Ka-Boom 

That thud heard on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland Sunday was the Browns crash-landing inside Cleveland Browns Stadium in a return to reality delivered rudely and decisively by the Baltimore Ravens.

Entering the game, the Cleveland defense led the National Football League in just about every category while capturing the attention of the NFL universe. And they played like that Sunday for about three quarters. Not nearly good enough in an embarrassing 28-3 loss.

They looked like an entirely different group in the second quarter as the Ravens' offensive line took over the game and made the Cleveland defense look suspiciously like last season's. The Ravens owned the trenches in those 15 minutes, bullying the Cleveland defensive front unmercifully.

They accumulated 226 of their 249 first-half yards in those 15 minutes. Consecutive scoring drives of 93 and 74 yards midway through the quarter, mostly on the ground by Gus Edwards, Melvin Gordon and Justice Hill, pretty much put the game away by halftime at 21-3 on Lamar Jackson's second score of the afternoon and the first of his two touchdown passes to Mark Andrews.

The game was pretty much over by then because the Browns' offense was rendered toothless primarily because Dorian Thompson-Robinson was making his National Football League starting debut with Deshaun Watson ruled out with a bad throwing shoulder after working out before the game.

The defense recovered in the second half and played like they did against their first three opponents. But by then, it was way too late. 

They needed a mistake-free game from the rookie quarterback and didn't get it. They needed chains-moving possessions and hope the defense could sustain their great start this season. They got neither. Too much to ask of the kid? Definitely. Not his fault.

He played well during the exhibition season and impressed many fans, but discovered quickly Sunday there is a vast difference between playing in meaningless exhibition games against second- and third-stringers and the speed of the regular season against starters.

He was 19 of 36 for 121 yards and three interceptions and seemed to have trouble locating open targets, often staring down his intended target. He connected with reliable Amari Cooper, who was doubled most of the game, just once for 16 yards on six targets.

The closest the Browns got to the Baltimore goal line was the 19 late in the opening quarter after a 37-yard pass interference penalty against Cooper. First and 10 at the 19 and head coach and playcaller Kevin Stefanski decided to get cute. You don't do cute against a defense like the Ravens'. Ever.

He dialed up a Jet sweep for former New York Jet Elijah Moore toward the weak side. Moore lined up slot right, motioned left for the handoff and immediately found all kinds of traffic in his way. Instead of dropping for just a six- or seven-yard loss, he 180'd back to the 39, where he was trapped and touched down. All they got was a Dustin Hopkins 53-yard field goal. It epitomized the frustration of the afternoon.

DTR didn't get much help from his offensive line, especially from tackles Jedrick Wills Jr. and Dawand Jones, who had trouble all afternoon with the relentless Ravens pass rush. He was dropped four times, hit another 10 times and often left the pocket before he wanted to.

Jones was due for a bad game. He's a rookie. Wills was due for a good game. Has been for a while. The four-year veteran failed again.

The Ravens made DTR look like a fifth-round draftee last April in the college draft. He played like a rookie. Once that was established, the only thing that could have saved the Browns was nothing less than a superhuman performance by the defense. 

DTR was humbled early and often, gifting the Ravens with the three picks, the first of which set up  the first of Jackson's two touchdowns on the ground from 10 yards out midway through the opening quarter. Actually, it could have been six or seven picks with surer hands.

Jackson, meanwhile, was sharp after a slow start as he improved to 7-2 against Cleveland. He completed all but four of his 19 passes for 186 yards and the two touchdowns to Andrews, connecting on all five targets to the tight end. He also picked up 27 yards on his nine carries.

The loss, at least temporarily, sucked some of the life out of any notion this team is ready to make a big splash. It dropped the Browns into a second-place tie with Pittsburgh in the AFC North. And yes, it's still too early to cast impending doom over the franchise,

They have played four games this season. In only one of them did they deserve to lose: The one witnessed Sunday against Baltimore. The big question now is whether they learned from it. They've got two weeks to figure it out.