The Matt Schaub-led Ravens beat the Browns on Monday Night Football by the score of 33-27. The Russell Street Report writers react.
Kyle Casey
Perhaps the most gratifying win of the Ravens season.
Schaub showed flashes of his former washed up self with two interceptions – including his trademark pick-six – but as a whole, played admirably in his first Ravens start.
Terrance West faired well in his Ravens debut, as did Brent Urban. Shareece Wright and Lardarius Webb turned in arguably their best games of the season.
Joe Polek
Honestly, for all the players the Ravens have lost to injuries, it is pretty remarkable how they have continued to fight every week. They are 4-7, but have lost 7 games by less than 1 score, and 4 of those losses, they lead in the 4th quarter. So they could easily be 8-3, 11-0, or 0-11. Some guys who weren’t even on this team when the season started really stepped up tonight… Terrance West and Brent Urban to name a few. Take away 2 passes and Schaub didn’t play that bad.
Bad for the Draft, but a great win for the Ravens.
Tyler Lombardi
For most of the game, it was as easy for the Browns to move through the middle of the field as it is for water to move through a net. And Matt Schaub made a few awful decisions that kept this game close.
In the end, however, the Special Teams were what won the game for the Ravens. Kaelin Clay displayed excellent vision on his first punt return. Sam Koch did a great job of keeping the ball away from Travis Benjamin, which was a smart move with how poorly they were tackling on kick returns.
And of course, the Brent Urban block was the most important play of the game. The man who Brian Bower has praised in training camp for batting down passes at the line of scrimmage batted down a field goal kick that could have won it, and Will Hill followed his blocks all the way down the field for a touchdown. It was a great play by Urban and and even better return by Hill.
Who would have thought that a matchup of two bad teams would make for such a great game?
Ryan Jones
With the way the Ravens’ season has gone this year, I would’ve bet every dollar in my bank account that Travis Coons’ kick would’ve split the uprights. But it didn’t, and what a great win for the Ravens.
Schaub played admirably at times but reminded everyone why he’s a back up QB. When Kaelib Clay ran back a punt I literally said out loud “who the hell is Kaelib Clay?” The O-line played well and Buck Allen and Terrance West did a nice job out of the backfield.
My biggest takeaway was the overall effort. The Ravens don’t have much to play for (they aren’t going to the playoffs so don’t even mention it) but they still were playing with heart down to literally the last snap. John Harbaugh stinks at challenges but he brings his team to play every week.
When Austin Davis entered the game I tweeted I’d eat 10 purple crayons if he led the Browns from behind to a win.
If the Ravens let Austin Davis come from behind and beat them I'll eat 10 purple crayons @RussellStReport
— Ryan Patrick Jones (@ryanpjones82) December 1, 2015
I never thought I’d have to google “is eating too many crayons dangerous?” Will Hill and Kendrick Lewis are OK in my book.
Brian Bower
Never easy, never pretty is truly the Ravens way.
Gritty performance by a team with nothing to play for. Impressive streak of blocking a kick in five-straight games leads to exciting win. Solid play from Kamar Aiken, Buck Allen and perhaps the Ravens most improved player in the secondary, Shareece Wright.
The best MNF game this season and it’s one no one wanted to watch.
Mike Fast
Somehow, even after Schaub’s second interception, I knew the Browns would mess things up.
Sure enough, the completely mismanaged the clock and play selection on their final drive, and thank to Brent Urban and Will Hill, the Ravens win back to back games for the first time this year.
For a game between two teams with a combined record of 5-15, it sure was exciting.
Regardless of how this season ends up, no one can say the Ravens quit. They always gave it their best shot.
Nadeem Kureishy
This team just keeps playing hard all the way until the clock says 0:00. Schaub played a great first half and then fell apart in the second half. Both interceptions were head scratchers. Great win. Feels good to win two in a row.
Tony Lombardi
Dean Pees’ defensive schemes are as cutting edge as a pay phone. Matt Schaub makes throws that make you go WTF was that? John Harbaugh uses a sundial for clock management even at night. Yet somehow, the Ravens snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
It was as ugly and as comical as we expected but at the end of the night, the Ravens once again showed heart. They never quit, always hustled and in the end that never-say-die approach paid dividends with the blocked field goal that produced the game winning TD.
Brent Urban, welcome to the NFL!
Derek Arnold
I thought this game would be a snoozer. Boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong (no surprise, that)!
At halftime, I tweeted Brian Bower and asked him where the batted down passes from Brent Urban were. Well, Urban saved his swatting for when it mattered most. Pees & Trestman continue to make us scratch our heads (or pound them against the wall) – Pees by ignoring Gary Barnidge on third-and-10, or by allowing Austin Davis to look like vintage Peyton Manning, Trestman by being the Browns’ best defender when it came to stopping Allen and West on the ground. Despite all that, the Ravens emerge victorious, on a play that evens out some (just some, mind you) of the awful luck they’ve been on the receiving end of this season.
I get the frustration from some fans that say this win only served to worsen their draft position, but I’ll never apologize for winning. I enjoy winning. Worrying about draft picks is a loser’s mentality. Just ask Browns fans.
Adam Bonaccorsi
Matt Schaub showed flashes of his vintage self with another pick-6 (3 more to tie his consecutive game streak!) and nearly cost the Ravens the game with another late ill advised pick, has it not been for the heroics of Urban/Hill.
Secondary once again got shredded with their highest paid CB (Jimmy smith) looking like their 3rd best CB (Webb, Wright with solid games) and the inability to get off the field on 3rd and long is just inexcusable, especially against a 3rd string QB…
But man oh man did Buck Allen impress me in all facets of his game. Great hands, vision, blocking, shedding tackles, carrying guys downfield… Almost forgot about Forsett for a minute there!
Overall this team showed some serious fight and heart, and that’s ultimately all you can ask for from a team decimated with injuries like this Ravens team.
And to think they flexed our game against Seattle out of prime time…
Ken McKusick
Schaub was bad. He delivered a pick-6, threw the crucial interception on the Ravens’ final, 1-play drive, and was bailed out by his receivers on scattershot throws all game.
Nonetheless, this game will be a pleasant memory for Ravens fans in the history of this rivalry until and unless it provides the Browns the player to turn around their franchise. I get a sense that there are Browns fans (like Cubs fans) who revel in this misery, as Giants fans remember Joe Pisarcik. If the Browns end up drafting a hall of famer with their first pick in 2016, they’ll point to this play as evidence of divine intervention on their behalf. In fact it was all triggered by their last crappy first round pick (Cam Erving) being driven back by Chris Canty after one of the worst nights I have ever seen by an NFL guard.
