Browns vs. Ravens: Takeaways from Baltimore's 14-6 Win over Cleveland

It was a tale of two halves when the Baltimore Ravens played their home opener against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

Initially, the Baltimore offense looked as though they were playing in quicksand, as they couldn’t get anything going. Justin Tucker also uncharacteristically missed two field goals, and the Ravens went into halftime trailing by six points.

In the second half, the Ravens looked more like the team we were expecting to see. They established the ground game and were more efficient on third downs, leading to two touchdowns. On defense, they held the Browns scoreless and escaped with the win.

This was far from a convincing performance by the defending champions, but the second half was encouraging. The Ravens will need to build upon that momentum as they host the Houston Texans next week.

Here are some of the most important things you should take away from the Ravens' Week 2 performance against Cleveland.

Ray Rice's Injury Doesn't Look Too Serious

After injuries to Dennis Pitta and Jacoby Jones placed a huge strain on the receiving corps, the last thing the Ravens needed was an injury to star running back Ray Rice.

Early in the fourth quarter, Rice went down clutching his left hip. He was able to limp off the field and immediately went into the locker room for examination.

As reported by Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, Rice strained his hip flexor and there is no MRI scheduled. It remains unclear how much time (if any) Rice will miss, but Ravens fans are certainly breathing a sigh of relief.

Furthermore, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweeted that Rice left the stadium without crutches, so the early signs are good.

Luckily for Baltimore, Bernard Pierce was waiting in the wings and was more than capable of finishing off the Cleveland Browns. The running game shouldn’t suffer significantly if Rice is forced to miss games, but Rice is a very dangerous weapon in the passing game.

Rice has caught over 60 passes in the last four seasons, and if he misses some time, Joe Flacco will once again lose one of his favorite targets.

The Defense Looks Vulnerable Against the Pass

While the Baltimore Ravens secondary played miserably in Week 1, most of those gaudy numbers can be attributed to a motivated Peyton Manning, armed with what is arguably the most dangerous receiving arsenal of his career.

Brandon Weeden is not Peyton Manning, though, and the Cleveland Browns were missing their best wide receiver, Josh Gordon, because of a suspension. Even with Gordon, they don’t exactly strike fear into opposing secondaries.

In the first two quarters, Weeden completed 13-of-17 passes for 158 yards. He moved the ball down the field fairly easily, and he even led the Browns into field goal range twice.

The Ravens tightened up in the second half, however, forcing Weeden to go 8-of-16 for 69 yards. They got consistent pressure on Weeden throughout the half, but the secondary has still been disappointing on the whole so far.

The front seven have been good against the run and are capable of putting pressure on the quarterback, but the secondary needs to improve moving forward.

Opposing Tight Ends Are a Concern

This makes it two weeks in a row that a former basketball player converted to tight end has caused problems for the Baltimore Ravens defense.

In Week 1, it was Denver's Julius Thomas, who torched the Ravens with five catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. On Sunday, Jordan Cameron put up another five catches, but this time for 95 yards and no scores.

After Julius Thomas exposed some weaknesses in the Baltimore coverage, you could be sure that Cleveland offensive coordinator Norv Turner would test the Ravens using his own tight end, and that is exactly what he did.

Baltimore has failed to corral opposing tight ends in both games so far, and in a league where tight ends are frequently being used as receivers to create mismatches, this is a problem.

Things won't get any easier next week, as the Ravens get set to face Owen Daniels and the Houston Texans. The answer for the Ravens going forward might be to get Arthur Brown more snaps on defense since he is a fluid linebacker who is excellent in coverage.

The Ravens Pass Rush Will Continue to Be Excellent

One of the reasons that the Baltimore defense clamped down in the second half was due to their relentless pass rush. The Ravens sacked Brandon Weeden five times in the game, frequently collapsed the pocket and hurried his throws.

On Cleveland’s last drive of game, Jason Campbell, who came in to relieve Weeden, had absolutely no time to let plays develop and was forced to evade pressure on all four downs.

Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil once again recorded one sack each, and the pair looked exceptional coming off opposite edges together.

Baltimore was tied for 15th in the NFL last season in terms of sacks. So far, the offseason additions have paid off, and the pass rush looks significantly better.

Joe Flacco Looked More Comfortable with His New Receivers

During the Denver game, Joe Flacco was not on the same page as his receivers. He didn’t post earth-shattering statistics against the Cleveland Browns, but he did look more in sync with his new receivers.

Once again, he connected with Marlon Brown for a touchdown. The undrafted rookie has been excellent so far, and I think he will keep his starting receiver spot when Jacoby Jones returns from injury.

Additionally, Flacco has found a third-down target to replace Anquan Boldin and Dennis Pitta: Brandon Stokley. All five of Stokley’s targets came on third down. He caught four passes and converted three of them for first downs.

This is a great sign for the Ravens offense, and they should continue to improve as the season progresses.

Torrey Smith Is a No. 1 Receiver

Torrey Smith has established himself as one of the best deep threats in the league, finishing last year with the second-highest average yards per reception in the league, according to Pro Football Focus.

So far this season, he has proved that he’s much more than a one-trick pony.

Smith has run a wide assortment of short and intermediate routes, and Flacco has looked for him a lot throughout the first two games. The third-year wideout has become the focal point of the passing game, and he's been excellent with that added responsibility.

Last year, he was somewhat inconsistent, with eight regular-season games where he finished with less than 50 receiving yards. Given his greater involvement in the offense now, that won't be the case in 2013.