Baltimore Ravens Demolish the Cleveland Browns

Well, that was a train wreck. The Cleveland Browns rolled into Baltimore with some hope, only to get thoroughly dismantled by the Ravens in a 41-17 beatdown that felt even worse than the scoreboard suggests. For anyone wearing orange and brown, Sunday was a long, painful afternoon.

A Tale of Two Halves (Sort Of)

For a fleeting moment, it looked like the Browns’ defense might actually keep them in the game. They were playing lights-out in the first half, bottling up Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ offense. If not for a special teams meltdown, a blocked punt that gifted Baltimore a touchdown, Cleveland might have gone into the locker room holding the Ravens scoreless. Instead, despite the offense looking like it was stuck in mud and that special teams gaffe, the Browns were only down 10-3 at halftime. Manageable, right?

Wrong.

The Flacco Follies and a Defensive Collapse

The second half started, and any optimism quickly evaporated. After the Ravens tacked on a field goal, Joe Flacco, in his grand return to Baltimore, decided to throw a pass that can only be described as a gift. A terrible interception led to another quick Ravens touchdown. It was the kind of play that just deflates a sideline.

Sure, there was a glimmer of hope when Cedric Tillman snagged a deflected pass for a touchdown on a wild fourth-down play. But that was just delaying the inevitable. The Browns’ defense, which had been so stout, finally broke. They could only hold the fort for so long without any help from the offense. Lamar Jackson started doing Lamar Jackson things, and the floodgates opened.

The final nail in the coffin? A strip-sack on Flacco on fourth down that was returned for a touchdown. It was a fittingly disastrous end to an offensive performance that was, to put it kindly, a complete and utter embarrassment. From coaching to execution, nothing worked, and the Browns limped out of Baltimore with a 0-2 record, looking for answers that just aren’t there right now.