Browns, Chubb escape comeback attempt from Ravens for 24-22 win
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns and Baker Mayfield got exactly the game they needed coming out of the bye week, moving back above .500 and handing Baltimore their second loss.
Cleveland beat Baltimore, 24-22, at FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 12, to move to 7-6 on the season. Baltimore is 8-5.
The win means the Browns are still in the thick of the AFC North race with four games left while the Ravens are suddenly reeling with the potential loss of quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The game was not without its drama at the end. Baltimore scored to pull within two points and recovered an onside kick at their own 41-yard line. The Ravens were unable to convert on
a fourth down with 56 seconds left when Denzel Ward stuck Rashod Bateman on a pass from backup quarterback Tyler Huntley short of the sticks, clinching a nailbiting win for the Browns.
Jackson left Sunday’s game with a right ankle injury after a hit from Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
and was carted to the locker room, unable to put weight on the ankle as he hopped a few steps from the blue sideline medical tent to the front seat of the cart.
By the time Huntley came in, the Ravens were already trailing, 10-0, after quarterback Baker Mayfield, who said in an interview with
NFL Network’s Kurt Warner reagarding his health that he felt “night and day compared to where I was heading into last week,” started 9-for-11 in and threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who dove across the front right corner of the endzone with 38 seconds left in the opening frame for his first receiving touchdown of the season.
Mayfield, who played his best game since the Browns blew out Cincinnati in Week 9, finished the day 22-of-32 for 190 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
He was briefly replaced by Case Keenum after getting hit on an incomplete pass by defensive tackle Broderick Washington with 8:12 left in the third quarter on a play originally ruled a fumble recovered by Nick Chubb but changed to an incomplete pass on a Ravens challenge.
He was evaluated for a concussion but cleared to return and came back in the game to start the ensuing Browns possession.
Donovan Peoples-Jones led the Browns with five catches for 90 yards while Landry added five for 41 yards.
Nick Chubb rushed 17 times for 59 yards and D’Ernest Johnson had 22 yards on four carries in a game Kareem Hunt left with an ankle injury on a screen pass on third-and-3 for 5 yards and walked gingerly to the sideline medical tent in the first quarter.
Huntley, at times running for his life from the Browns pass rush, finished the day 27-of-38 for 270 yards and a touchdown and rushed six times for 45 yards.
Lamar Jackson completed all four of his pass attempts for 17 yards before leaving the game.