Happy victory Sunday. This one feels a lot better than victory Friday & victory Tuesday because it’s the Ravens. It was a surprising victory because for once the opposing team had more head scratching play calling than the Browns. You would expect that from a bad team, but Baltimore is supposed to be one of the better teams. The Raven’s rushing attack was working to perfection to the tune of 198 yards. But in the red zone, they only came up with three points. Some fans will blame the ineptitude on Baltimore’s having a backup quarterback starting, some will point to the Browns defense making plays. I think it’s a little of both. If the running game is working, pound the ball into the endzone. As for the Browns defense, they held the Ravens to 5 of 12 (41.7%) on third down and 0 for 3 on fourth down.
Individual defensive players did what they had to do to win the game. CB Denzel Ward with a key interception. Safety John Johnson was having a hell of game before he got hurt. Then safety Ronnie Harrison came in for Johnson and immediately had an impact. LB Deion Jones was everywhere. On the defensive line, Jordan Elliott had a good game and blocked a field goal by super kicker Justin Tucker. Before DE Jadeveon Clowney got hurt, had made key stops and provided pressure. Rookies DT Perrion Winfrey and CB Martin Emerson continued to get better every week. And when the Browns need a key defensive stop on the Ravens last drive, who do you call? DE Myles Garrett, that’s who. 1.5 sacks on back-to-back plays.
The offense is starting to cater to QB Deshaun Watson’s strengths. The 17-yard quarterback run up the middle was a designed play. Glad to see the Browns doing it to another team. There were more rollouts by Watson, which is his strength when passing the ball. That across the field throw to WR Amari Cooper was an absolute dime. The play call for the Donovan Peoples-Jones touchdown was a thing of beauty. Instead of putting the wide receiver in the slot for a quick slant, which might result in the Raven DB disrupting the route at the beginning, Peoples-Jones gets a running start and freezes the DB with a quick head fake. My only problem with the offense was in the fourth quarter. Three drives start inside Baltimore’s side of the field. The Browns were getting great yardage on first downs thanks to the rushing of Nick Chubb, then on second down mystifying play calls. The Browns had 43 yards rushing in the first half and 100 yards in the second half. A touchdown on any of those possessions would have put the game away. Head coach Kevin Stefanski needs to let Deshaun Watson be Deshaun Watson.
As for the missed field goals by kicker Cade York, if you go back and watch, he was getting onto the field late. The Browns were snapping the ball with three seconds or less. Get the kid on the field sooner like the first two field goals. That’s indecision by the coaching staff. Inexcusable. Besides the God of kickers missed a field goal and had one blocked. York will be fine. Besides the missed field goals, the special teams played well.
With the win, the Browns are still in the playoff hunt. I know, it’s strange. This weekend the Browns need Detroit to beat the Jets, the Raiders to beat the Patriots and the Titans to beat the Chargers. Other games that would help the Browns chances are Carolina over Pittsburg, Dallas over Jacksonville and Tampa over Cincinnati. I want to thank CLEology (@CLEology) for providing this information on twitter. Enjoy your Sunday, stay safe, Happy Holidays and Go Browns.