The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)

Ravens force 5 turnovers in 24-10 win

- By David Ginsburg

Baltimore relentless­ly harassed two Cleveland quarterbac­ks as Ravens breezed past the Browns on Sunday.

BALTIMORE » The Ravens are making a habit of converting turnovers into victories.

Baltimore relentless­ly harassed two Cleveland quarterbac­ks, Joe Flacco ramped up his production with a pair of touchdown passes and the Ravens breezed past the Browns, 24-10, on Sept. 17.

Building on their season-opening shutout at Cincinnati, the Ravens picked off four passes and forced a fumble — giving them 10 takeaways in two games.

Most of the defense’s damage came against Browns rookie quarterbac­k DeShone Kizer, who left with a migraine headache in the second quarter after four ineffectiv­e series: a three-and-out, a lost fumble, an intercepti­on and a punt.

The former Notre Dame starter was replaced by second-year pro Kevin Hogan, who would become the third quarterbac­k in two games to be intercepte­d by the Baltimore defense.

Kizer said the headaches are hereditary, and that he hasn’t had one crop up in a game since high school. He received medication, underwent concussion protocol, and finally received clearance to return in the third quarter with Baltimore up 21-10.

On his second series back, Kizer moved the Browns to the Baltimore 7 before being picked off in the end zone by Lardarius Webb.

Brandon Carr’s intercepti­on with 6:09 remaining all but sealed the victory.

Coming off a solid performanc­e in his debut against Pittsburgh, Kizer went 15 for 31 for 182 yards with three intercepti­ons

and a lost fumble.

Hogan completed five of 11 passes for 118 yards with a touchdown and an intercepti­on.

“The turnovers will always stick out because it stops you from scoring points or leads to points for the other team,” coach

Hue Jackson said.

Both were outdone by Flacco, playing his second game since returning from a sore back that kept him sidelined the entire preseason. After going 9 for 17 in a keepit-simple outing against the Bengals, Flacco went 25 for 34 for 217 yards in the encore.

As he matures, Kizer ultimately will come to understand the problem of holding the ball too long in the pocket — a mistake that put the Browns in an early hole.

On Cleveland’s second series, Kizer was looking for a receiver when sacked by Terrell Suggs. The rookie fumbled, Baltimore recovered, and minutes later Terrance West scored on a 4-yard run.

Kizer’s next turnover wasn’t entirely his fault:

With the Browns at the Baltimore 26, his pass glanced off the hands of running back Duke Johnson into the arms of safely Eric Weddle.

Oh, snap!

Browns left tackle Joe Thomas passed the 10,000mark with his remarkable streak of consecutiv­e snaps played.

Thomas hasn’t missed a snap since breaking into the league in 2007. He reached 10,000 in a row on the first play of Cleveland’s second series, and began work on his next 10,000 snaps immediatel­y thereafter.

Houston Texans defensive star J.J. Watt said on his Twitter account: “10,000 consecutiv­e snaps. That’s unbelievab­le. Hats off to you good sir.”

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