The Ravens put together a late drive in the fourth quarter and left Cleveland victorious, 23-21. Here are my five thoughts on the Ravens victory:
1. Thank You Cleveland
Steve Smith Sr. came up big with a late 32 yard reception that set up Justin Tucker’s game winning field goal. Joe Flacco played poorly, the Ravens secondary looked awful and despite a long week of preparation, Baltimore looked poorly coached.
That didn’t matter though. The Browns left the door open for Baltimore and they left Cleveland with an important victory.
2. Loss Of Pitta
Poor Dennis Pitta. After suffering a serious right hip injury in training camp last season, Pitta left Sunday’s game after his right leg gave out while catching a ball in the backfield. Pitta was carted off the field, he had three catches for 12 yards.
3. Ravens Secondary Gets Exposed
Lardarius Webb seemed to spend most of the day standing next to defensive backs coach Steve Spagnuolo. When he wasn’t doing that, he seemed to be getting turned around and burned by Browns wide receivers. Matt Elam and Jeromy Miles couldn’t handle the deep pass, giving up a 70 yard bomb to Taylor Gabriel and a 43 yarder to Travis Benjamin. Tackling wasn’t exactly a strong part of their game either.
4. Great To See You Again, Billy
Billy Cundiff finished the day 0-for-2, missing a 50 yarder and having a 36 yard attempt blocked in the fourth quarter.
5. Bad Flacco Showed Up In Cleveland
1st and goal from the three yard line with 5:04 left in the game and the Ravens have to settle for a field goal. A TD would’ve given Baltimore the lead, instead they settled for three and were behind 21-20.
Of course, none of this would have been an issue had Joe Flacco hit Torrey Smith in stride on 3rd and 4 from the Browns 36. He under-threw it, but instead the Ravens settled for a pass interference call to move the chains.
