3 Takeaways from Ravens' Week 14 Win

The Baltimore Ravens desperately needed a win on Monday night over the Cleveland Browns to stay in the playoff hunt. They got it in one of the most thrilling back-and-forth games of the 2020 season.

While the Browns erased a two-touchdown deficit while quarterback Lamar Jackson was receiving treatment in the locker room, Jackson returned to put the game away in the final few minutes. He helped retake the lead with a touchdown pass on fourth-down, then did so again while engineering a game-winning field-goal drive in the final minute.

Justin Tucker's 55-yard field goal gave Baltimore a 45-42 advantage with just two seconds remaining. Cleveland's last-ditch attempt resulted in a safety and a five-point win for the Ravens.

The biggest takeaway from Monday night's epic showdown is that Baltimore won't go quietly into the night. While missing the playoffs is still a possibility, the Ravens are going to claw their way in if at all possible. Once there, the Ravens can be dangerous.

Here are three other takeaways from the Ravens' Week 14 win.

The Pass Defense Could Be a Problem

Ron Schwane/Associated Press

Let's get the negative out of the way first. If there's one thing to be alarmed about following such a huge win, it's that Baltimore's pass defense was exceedingly underwhelming on Monday night. Yes, Tyus Bowser picked off Baker Mayfield once, but that's about the only defensive highlight the Ravens had.

Mayfield passed for 343 yards with two touchdowns and the interception. He repeatedly led Cleveland back into the game and he wasn't sacked once. The inability to get to Mayfield is perhaps the biggest concern here, as the Ravens should have been able to unleash with a two-touchdown lead for much of the contest.

Baltimore has taken steps in the past year to upgrade its pass rush, trading for both Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue. The Ravens were able to generate some pressure and flush Mayfield from the pocket, but they never brought him down.

The Ravens' struggles to defend the pass and to put the game away with a big lead are very real concerns. If Baltimore qualifies for the postseason, it is going to face capable quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and perhaps Mayfield. It was fortunate to get the final possession in this game. It may not be as lucky in the postseason.

MVP Lamar Jackson Is Back

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Since Jackson returned from his bout on the reserve/COVID-19 list, he has played as loose and as lethally as we've seen all season. He ran all over the Dallas Cowboys last week and all over the Browns early on Monday night.

Whether John Harbaugh and the Ravens coaching staff is giving Jackson more freedom to run or not, he has produced more rushing yards over the last two weeks (218) than during any two-week stretch this season. In short, we've seen the same dynamic dual-threat version of Jackson that we saw during his 2019 MVP campaign.

After Jackson briefly left the game to address a cramping issue and Cleveland took the lead, the former Louisville star came out passing. He entered the game on fourth down, bought time in the pocket and threw a scoring strike to wideout Marquise Brown. On Baltimore's final drive, he led the offense into field-goal range in less than a minute.

"He's resilient. He's resilient in everything he does," Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said, per ESPN's Jamison Hensley. "I think the proof is in the pudding."

When Jackson is playing like he has over the past couple of weeks, the Ravens are a tough out for any opponent. While he isn't going to win MVP for the second-consecutive season, Jackson could still carry the Ravens to the Super Bowl.

Justin Tucker Can't Be Underappreciated

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This was a game that featured 89 total points, more than 900 yards of offense and a record-tying nine touchdown runs. Naturally, it was decided in the kicking game.

Browns kicker Cody Parky missed a field goal and an extra point earlier in the game. Tucker hit a 55-yarder in the final seconds. The Ravens were in line to win by three before Cleveland's pitch-and-catch attempt resulted in a safety.

Tucker has become nearly automatic—he's missed just two field goals this season—and while he did have a point-after attempt blocked on Monday, he gave Baltimore a decided special-teams advantage.

Harbaugh had every reason to feel confident about giving Tucker the 55-yard opportunity on the final drive. A coach with a lesser kicker may have been shaking on the sidelines or even eschewed the attempt for a Hail-Mary pass.

When Jackson and Co. took the field in the final minute, they essentially knew that they only needed long field-goal range to get the win. That's an advantage that perhaps no other team in the NFL can have. It's one that could prove monumental in the postseason.