Cleveland vs. Baltimore: Report Card Grades for Each Ravens Unit
The Baltimore Ravens finished their first go-through of the AFC North on Sunday, as they hit the road to face the Cleveland Browns.
The Ravens have now faced all three division opponents through the first three weeks of the season, going 2-1 in those games.
However, Sunday's game against the Browns was Baltimore's first road game. It didn't seem phased by this to start the game.
The Ravens took a 3-0 lead on their first offensive possession. The drive covered 55 yards over 12 plays and was highlighted by Joe Flacco hitting Torrey Smith for an 18-yard play.
However, Baltimore's red-zone woes continued, and it ended up settling for a field goal. To this point, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has kicked five field goals in the red zone this season.
Baltimore needs to start converting red-zone possessions into touchdowns and stop settling for so many field goals.
After that, Cleveland drove right down the field, covering 80 yards in 11 plays. The drive ended with a one-yard touchdown run by Terrance West to put Cleveland up 7-3.
Baltimore would later respond with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to H-back Kyle Juszczyk. That put the Ravens up 10-7 heading into halftime.
As good as Baltimore's defense played in the first half, it looked lost on the opening possession of the second half. The Browns went on a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a nine-yard rushing score by Isaiah Crowell.
That put the Browns up 14-10, but Baltimore responded with an 80-yard drive of its own that ended in a touchdown scored by Lorenzo Taliaferro. That was the rookie running back's first NFL score.
That put Baltimore up 17-14 at the 5:04 mark of the third quarter, but Cleveland would respond with another long scoring drive. This one ended with Brian Hoyer hitting Miles Austin for a four-yard score to give Cleveland a 21-17 lead.
The Ravens would go on a long drive in the fourth quarter in which they got down to the Cleveland 2-yard line, but they failed to punch it in. Baltimore settled for a field goal that cut Cleveland's lead to just 21-20.
As bad as Baltimore's defense had played to that point, it did come up big when it needed to the most. With under five minutes left in the game, the defense forced a Cleveland punt to give the Ravens the ball down 21-20.
The Ravens were then forced to punt, but they managed to down the ball inside the Cleveland 10-yard line. The defense then forced the Browns to go three-and-out.
The offense got the ball back at the 50-yard line with two minutes left after a short punt by Cleveland. Flacco would then hit Steve Smith for a 32-yard gain to put Baltimore in position to win the game.
The Ravens ran the clock down, and Tucker came in and booted the game-winning 32-yard field goal to give the Ravens a 23-21 win.
Here are my grades for each Ravens unit.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Joe Flacco got the start for Baltimore, and he was looking to avoid losing at Cleveland for the second year in a row. Flacco won his first 11 career games vs. the Browns, but that streak ended in 2013 when Baltimore lost at Cleveland, 24-18.
Flacco didn't play great this time, either, but he performed well enough to get Baltimore the win. He finished the day with 217 yards on 19-of-31 passing, tossing one touchdown and one interception.
Though he didn't play great, Flacco was able to lead Baltimore to a comeback win. He led the Ravens on a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives that ended in field goals and gave Baltimore a 23-21 win.
The game-winning score came after Flacco hit Steve Smith for 32 yards to allow Justin Tucker to kick an easy 32-yard field goal as time expired.
Grade: B+
Running Back
2 of 10
Entering the game, Baltimore had rushed for 251 yards in its first two games. On the other side, Cleveland surrendered 301 yards in its first two games.
Needless to say, Baltimore's running backs were expected to have a good game against Cleveland. They did just that and then some.
With the normal starter Bernard Pierce out with an injury, that left Justin Forsett to get the start. He responded with 63 yards on 11 carries.
The biggest backfield performer was rookie running back Lorenzo Taliaferro. After not getting a touch in either of Baltimore's first two games, Taliaferro was a featured weapon against the Browns.
He finished the day with a game-high 91 rushing yards and one score.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk even got in on the action. In addition to throwing some great lead blocks, the second-year fullback out of Harvard caught a nine-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give the Ravens a 10-7 lead at the time.
Overall, this was the best performance by Baltimore's backfield players this year. They combined for 160 yards on 33 carries—4.8 yards per carry.
Grade: A
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
The Ravens offense was focused more on the ground against Cleveland. However, when Baltimore did pass, its receivers and tight ends often came up big.
Through the first two games, Torrey Smith caught a combined four passes for 60 yards and no touchdowns. Against Cleveland, he caught two passes for 25 yards, but he did draw a big pass-interference play in the fourth quarter.
That led to a short Justin Tucker field goal that cut the lead to 21-20. Two drives later, Joe Flacco hit Steve Smith for a 32-yard gain that put Baltimore's offense at the Cleveland 13-yard line with under one minute left in the game.
Baltimore would then run the clock down before Tucker came on to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired. Smith finished the day with a game-high 101 yards on five catches.
Grade: B+
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Baltimore's offensive line faced a tough test against Cleveland's front seven. The Browns came into Week 3 with five combined sacks.
The Ravens in turn had allowed three sacks through two games, but none in Week 2 vs. Pittsburgh. They continued their improved play against the Browns.
Baltimore's O-line consistently kept Joe Flacco clean in the pocket. It didn't give up a sack against Cleveland, as Flacco attempted 31 passes, completing 19 of them.
On the ground, the Ravens controlled the line of scrimmage by blowing Browns linemen off the ball. That helped give Ravens running backs wide-open running lanes to work with.
The Ravens rushed for 160 yards on 33 carries to go with 217 yards through the air.
Grade: A-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Baltimore's defensive line had an overall good game. It didn't start out well, though.
For much of the first three quarters, Cleveland's offense was moving the ball at will and controlling the clock. Much of that had to do with Baltimore's defense being unable to stop the run or pressure Cleveland quarterback Brian Hoyer.
The Ravens defense finished with just one sack that was actually a busted play by Cleveland's offense. However, Baltimore's run defense got better as the game went on.
What were big running lanes early in the game got tighter as the game wore on. That made life hard on Cleveland's running backs and helped slow down the Browns offense.
Browns running backs combined to carry the ball 23 times for 91 yards, but as a team, Cleveland managed 91 yards on 29 carries.
Baltimore's D-line helped force consecutive three-and-outs to allow Baltimore's offense to score the game-winning field goal.
Grade: B
Linebacker
6 of 10
The linebackers had been a strength of the Ravens through the first two weeks. However, they didn't live up to that billing against Cleveland.
They didn't perform badly, but they didn't do much to disrupt Cleveland's offense for much of the game.
Like the defensive line, Baltimore's linebackers stiffened up as the game wore on. Courtney Upshaw came up with a huge sack in the fourth quarter that made Cleveland kick a field goal.
Baltimore then blocked that field goal, keeping the score at just 21-17 in favor of Cleveland. Upshaw and Terrell Suggs combined to notch four tackles for loss.
The Ravens eventually rallied to win, 23-21, and a big part of it was the defense forcing three-and-outs on Cleveland's final two offensive possessions.
Grade: B
Secondary
7 of 10
The Ravens secondary was atrocious against the Browns. Its failure to step up and make plays was what allowed Cleveland's offense to stay on the field for long drives and keep the ball away from Baltimore.
Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer had little pressure on him for most of the game, as he gashed the Ravens secondary for big gain after big gain.
He completed passes for a season-high 290 yards with one touchdown and no turnovers. Hoyer completed a career-high 76 percent of his passes.
Baltimore's secondary gave up pass plays of 29, 43 and 70 yards and missed multiple tackles on Browns receivers that could have limited those gains.
Grade: D+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Baltimore's special teams were a big reason why the Ravens had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.
Baltimore blocked a short field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter. Had that kick been converted, Cleveland would have taken a 24-17 lead with under 10 minutes to play.
However, the block kept the score at just 21-17. On the ensuing Baltimore offensive drive, the Ravens offense got a field goal to cut the lead to 21-20.
With under three minutes left in the game, Baltimore punter Sam Koch punted the ball down all the way inside the 10-yard line. The defense then forced a Cleveland punt, and Baltimore got the ball back at its own 50-yard line.
The Ravens offense would then get into position for Justin Tucker to win the game with a 32-yard field goal as time expired. He finished the game having converted both of his field-goal attempts.
Koch finished with three punts at an average of 50.7 yards per punt.
Grade: A+
Coaching
9 of 10
Offensively, the Ravens had a good game plan that kept Cleveland off-balance for much of the game. Offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak called a good game that was focused on a strong rushing attack.
Baltimore finished the game with 160 rushing yards and 217 passing yards. It was a well-balanced effort.
While the offense played well, the defense was a huge disappointment. Defensive coordinator Dean Pees could not find an answer for the Browns offense.
Pees' blitzes were ineffective, as Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer had little pressure on him for most of the game. Hoyer completed passes for a season-high 290 yards.
Pees' defense was unable to stop Cleveland's ground game as well. The Browns finished with 375 total yards.
However, Baltimore's defense did come up big when it needed to the most. With under five minutes left in the game, the defense forced a Cleveland punt to give the Ravens the ball down 21-20.
The Ravens then scored the game-winning field goal off the foot of kicker Justin Tucker as time expired. This was a gut-check game, and the Ravens kept their composure and played their best when the game mattered most.
Grade: B
Final Grades
10 of 10
Positional Unit | Overall Grade |
QB | B+ |
RB | A |
WR/TE | B+ |
OL | A- |
DL | B |
LB | B |
Secondary | D+ |
ST | A+ |
Coaching | B |
Cumulative Grade | A- |
The Ravens are 2-1 overall and 2-1 in the AFC North after three weeks. Though the Ravens have some issues they need to fix, this has been a good start.
Up next for Baltimore is a home game in Week 4 against the Carolina Panthers. After that, the Ravens hit a stretch of games that features four of five contests being on the road.
At the very least, Baltimore needs to have a winning record before hitting that tough stretch.
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