NFL
By: Joey MacDonald
It wasn’t the prettiest win for the Baltimore Ravens, but a win nonetheless. The Baltimore Ravens had a difficult time against their divisional rival, the Cleveland Browns, on Sunday, as they trailed at halftime. However, they made the necessary adjustments to win the game in the second half. Lamar Jackson didn’t play his best game, but the defense shutting the Browns out in the 2nd half was more than enough for the Ravens to pick up a win against Cleveland.
The Baltimore Ravens didn’t have their typical day on offense as they struggled against the Cleveland defense. Lamar Jackson struggled by throwing two interceptions, and the offensive line didn’t help either. As Lamar was sacked five times on the day, four of those sacks came from Myles Garrett. When looking at it, the offensive line continues to be a problem for the Baltimore Ravens. And, if the offensive line, especially at the guard position, is not up to par, the Ravens will be in trouble come December and January. But Lamar Jackson’s teammate helped him out the most in this game. Derrick Henry ran the ball for 103 yards on 18 carries, and Mark Andrews made the big play in the 4th quarter that ultimately won the game for them on a trick play, a fake toss pass for 35 yards, which gave them the lead and the win. This was Lamar’s worst game of the year, but what came out of this game was a win, and that only matters this time of year.
The Ravens offense had a struggling day, but the defense, for the 4th consecutive game, held their opponent to under 20 points. The defense allowed the Browns to score 16 points in the first half, but in the second half, they made changes to keep the Browns off the scoreboard, which made the difference in this game compared to the first half. They got three sacks in the game and made a big interception in the 4th quarter. Another plus for the Ravens in this game was that they held the Cleveland offense out of the end zone for the entire day and limited them to only three field goals. The defensive player of the game for the Ravens was star safety Kyle Hamilton. He was all over the field. Hamilton had nine tackles, one sack, and three tackles for loss on the day. Additionally, the pass rush was effective, as they hit Cleveland quarterbacks 10 times and recorded sacks. And, at the end of the day, the Ravens’ defense held the Cleveland Browns to a total of 187 yards on offense, holding them to under 200 yards, which is phenomenal.
On the other hand, it was a tale of two halves for the Cleveland Browns, as they were up 16-10 at halftime and then were shut out of the points column in the 2nd half. Dillon Gabriel started the game for the Browns, struggled by going 7/10 for 68 yards passing, and then got concussed in the 2nd half and left the game. Then, 5th-round pick Shedeur Sanders, son of Deion Sanders, made his NFL debut by going 4/16 for 47 yards, struggling to make some throws to his receivers in the second half. The Browns’ defense scored their own touchdown in the game in the 1st half by picking off Lamar Jackson by Devin Bush and taking it to the house for a pick six. Another bright spot for the Browns in the whole game was that of star Defensive End/Pass Rusher Myles Garrett. Garrett had a field day with the Ravens’ offensive line as he sacked Lamar Jackson four times in the game. Overall, the Browns’ defense is legit; the Browns’ offense, on the other hand, is another story. With them looking at another high draft pick, the Browns could be counting down the days of Kevin Stefanski as their head coach.
The Baltimore Ravens have now won 4 consecutive games, holding their opponents to under 20 points in all of their wins during this streak. The defense is improving each week, and if they continue playing at this level, this defense can stop anyone in the postseason. Still, the one problem they have is the play of the offensive line, and if they can’t fix their problems, then Lamar Jackson will be running for his life come the playoffs if they make that deep run. Still, sitting one game out of the division lead and two matchups with the Steelers coming up soon, the Ravens need to take one game at a time before then, and next up, the Ravens have a matchup with a struggling New York Jets at 1:00 pm next Sunday in Week 12 before the Bengals come into town on Thanksgiving night.
