The Browns against The Ravens are officially done.
Yes, the Browns improbably defeated the Ravens, 33-31, and what a journey it has been to get here.
Cleveland trailed by as many as 15 points in this game and fell behind by 14 early in the fourth quarter when Gus Edwards ran in for a 1-yard score, with Baltimore taking advantage of a muffed Cleveland punt.
Deshaun Watson delivers for Browns; can they win the AFC North? Orange and Brown Talk post game podcast
Deshaun Watson leads Browns to stunning win over Ravens (video)
The Browns’ defensive performance in the second half shows why they are the Ravens’ best unit right now
But the offense left the Ravens D perhaps too comfortable with a lead, and the defense was good enough to capitalize on a key play late.
And full transparency: in a game like this it’s very difficult to make a well-thought-out editorial at the beep when it’s impossible to predict the end result.
So for now, here are some of my real-time thoughts on the game’s crazy ending:
Proche looked good last week, but in this environment I’m not surprised he muffed that punt. He appeared to be looking at Devin Duvernay as the Ravens receiver approached.
The Ravens ate a decent amount of time, 3:17, in their scoring drive. The Browns finally get a TD to Elijah Moore, a 10-yard strike by Deshaun Watson.
It’s nice to see him finally take a look at that situation and be able to take advantage of it.
Greg Newsome II throws his first career INT and, even better, it’s a pick-six. It’s at this point that I deleted the sad column I’d been working on for the last 15-20 minutes.
Dustin Hopkins was bound to make a mistake at some point, but what a brutal time to do it. It was his first missed extra point of the season and left the Browns trailing by one with 8:24 to play.
This is a delay of game penalty that Baltimore receives and Za’Darius Smith stops the run on third-and-14 against Lamar Jackson.
2:55, Deshaun Watson is sacked and luckily Wyatt Teller is as aware as he is. But minus 9 and seconds and 19 is absolute killer.
After the two minute warning, I can’t believe we still have two minutes left in the game. A big 6 yards run by Jerome Ford and the Browns get a first down. You have a chance here.
Another big run for Ford, 12 yards, and they’re in Ravens territory at the 39 – Hopkins has a chance at redemption.
Three plays later, Watson kneels on third and fourth. This will be a 40 yard attempt.
It is good! And I’m glad I started writing this column when I did.
Uh, flag.
In previous years something would have happened and things wouldn’t have gone the way Brown wanted.
However, today the football gods were on their side. No punishment. * Yes, it’s safe to say that Hopkins has redeemed himself.
Remember Jordan Elliott blocking FG in the first half and how important it was in the end
The Browns are suddenly real contenders for victory in the AFC North.
