Ravens come out on top 47-42 over Browns in a MNF thriller
The Baltimore Ravens were able to hold off a ferocious fourth-quarter scoring flurry by the Cleveland Browns thanks to the clutch play of reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson and a go-ahead field goal from 55-yards out in the waning seconds from future Hall of Fame kicker Justin Tucker to secure victory 47-42.
“It makes my job a lot easier, the offense’s job a lot easier not having to score a touchdown,” Jackson said. “Some coaches don’t trust their kicker. We put all our faith in ours. We just had to put him in position to kick the field goal. Automa-Tuck. He did the rest.”
The two teams traded blows to start the game as the league’s top two rushing offenses churned out five scores on the ground in the first half with two coming from Jackson on runs of five and 17 yards, two coming from Cleveland running back Nick Chubb on runs of seven and 14 yards and one coming from Ravens running back Gus Edwards on an 11-yard sprint.
Baltimore led 21-14 at halftime and then doubled up on the Browns and went up 28-14 after marching 70 yards for a score in just four plays ending with a 19-yard jaunt to the end zone by Edwards for his second score of the day to open the second half.
The Browns made it a one-score game on the ensuing possession with an 11-play drive that covered 75 yards and ended with a bulldozing five-yard touchdown run from their other star running back, Kareem Hunt.
Cleveland would get the ball back less than five minutes later only to give it right back on their first play from scrimmage when Ravens outside linebacker Tyus Bowser made an amazing interception where he snagged the ball in with one hand and popped to his feet to return it 17 yards before getting shoved out of bounds a yard shy of the goal line.
Ravens rookie running back J.K. Dobbins scored on the very next play and extended their lead to 14 points again after Tucker had his extra-point attempt blocked.
The Browns answered yet again on their next drive that covered 70 yards in 12 plays and ended with a 21-yard touchdown from quarterback Baker Mayfield to wide receiver Rishard Higgins on a fourth-down play where Ravens cornerback fell down on the play and left Higgins wide open in the back of the end zone.
Cleveland was able to successfully convert a two-point conversion attempt off a ricochet and cut the Ravens lead to just six at 34-28 heading into the fourth quarter where all the heart palpating drama would transpire.
With Jackson in the locker room getting treated for cramps, the Browns rode the wave of the momentum they gained to close out the third quarter to mount a comeback.
The Ravens had to insert second-year quarterback Trace McSorley under center but went three and out on the first drive of the final quarter after back-to-back drops by second-year wide receiver Marquise Hollywood Brown.
The Browns regained the lead for the first time since the opening possession of the game and went up 35-34 after Mayfield scored on a five-yard scramble to cap off a 12-play drive that ate up over six minutes of game clock.
McSorley had the Ravens offense on the move and in rhythm on the ensuing possession and even had them past midfield and on the fringe of Tucker’s field goal range before he was injured on a quarterback keeper just before the two-minute warning.
The Ravens were preparing to insert veteran wide receiver, Willie Snead, at quarterback before Jackson emerged from the locker room and made his triumphant return with the Ravens facing a fourth-and-5.
“You see Willie taking snaps – ‘Steamin’ Willie’ – he’s played quarterback before. If we had to do that, we were going to make it work,” tight end Mark Andrews said. “Then, Lamar [Jackson] shows up and saves the day.”
He rolled to his right and just when it seemed like he would gash the Browns defense with his legs yet again he uncorked and connected with Brown for a 44-yard catch and run go-ahead score after the speedster uncovered late.
“We had a great play called, I dropped back, it looked like they were in man [coverage] … and I was making a scramble to my right, and Marquise just came open,” Jackson said. “I just had to give him a playable ball, and he just did the rest.”
Dobbins punched the ball across the goal line for a successful two-point conversion attempt to put the Ravens up 42-35 less than two minutes left in regulation.
Cleveland answered the call yet again when it only took them 47 seconds to march 75 yards in four plays and tie the game Mayfield hit Hunt for a 22-yard touchdown.
However, the fatal error they made was not scoring but scoring too fast because it left Jackson with enough time to work some more late-game magic and pull off what seemed like the impossible at one point after the Ravens had squandered a double-digit lead.
Jackson completed four straight passes including a pair of 14-yarders to tight end Mark Andrews to start the drive to move the ball into field goal range and set Tucker up for the game-winner to cap off the comeback that not even the best writers in Hollywood could imagine according to Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh.
“It’s a game that’s going to go down in history,” Harbaugh said. “If you wrote a movie about this, people wouldn’t believe it. They would say it could never happen.”
To top things off, the Ravens were able to tack on an additional two points on a safety after the Browns’ last-ditch effort to score failed miserably resulting in Cleveland receiver Jarvis Landry being pushed out of the back of the endzone after several backward and lateral passes.
This was a must-win game for the Ravens entering their primetime matchup with their AFC North rivals and even with the positive result they are still on the outside looking in on the current AFC playoff picture and will need some help getting into the postseason even if they do win out.
Final stats-
Ravens:
Jackson finished 11-of-17 for 167 yards and a touchdown passing and led the team in rushing with 124 yards and a pair of scores on nine carries for a 13.8 yard per carry average. Andrews tied Brown for the most targets with six but led the team in receptions and receiving yards with 78 on five catches.
The Ravens were led in total tackles by starting safety Chuck Clark with nine and All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey tied then broke the single-season record for forced fumbles by an individual player by recording two against the Browns to bring his season total through 12 games to eight.
Browns:
Mayfield finished 28-of-47 for 343 passing yards and two touchdowns to one interception. Both Chubb and Hunt eclipsed 100 yards from scrimmage with Chubb leading Cleveland in rushing with 82 yards and two scores on 17 carries and Hunt leading them in receiving with 77 yards in six receptions.
The Browns were led in total tackles by starting safety Karl Joseph with eight and even though one can be attributed to Jackson slipping on the turf in the first half, veteran defensive end Olivier Vernon recorded two of the team’s four sacks on the night.
