Staff Reactions to the Ravens 33-31 loss against the Cleveland Browns

An ugly fall-apart game sees the Ravens unable to take command of the AFC North

The Ravens, a week after throttling the Seattle Seahawks by 34 points stumble and let up a 14-point lead to succumb to the Cleveland Browns, 33-31.

It was all going so well. The Ravens defense had punished those coming into The Bank the past couple games. They started off doing the same on Sunday, too, with a pick-six on quarterback Deshaun Watson two plays into the game. They added on a blistering 39-yard touchdown run by Keaton Mitchell to go up 14-0.

But injuries, straying from what worked and just getting outplayed when clutch-time was ticking culminated in a sloppy, blown 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. The injuries didn’t help. The play calling was questionable at times. The defense didn’t execute and instead, the Ravens will see the division get even closer as the Steelers and Browns are one game back from the leading Ravens, who are battered and bruised and welcoming a pissed-off Bengals team. — Kyle Barber

Another blown two-score lead in the fourth quarter is all too familiar territory. After riding high heading Week 10, today’s collapse is a stern reminder that the Ravens are far from being the league’s cream of the crop. While they still sit atop the division standings, this was a squandered opportunity to widen the gap. Instead, they’re now 2-2 against AFC North foes on the year ahead a pivotal Bengals matchup in just five days. It certainly doesn’t help that the Ravens exited this game with conceding injuries to two of their best players in Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey. The vibes can go from sunny to gloomy very quickly. — Frank Platko

The Baltimore Ravens reverted back to their old ways on Sunday. Midway through the first quarter, the Ravens seemed to be gearing up for another blowout. This time however, they let the opposing team hang around too long. After going up by 14 in the fourth quarter, the Browns responded with a touchdown drive and a pick-six to pull with in a point and eventually win it on their next possession. The biggest takeaway from this one has to be the defenses inability to tackle. They couldn’t takedown Watson, Njoku or Ford for most of the game, leading to big gains on broken plays. I commend the offense for scoring 24 points on one of the leagues best defenses but the inability to close the game is concerning. Baltimore lost physically today and have turned their Thursday night match up against Cincinnati into a very important game — Stephen Bopst

After a week of being touted as the best team in the NFL, the Ravens absolutely squandered a prime opportunity to separate from the rest of the division with a win over the Browns. What was seeming like a one-sided affair after an early two-score lead from Baltimore quickly became an ugly contest of two bitter rivals slugging it out. The Ravens were humbled in a big way today but they cannot falter as they turn around on a short week to face the Cincinnati Bengals this Thursday. Even worse than the loss, however, was the potentially serious injuries to cornerback Marlon Humphrey and left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Losing either player for the season would put a dent in Baltimore’s Super Bowl aspirations. — Dustin Cox

Pathetic. It was a bad performance from all phases. The probable season ending injury for Humphrey, and maybe Stanley, doesn’t help the feeling. What can you say? Defense got bullied, special teams sucked, offense was inconsistent at best. Mitchell only gets 3 carries and Lamar looked rough at times. Just not a good game by the team as a whole. First bad performance by the defense at a bad moment.

It’s a quick turnaround to Thursday against the Bengals. — Zach Canter

In what was truly a tale of two halves for the Ravens on both sides of the ball, the offense recovered from an inconsistent first half but defense didn’t carry over their strong performance from the first half into the second and ultimately led to their downfall. The Browns were without their top three offensive tackles and even though they recorded four sacks, their inability to consistently pressure and take down Deshaun Watson allowed him to pick up several back-breaking conversions on second and third and longs.

Not sure why undrafted rookie running back Keaton Mitchell only touched the ball four times in a game where he was the most explosive playmaker on the field for either team as he would finish with 66 scrimmage yards and touchdown. Injuries took their toll on the Ravens offensive line and the Browns took advantage of it resulting in multiple sacks. This team will need to shake it off quickly as they play another formidable division rival on the short week with the Cincinnati Bengals coming to town on Thursday. — Joshua Reed