Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns: Full Report Card Grades for Cleveland
The Cleveland Browns (1-2) had every opportunity to ice the Baltimore Ravens (2-1), but the offense sputtered late and allowed Joe Flacco one too many chances to come back.
In a game that featured six lead changes, the Browns did not convert on a second-half interception and had a field goal blocked.
Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden looked ordinary for the third straight outing and Brian Hoyer's hometown luck ran out.
It was Hoyer's first loss at FirstEnergy Stadium as a starter with the Browns. He was unable to get a first down on two late, fourth-quarter series, which allowed Baltimore's Justin Tucker to deliver the winning field goal as time expired.
The Browns now head into their bye week and get ready for a Week 5 meeting in Tennessee against the Titans.
Let's get the red marker out and dish out some grades.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Brian Hoyer's stat line looks as close to perfect as a quarterback can get.
A touchdown, no interceptions—he hasn't thrown a pick this season—290 yards and a 127.1 QB rating should be viewed as a great afternoon.
However, when it came down to running out the clock and preventing Baltimore from getting back the ball late in the fourth quarter, he couldn't deliver.
Hoyer had consecutive three-and-out series that ended up giving the Ravens a short field with which to kick the winning field goal as time expired.
As disappointing as the final result was, No. 6 looked accurate, efficient and workmanlike as he spread the passes out to six different receivers.
After one handoff, a sneak play that saw Johnny Manziel stay on the field to catch a pass down the left sideline was called back due to penalty. That was all we saw of "Johnny Football" on Sunday.
There is no doubt that Hoyer is getting a better grasp of this offense on a weekly basis and is a field general leading his crew. He just couldn't get it done on Sunday when the "W" was on the line.
Grade: B+
Running Back
2 of 10
The rookie running back tandem of Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell failed to reach a combined 100 yards on the ground Sunday afternoon, but each member did collect a touchdown.
West was primarily used in the opening half, and although he did score, he started dancing too much in the backfield. He finished with 36 yards and an average of 3.0 yards per carry.
The slipping effectiveness caused Cleveland to hand off more to Crowell over the final two quarters. "The Crow" continued the impressive start to his NFL career by gashing out 5.0 yards per carry for 55 yards, including a 22-yard rush. He looked more explosive in general than West.
As the fourth quarter wore on, it was surprising that Cleveland didn't turn to its two rushers more often to eat up clock with the lead.
Heading into the bye week, West definitely needs to work on being more decisive in the backfield. Committing to a decision, planting your foot and hitting the hole hard is what must happen for the youngster to be continuously successful in Kyle Shanahan's zone-blocking running scheme.
Grade: B
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
It was the "Andrew Hawkins Show" when it came to Browns receivers in the loss to Baltimore.
The 5'7" WR displayed his lightning-fast speed, shiftiness, precise route running and surprising toughness as he and Brian Hoyer hooked up on seven occasions. "Baby Hawk" contributed 87 yards, averaged 12.4 yards per reception and was adept at moving the chains.
Veteran Miles Austin, Cleveland's only starting receiver over 6'0", continues to be a reliable target. The former Dallas Cowboy caught a high, hard throw to the back of the end zone for a touchdown and celebrated the touchdown with the Dawg Pound faithful.
Austin has stepped up as the reliable receiver the Browns' coaching staff was hoping for, as he caught six of seven targets for 51 yards against the Ravens defense.
Taylor Gabriel and Travis Benjamin both helped via long bombs from Hoyer. Gabriel hauled down a 70-yard hurl, while Benjamin produced a 43-yard catch-and-run.
Tight end Jordan Cameron did return from his shoulder injury Sunday but had his snaps limited.
The Pro Bowl mismatch-maker started off hot with a 23-yard reception but was only thrown to two other times, and both were incomplete. Cameron also delivered an excellently executed block that helped spring Isaiah Crowell for his touchdown run.
Grade: B+
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Offensive Line
4 of 10
First-half penalties to rookie guard Joel Bitonio and Pro Bowl veteran Joe Thomas were two notable gaffes on an otherwise steady day for the offensive line.
Quarterback Brian Hoyer was kept clean in the pocket outside of one sack, which is always a positive for a signal-caller coming off of knee surgery.
Hoyer had an excellent day statistically with 290 passing yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. A large part of that success goes to the line's ability to keep Baltimore's nasty pass-rushers at a distance.
Quality running lanes were created on a fairly regular basis, which is difficult to do against the Ravens since they use a similar zone-blocking rushing scheme and therefore have practice defending it.
Play-calling, not the O-line, deserves the blame for the Browns failing to protect or add to their lead.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The defensive line is the first wave of defense against the running game and is expected to either get to the quarterback or create lanes for the linebackers to do so. Cleveland's D-line did neither in the loss Sunday.
Baltimore running backs dominated with 154 combined yards, and that was without veteran Bernard Pierce. Rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro looked terrific with a touchdown and 91 rushing yards on 18 carries. In fairness to the Browns, most of that success came in the first half.
Super Bowl-winning QB Joe Flacco was pressured often but never brought down for a sack. Close doesn't cut it with an arm like Flacco's, as he delivered quality off-balance passes for first downs.
The defensive line did do a nice job knocking his arm to force the second-half interception but couldn't do enough to halt a fourth-quarter drive that led to the game-winning field goal.
Grade: C-
Linebacker
6 of 10
The linebackers fell into much of the same category as the defensive line Sunday afternoon.
Buzzing around Joe Flacco and getting close to him without bringing the quarterback down is just not good enough.
As a unit, it caught a break with stud tight end Dennis Pitta going down with a right hip injury early in the game. That eliminated much of Baltimore's over-the-middle strategy, which would have tested the linebacker corps.
Barkevious Mingo had a mental lapse when he left fullback Kyle Juszcyzk wide open in the red zone, and that pass coverage blunder led to an uncontested touchdown.
Stopping the run was a problem for the entire front seven.
Lorenzo Taliaferro and Justin Forsett had little trouble grinding out extra yards when they busted through the defensive line. Allowing 154 total yards to the pair of running backs continues Cleveland's season-long troubles defending the run.
Credit has to be given to the front seven on a couple of second-half defensive stands that either forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal or punt.
However, the end result is a loss, and both the linebackers and D-line were a part of that.
Grade: C
Secondary
7 of 10
The secondary held its ground for the majority of the first half, as Baltimore leaned on the running game. However, as the day progressed, Baltimore began to pick a part the defensive backfield—especially the cornerbacks.
Three players that had multiple catches averaged over 12 yards per reception and two receivers had completions of over 30 yards at critical moments.
The Steve Smith-vs.-Joe Haden battle was one of the key factors to watch for in this AFC North matchup. It ended with Haden looking ordinary for the third straight contest and Smith showing off his veteran savvy.
The 35-year-old hauled in five passes for 101 yards, with a long of 32. Haden was out-dueled all day long.
Another cornerback storyline of interest was how rookie Justin Gilbert would perform after a nice bounce-back outing against the New Orleans Saints last week.
Gilbert looked every bit of a first-year player as he was beaten deep several times by Torrey Smith. Luckily for the Browns, it only cost them twice as Flacco overthrew Smith on a couple of occasions.
The play that surely will be most troubling for coaches was the facemask/pass interference call on Gilbert inside Cleveland's 5-yard line. Torrey Smith straight up beat the youngster and Gilbert panicked, resulting in the costly penalty.
The one shining light for the secondary was safety Tashaun Gipson, who snagged an interception for the second consecutive game. Gipson is quickly proving to be a ball hawk to fear, and his pick put the Browns in good position to extend their 21-17 lead at that time.
Unfortunately for the Dawg Pound, Cleveland's offense stalled and did not put up points on the turnover.
Grade: D+
Special Teams
8 of 10
"Terrible" is probably the best word to use when it comes to special teams in this defeat.
A 50-yard field-goal attempt by kicker Billy Cundiff clanged off the left upright and a fourth-quarter try was blocked. That's six points in a game the Browns lost by two.
Cundiff, holder/punter Spencer Lanning and long snapper Christian Yount all need to be putting in overtime during this bye week to improve.
"#Browns P Spencer Lanning on bad FGs: They were breakdowns. We work way too hard to give up 6 points in a division game.
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) September 21, 2014"
Baltimore did not attempt a kickoff or punt return, so that is a non-factor.
Marlon Moore of the Browns ran his lone kickoff return back 31 yards. Meanwhile, Travis Benjamin misjudged a punt that sailed over his head and fumbled another.
The punt that went over Benjamin's head was especially costly, as it pinned the Browns inside their own 10-yard line late in the game. A three-and-out later, the Ravens had a short field in the fourth quarter.
Grade: F
Coaching
9 of 10
The creativity by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was at the very least entertaining.
Pretending to argue with Johnny Manziel while "Johnny Football" was still on the field and then having Hoyer complete a pass to him could have been genius...if it wasn't called back due to penalty.
Fox Sports' Mike Pereira suggests the play probably would have been deemed illegal:
"You can't set within 5 yards of your team area which Johnny Football did. Should have been a 15-yd unsportsmanslike. (video coming)
— Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) September 21, 2014"
The OC utilized many of his unsung receiving options, which included Taylor Gabriel and Travis Benjamin on big-chunk passing plays.
On Cleveland's final two possessions, and with Baltimore out of timeouts, Shanahan threw on third down instead of running the ball to eat up clock. Hoyer's throw was incomplete and allowed the Ravens to march down the field to finish things up.
In the loss to Pittsburgh, Shanahan also went away from the rushing attack late when it was working well.
"#Browns coach Mike Pettine: Put this one on me. We didn't coach well enough for us to win.
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) September 21, 2014"
Defensively, the Browns struggled stopping the run and gave up big plays when the game was on the line. As usual, it comes down to player performance and whether the coaching staff put his men in the best position to succeed.
The team was unable to adjust on the fly to Baltimore's offense, and that blame has to in part fall on the coaches.
Grade: F
Final Grades
10 of 10
In their three games this season, the Browns have not won or lost by more than three points. That suggests they are at least close to getting things right.
The bye week comes early but might be arriving at the right time, as it gives this coaching staff more time to work out the kinks in their new schemes.
Quarterback: B+
Running Back: B
Wide Receiver and Tight End: B+
Offensive Line: B
Defensive Line: C-
Linebacker: C
Secondary: D+
Special Teams: F
Coaching: F
Final Grade: C
How would you grade the Browns in their 23-21 loss to Baltimore? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
All stats courtesy of ESPN.com
Andy McNamara is an international broadcaster and journalist.
Follow Andy on Twitter @AndyMc81.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
