Ravens vs. Browns final: 2 MVPs, 6 Winners, 3 Losers

Victory!

The Baltimore Ravens (8-3) take care of business against the Cleveland Browns (6-6) and sit atop the AFC once more. Though it was a bit ugly, the home team exits M&T Bank Stadium victorious, with a final score of 16-13.

Co-MVP: Tyus Bowser

Tyus Bowser — That was one hell of a game from Tyus Bowser. He has been outstanding both in coverage and in the rush. He’s covered the edge strongly and teammate Marlon Humphrey even was impressed by him covering Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry at times. He also was the man who ended the Browns’ offense on fourth down, the second-straight game where Bowser has sealed the win.

Co-MVP: Mark Andrews

The Ravens offense struggled today, but Mark Andrews came to play. He hauled in a key third-down reception with an enormous one-handed catch while a defender was blatantly interfering.

A few plays later, Lamar Jackson made a huge play and found Andrews wide open in the endzone for the 13-yard touchdown reception. This catch, like the previous catch, was on third down.

Winners

Don “Wink” Martindale — Without Calais Campbell, this run defense just shut down one of the best running teams in the NFL. They held the duo of running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to 36 yards on 15 carries. This was a brilliant game plan and his defense overcame four turnovers from the offense, too.

Justin Tucker — Never take for granted what the most accurate kicker in NFL history is doing for the Ravens. He alone scored the same amount of points as the Browns, and did so with field goals from 46- and 52-yards. That was a significant difference-maker in tonight’s game.

Marlon Humphrey — Was heavily targeted tonight and absolutely dominated. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield kept testing him and Humphrey kept denying it, game after game.

Odafe Oweh — On just about every single drop back, you could find No. 99 in the backfield. he was credited with four pressures in the first half alone, with the rest of the Ravens’ defenders notching three. Oweh has been in the running for Defensive Rookie of the Year for awhile now and he’s only further cementing him as a serious candidate with a stat-stuffing game tonight that included a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Justin Ellis — A game without defensive end Calais Campbell meant the defensive line needed to step up. Ellis did excellent work tonight and even Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh said he needs to be getting more credit. (Hey John, we noticed.)

Patrick Queen — His move to WILL linebacker may have been a career-changing move. He has been utterly dominant since the position change. Tonight, like the past five games, he was flying around the field. He notched multiple tackles for loss and finish with eight solo tackles. He played through a painful rib injury, according to Harbaugh. Queen said there wasn’t a chance he wasn’t going to play through the pain.

Losers*

*= This title does not mean these players are losers. They played a poor game. It happens to the best players.

Lamar Jackson — Four interceptions is enough to put anybody in this section. This was a poor performance, going 20-for-32 for 165 yards and one touchdown to the four interceptions. He did, however, go for 68 yards on 17 carries, which helped gain some critical first downs during the final quarter.

Alejandro Villanueva — He had a bad game against the likely Defensive Player of the Year, and, at minimum, the NFL sack leader. He’s a force and Villanueva drew the matchup tonight.

Ben Powers — I didn’t see solid blocking tonight from Powers, and he had a terrible holding penalty on the final drive that negated a nine-yard rush by Devonta Freeman that would’ve likely iced the game.