Knee-Jerk Reactions: Ravens Dominate Browns 28-3

The Ravens went into Cleveland and beat the Browns 28-3 in Week 4. Russell Street Report staff react to the win here.

Derek Arnold

For the second straight week, the Ravens were handed the gift of going up against a backup quarterback. This time, they didn’t squander it, and took care of business against a rookie making his first ever start for a division rival. They may be handed a similar gift next week, as Kenny Pickett left today’s Steelers loss early with what appeared to be a knee injury.

They also got a reversal of last week’s AFC North fortunes, as instead of being the only team to lose, as they were in Week 3, they were the only team to win. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati both look dead in the water, and the Browns defense, while legit, looked a bit less historically great against a somewhat-competent offense. The Ravens defense needs to do what they did to a shorthanded offense today again next week in Pittsburgh, and run their division record to 3-0. That’s the way to continue to put last week’s disappointment in the rearview.

Hopefully iron man Morgan Moses, who has started every game since 2015, doesn’t miss much time, and more of those “questionable” Ravens return to action in Pittsburgh.

Jared Pinder

Wow. After last week’s awful game this one was looking dreadful, but the Ravens managed to blow out the Browns. Yes, I understand Watson was out and DTR wasn’t good today but this defense was awesome. Mike Macdonald is going to get head coaching interviews next winter. The Ravens offense played complementary football but Lamar had an awesome last two drives in the first half.

But once again fumbles and injuries to the O-line held back the offense. The Ravens now move to 3-1 and now are going to face a stinky Steelers offense with Kenny Pickett potentially being out.

Darin McCann

Huge win. Going to 2-0 in the division, with both wins coming on the road, is enormous.

Big statement by the defense, and the offense capitalized in the red zone. As always, the injury report bears watching.

Rob Shields

Once you found out that Watson was going to be out, you felt good about this game despite all the injuries the Ravens had.

The Ravens defense dominated the rookie QB and that offense and Lamar Jackson had complete control of the game. He looked great throwing it and the running game was effective all day long.

If you had downsides, it would be the penalties and the Morgan Moses injury. He has played very well this year. They announced it as a shoulder injury but he was grabbing the pec area. Hopefully that’s not too serious but you would think this keeps him out for multiple weeks.

2-0 in the division and both wins are on the road. Pittsburgh is next week and they lost Pickett and Pat Freiermuth due to injuries today, so we will see how they are as the week goes on.

Chris Schisler

You couldn’t have dreamed a better game. The Ravens won in dominating fashion. The defense was lights out. The offense found it’s way and Lamar Jackson was dangerously good game.

I don’t want to hear “But Watson didn’t play.” Do you know how many injuries the Ravens are dealing with? The fact that the Ravens were the dominant team at the line of scrimmage is music to all Baltimore ears. The Ravens were the more physical team and Dorian Thompson-Robinson didn’t have a chance.

A+ positives

– Mark Andrews woke up.

– Other than one bad turnover, the offense was insanely efficient and when they turned on the jets it was over.

– The defense was smothering.

It couldn’t be a better time to be a Ravens fan. The Steelers lost. The Bengals lost. Every Ravens fan was nervous at kickoff. Every Ravens fan gets to party the rest of Sunday!

Tanner George

Well, that felt good.

It certainly looks as if the Ravens put that tough loss to the Colts behind them, winning a borderline laugher in Cleveland to improve to 3-1 overall and, more importantly, 2-0 in the AFC North…

Aside from the second quarter, the offense looked very sluggish. However, I’d argue that quarter gave us our best glimpse yet into what this team can really do. The passing game was electric, with Jackson making sharp throws at every turn and masking the fact that he was missing two of his top pass-catchers. In addition to punching it in twice on the ground, Lamar hit Andrews twice in the end zone, and it was nice to see their connection revitalized. Although inefficient at times, the ground game was largely good, with Edwards and Hill both breaking off some big runs. And, as expected, the defense gave rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson nightmares.

Now, as the team sets its sights on Pittsburgh, one storyline to watch: Kenny Pickett hurt his knee in a 30-6 loss to the Texans. 3-1 is good for now, but Harbaugh definitely has his sights set on 4-1 next Sunday…

Kevin McNelis

Man, that was a nice change of pace, especially given what I was expecting coming into this one. With a short-notice change at QB for the Browns, the dynamic for Cleveland’s office certainly looked different from the expectation. Between Cleveland being clunky on offense and the Ravens continuing to push the pace on the ground and through the air, the Ravens took control after some early miscommunications and never looked back.

I was fairly critical of the Ravens after last week, and it feels good to be proven wrong about how I thought this one would pan out. Another huge division win on the road, combined with losses from the Steelers and Bengals, is huge in helping Baltimore right the ship. If the Ravens can steal a win in Pittsburgh next week and sweep their division road games, it could prove to be massive in the second half of the year.

Chad Racine

What a difference a week makes.  It was all doom and gloom last week and now the Ravens are in first place again. They scored more than double the points three rest of the division did combined.  It sure looked like the Ravens had the better defense than the Browns did today.  I never thought we’d be saying this but Marlon can take his sweet time coming back.

– Lamar was throwing dimes all day but still list a fumble that I feel was his fault. You take the good with the bad and overall he was great today.

– The entire secondary is playing shutdown almost weekly. Stephens, Hamilton, Stone etc all are getting the job done. Maulet also looked good today and tipped the ball for the Stephens interception.

– Roquan Smith has completely changed this defense since his arrival. Good thing the Ravens didn’t conform to trends that the middle linebacker position has been devalued. It certainly hasn’t for the Ravens.

– Has Rex Ryan taken back what he said about Mike MacDonald being the new hotshot defensive coordinator? I already like him more than Wink and Pees.

The Ravens are looking good going into next week against the Steelers.  Yet another starter goes down in Morgan Moses today.