win on the year. The Ravens continue to play down to competition and struggle to figure out anything on defense, even against the worst offense in the NFL.
Even with a nagging ankle injury, Flowers crossed the century mark in yards for the third time in the last four games. With lackluster performances from Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor, Flowers was crucial in keeping Baltimore’s passing attack on track.
Andrews looks to be all the way back. After a well-documented slow start to the season, Andrews has now scored four touchdowns in his last four games, including one on Sunday in Cleveland.
Jackson, who (along with Ar’Darius Washington) got the start in place of Marcus Williams, didn’t do himself any favors with his performance. The veteran dropped multiple interceptions, got mossed by Browns tight end David Njoku in the end zone and let receiver Cedric Tillman get behind him for the game-winning touchdown. Despite Williams’ unimpressive performance through seven weeks, it’s hard to see how benching him improved the defense yesterday.
The offense and defense had a terrible case of the drops on Sunday. The defense left at least three interceptions on the table, including a late drop from safety Kyle Hamilton that would’ve sealed the game. Jackson failed to bring in two routine interceptions as well. Whether it was the sun or otherwise, defensive backs not named Humphrey have been terrible catching interceptions this year.
The Ravens pass rush was a complete non-factor in Sunday’s game, especially on play-action. According to The Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Schaffer, the Ravens pass rush is allowing opposing quarterbacks an average of 3.96 seconds to throw per drop back on third-and-long, the worst mark by a team in the past decade. After leading the NFL in sacks last year, the Ravens now have one of the worst pass rushes in the NFL. It’s been a historic defensive drop-off for a team that’s returned a majority of the talent from their record setting 2023 unit.
Monken didn’t necessarily call a bad game yesterday. Even on an off day for the Ravens offense, they still but up 24 points and nearly 400 yards. However, Monken made a few questionable calls on 3rd/4th down short yardage situations. On the first drive of the game, they ran a wildcat play with Derrick Henry that got stuffed and in the second half attempted a quarterback sneak with tight end Charlie Kolar who was called for a false...
