Baltimore Beatdown
The Baltimore Ravens overcame several miscues on Sunday to beat the Cleveland Browns, 23-16. Here are the instant reactions from Baltimore Beatdown’s staff:
The Ravens won ugly for a second week in a row, and this one-possession victory felt even worse than the last one. Baltimore was trailing for much of the game due to sacks, turnovers, and miscues on special teams, but their defense was dominant on third down and on their side of the field. The Shedeur Sanders hype died almost immediately as he spent much of the second half under heavy pressure from a variety of blitz packages. The offense, though, struggled once again in the red zone (1-4) and the goal line (1-3). That’s not winning football, but the Browns didn’t punish the Ravens for their mistakes, due in large part to the heroics of Baltimore’s defense. The Ravens will be happy to be leaving Cleveland back at .500, but their film review sessions will be far less satisfying. Nikhil Mehta
The Ravens scraped a win in a performance that everyone not on the defense will want to forget. It wasn’t pretty, but the victory was all that mattered. Overcoming multiple mind-numbing penalties, losing the turnover battle, and a tough road divisional environment is huge for the Ravens as they battle for a playoff spot. Today reinforced that this team is currently incapable of a complete performance, but four wins in a row show its resilience.
There aren’t too many positives to take from this, but Zach Orr was able to scheme up a lot of unmarked blitzes that helped the defense shut the Browns down in the second half. The lack of four-man pressure remains a huge concern. Lamar Jackson played arguably his worst game since Todd Monken arrived, but the Ravens still won. I don’t think they will be able to escape with victories playing like this with the opponents later this season, so hopefully they can clean it up against the Jets next week. – Mark Myers
The Ravens survive an ugly AFC North dogfight to win their fourth game in a row, reaching a .500 record in the process. Zach Orr’s defense deserves credit for this one, even if it was against two rookie quarterbacks. Blitzes were clearly affecting Shadeur Sanders after he was thrown into the game in the second half and Orr stuck with it to great effect. The weekly offensive struggles in short-yardage situations and in the red zone are concerning, but once again, Todd Monken dialed up an incredible trick play on fourth down to convert in a big situation. If Baltimore wants to become a team capable of making a run in January, though, they absolutely have to iron out the short-yardage issues, whether that means personnel changes along the offensive, using different formations, or continuing to get creative remains to be seen. For now, it is just important that the Ravens kept their season alive with another victory. – Dustin Cox
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