Better is not good enough

At the end of Sunday's game between the Browns and Baltimore Ravens, it would not be incorrect to say the much maligned Cleveland defense finally burst through with easily its best performance of the season.

A quick glance at the post-game stats sheet revealed no blown coverages for the first time last season. Check. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, a twice-a-season nemesis, was held to just 120 yards passing and only 59 yards on the ground. Check. And tight end Mark Andrews with no receptions. Double check.

It sure looked as though the Baltimore game plan on offense centered on running the ball with Jackson pretty much a a facilitator. Andrews, who may have been limited by an injury, was not a factor at all from a receiving standpoint. 

Only one problem. The Browns couldn't stop the Baltimore ground game, which racked up 160 yards, as the Ravens rode two touchdowns by running back Gus Edwards and three field goals by the peerless Justin Tucker to a 23-20 victory.

It extended the Browns' losing streak to four games -- a first in the Andrew Berry/Kevin Stefanski era -- and dropped them into the AFC North basement at 2-5 with the hot Cincinnati Bengals on tap a week from Monday night in Cleveland. In those four losses, the Browns have been gouged for 698 infantry yards. 

A furious comeback by the Cleveland offense, which put 10 quick points on the board (a Nick Chubb touchdown and Cade York field goal) on their first two possessions of the game before snoozing for the better part of the next two quarters, made the final nine minutes interesting after Kareem Hunt scooted two yards to pull the Browns to within three at 23-20.

The Ravens, who controlled the football for 34 minutes, went back to the ground in an effort to take time off the clock and force the Browns to burn timeouts. The Browns needed a break and for one of the few times this season, they actually made a play when it mattered.

Just when it appeared the Ravens would be successful, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah punched the football out of the hands of running back Justice Hill and defensive end Isaiah Thomas recovered at the Cleveland 16 with 3:12 left in regulation. Plenty of time to at least pull into a tie.

A perfect 37-yard connection with Donovan Peoples-Jones by Jacoby Brissett down the right sideline on third down took the ball to the Ravens 42-yard line with 2:37 left. Still plenty of time. For what, though? A rare victory? Another disappointment? Don't forget, these are the luckless Browns

And yet here they were with victory -- or at least a tie -- well within grasp. And it sure looked like victory when Brissett connected on a 34-yard scoring pass with Amari Cooper on third down with 2:40 left. Remember to keep in mind these are the luckless Browns.

Too good to be true? Yep. The points came off the board when Cooper gained slight separation from Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters by using his arm, hoping officials wouldn't notice. They did. Offensive pass interference. Hall of Famer Michael Irvin got away with such a move for years. Cooper didn't. 

The penalty took Cade York, who earlier had kicked field goals of 41 and 37 yards, out of his comfort zone back to the Ravens' 44, making it a 62-yard attempt. Brissett got seven of those yards back on a scramble, giving York at least a good shot at the tie from 55 yards.

That's when something very Cleveland Browns-like struck. As York lined up for a 55-yard attempt, there was penetration from the left side of the Baltimore line before the snap. Whistles blew, a flag flew. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, a former special teams coordinator, screamed repeatedly at his men to "watch the ball." In other words, don't move until the ball moves. He suspected the worst.

He didn't get it. Referee Shawn Smith consulted with other officials before surprisingly announcing Michael Dunn of the Browns on the line had committed a false start. Replays revealed Dunn moved only after contact was made by the Ravens, which ordinarily would draw a flag for either offsides or neutral-zone infraction. A case of Ravens luck trumping Browns luck.

With the ball now back at the 42 and a 60-yard attempt looming, York's only chance of evening the score was to start the ball low and gain height and distance as it traveled toward the goalpost. It never got there as former Ohio State star Malik Harrison got a hand on the ball with its low trajectory and steered it off course.

Had it not been for some terrible ball security by Brissett, this one might have had a different outcome. Brissett was strip-sacked twice, losing one deep in Browns territory early in the third quarter which led to a Ravens touchdown, and giving up valuable yardage to short-circuit drives.

While the Cleveland defense was effectively shutting down Jackson the passer and Jackson the runner, the Ravens defense created four sacks (they had five overall) in six consecutive dropbacks covering consecutive possessions spanning the second and third quarters.

Brissett, who is a different quarterback when he doesn't get rid of the football quickly, had trouble spotting open receivers, was slow to react and paid the price on the first possession of the second half when successfully strip-sacked by Calais Campbell at the Cleveland 25.

To give you some idea of how tough the defense was on this afternoon, it took the Ravens seven plays and slightly more than four minutes to move the 25 yards before Edwards, playing for the first time in nearly 20 months after major knee surgery, ran the the final yard to make it 20-10.

There are glimmers of hope in this loss whereas there were none before. Take away his mistakes while trying to avoid the Baltimore pass rush, Brissett actually had a decent afternoon with 22 completions in 27 attempts for 258 yards. 

He targeted David Njoku, Cooper and Peoples-Jones 17 times, hitting on all but one for 216 yards. He was perfect with Peoples-Jones and Njoku, who exited the game with an ankle problem late in the second half.

The ground game reawakened with 113 yards, Chubb leading the way with 91 yards on 16 carries. It's still not enough work for the league's top rusher, who keeps moving the needle on yards gained after contact. 

There was much more aggression on defense. Finally. Players were flying to the football. The tackling, comparatively speaking, was better. Pass coverage was tighter and the pass rush came alive. The one weakness, of course, was stopping the run.

You'd think the Ravens would be more vulnerable with their top guns on offense playing so, for them, relatively poorly. Therein lies the difference between these two teams. The Browns have more overall talent. The Ravens know what it takes to win games like this. The Browns do not.