Ravens vs. Browns: MVP, 15 Winners and 1 Loser

The Baltimore Ravens leave with a well-earned victory over the Cleveland Browns

The Baltimore Ravens (3-1) will leave Cleveland with a dominant 28-3 victory over the Cleveland Browns. Here are the Ravens’ biggest winners and losers from Week 4.

MVP: QB Lamar Jackson

After an ugly fumble, Jackson carved up the Browns defense. He rushed for two touchdowns on the ground and added another two in the air to Mark Andrews for good measure. This was one of Jackson’s most accurate games and days as he found tight-window completions to Melvin Gordon, Mark Andrews and Zay Flowers, along with hitting Nelson Agholor in the end zone who couldn’t quite get his second foot down. An all-around dominant performance against the vaunted No. 1 defense.

Winners

Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken — The former Browns coordinator gets to leave with his head held high and show that he’s grown as a coordinator and did so against the no-longer No. 1 defense. Some may critique the heavy screens or the conservative second half but there was no reason to try and put things into harms way. As such, the Ravens put four touchdowns up on the Browns.

Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald — Down numerous starters, down numerous backups, Macdonald is still dialing up play calls to not only defend but attack. No surprise the Ravens’ defense held up in what many expected to be a defensive slugfest.

Head Coach John Harbaugh — No real snafus in this game. No strange or bizarre errors. No confusion. Harbaugh didn’t allow his team to let a piss-poor game against the Colts snowball. Instead, the Ravens are 3-1 with two road victories over their division and will head to Pittsburgh to attempt the road sweep of the AFC North.

CB Brandon Stephens — Nothing like being good and lucky as Stephens came away with an early interception that was deflected up by Arthur Maulet. But the awareness to then sprint and take the ball back for 52 yards was excellent running that showed off his former running back ability.

TE Mark Andrews — On Thursday, Monken said “this is the first week I’ve seen – in probably four or five – that I feel like he’s at full speed.” Andrews proved that with notching two touchdowns and leading all pass catchers with 80 yards on five receptions.

WR Zay Flowers — The receiver was a focus for the Browns’ defense and yet, he got loose. He tends to do that. His biggest play of the day was a 43-yard reception where he threw the hand up and got Jackson’s attention on a deep crosser where he torched his man.

RB Gus Edwards — A big game out of one of their running backs was necessary for the Ravens to win this game. The pass rush for the Browns needed to be corralled with their assignments to slow the rushing attack. The Gus Bus did so as he bullied for hard-earned yards.

RB Melvin Gordon III — The Ravens used their final call-up on Gordon this week. He gave them a reason to consider keeping him as he sprinted for a 23-yard gain on his lone carry of the game and added another 21 yards on three receptions.

RB Justice Hill — When Hill gets the ball, good things have happened in 2023. He gashed the Browns for 33 yards on three carries and jumpstarted the offense that needed to demonstrate they can go East-West at times to beat the overly-aggressive Browns defenders.

OLB Jadeveon Clowney — This free agent signing continues to pay monstrous dividends for the Ravens. He’s generating pressures consistently. Now, for Clowney to finish the plays and get the sacks he’s clearly on the cusp of.

Offensive Line — The penalties hurt but overall, the Ravens are coming away with allowing only three sacks against Myles Garrett and the Browns pass rushers. Garrett last week alone had 3.5 sacks. With Patrick Mekari and Daniel Faalele, the Ravens managed to survive and get the ball moved on the ground and in the passing game.

ILB Roquan Smith — Absolutely buzzing around the field today was Smith. He finished with 10 tackles, double more than any other Ravens’ defender had and paired it with a quarterback hit, a tackle for loss and two passes defensed where he nearly had both as interceptions. His commentary earlier this week held true as the Ravens beat up the Browns in front of their wives and kids.

ILB Patrick Queen — Queen’s burst, speed and acceleration continue to dominate. He finished today with the first of three sacks for the Ravens and also notched three tackles for loss.

OLB Kyle Van Noy — The veteran on short notice jumped into the fray and helped contribute by pressuring Dorian Thompson-Robinson and also getting a pass deflection. Another veteran outside linebacker signing the Ravens are happy with.

P Jordan Stout — An end-to-end great game for Stout. If two teams have dominant defenses, you need your punting to be perfection to refrain from giving the opposition plus territory. Stout never let that happen by booming punts, with multiple kicks inside the 20.

Losers

Injuries — Another game where the Baltimore Ravens watch more players exit the field and not return. This time, it’s tackle Morgan Moses, safety Daryl Worley and cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis. Each week it feels the Ravens have to remove two players from the field to make it fair.