Browns’ stout defense ends Ravens’ streak
John Harbaugh CLEVELAND — didn’t know what hit his offense.
“That’s a big, huge question that can’t be answered simply,” the Baltimore Ravens coach said.
The Ravens cranked out 25 first downs Sunday but couldn’t find the end zone against a Browns defense that kept saving the day in a 12-9 overtime win.
The Browns allowed 410 yards but gave up a season low in points, a week after losing 45-42 in OT at Oakland.
“We did a good job keeping them out of the end zone,” said Myles Garrett, who shared a sack with Trevon Coley to run his season total to five. “They can get as many yards as they want as long as they stay out of the end zone.”
Quarterback Joe Flacco drove the Ravens to the Browns 2 with a chance to go up 10-0, but Denzel Ward intercepted a pass. Flacco took over at his own 25 with 40 seconds left in the first half and got to the Browns 30, but Ward blocked a 48-yard field goal.
A 68-yard march to the Cleveland 7, with Baltimore threatening to overturn a 9-3 Browns lead, died on thirdand-3 when a good pass rush hurried Flacco into an incomplete pass. That key play came late in the third quarter.
Flacco got Baltimore to the 14 with a tense minute left in regulation, but the pass defense forced three consecutive incomplete passes. Another field goal merely got the Ravens into a 9-9 tie, forcing overtime.
The Browns defense bent in overtime, allowing the Ravens to drive from their own 7 to near midfield. There, the Ravens broke down.
The Ravens left town with nine points. It was the fewest allowed by a Browns defense since a 24-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 13, 2015. This was just the Browns’ third victory since then. But it was the second this year for a team that improved to 2-2-1.
Coming off a 26-14 win at Pittsburgh, the Ravens were fifth in the NFL in scoring, averaging 30.8 points a game, and had scored at least 20 points in 13 consecutive games entering the weekend.
“We did what we had to do at Pittsburgh,” Flacco said. “Today, we came up against a team that’s playing well and feeling good.”
Garrett seconded the notion the Browns are feeling good. He said he could feel the noise from the crowd in key situations.
“The people are very into it,” he said. “We can be a force together.”
Catch of his life
Receiver Derrick Willies didn’t play football until he was a junior in high school. He hadn’t caught a pass for the Browns in the first four games.
But when the Browns lost receiver Rashard Higgins in the fourth quarter with a knee injury that will require an MRI, Willies came up with the biggest play of his life.
On third-and-8 from the Cleveland 18, Willies caught a short pass from Baker Mayfield and ran for a 39-yard gain.
It was the most crucial play in the Browns’ 65-yard drive to Greg Joseph’s 37-yard game-winning field goal.
“Play broke down, Baker started scrambling, I was just open, he threw it to me and then I was looking for room to run,” Willies said. “His scramble is something else. If you can get open when he starts scrambling, you’re going to get the ball.”
Targeted five times, Willies finished with three catches for 61 yards.
“He has some more playing time coming, that’s for sure,” wide receiver Jarvis Landry said.
— MARLA RIDENOUR, AKRON BEACON JOURNAL