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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Instant takeaways from Browns 38-6 loss to Ravens in Baltimore, MD …
1.Groundhog Day: Looking much like the team that caused another regime change, the Browns were blown out in another season-opener. They made numerous mistakes and the Ravens did anything they wanted on offense. The 38-6 loss extended the Browns’ sorry record to 1-20-1 in season openers since 1999. After an entire offseason emphasis on helping Baker Mayfield find his game, the quarterback was intercepted on the sixth play of the game, his fourth pass. It resulted in a Ravens touchdown, and the rout was on. New Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell deflected three of Mayfield’s passes, including the one intercepted. Austin Seibert missed a PAT and a field goal, Nick Chubb lost a fumble, and the Browns botched a fake punt from their own 31 in the first quarter. Rookie left tackle Jedrick Wills left the game in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. League MVP Lamar Jackson tossed three touchdowns (two to former Mayfield college teammate Mark Andrews) and former Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins rushed for two touchdowns. Jackson was pulled with 4:05 to play after going 20 of 25 for 275 yards. He ran just seven times for 45 yards. His rating was 152.1. Mayfield was 21 of 39 for 189 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and a 65.0 rating.
2.Injuries aplenty: Besides Wills, the Browns lost the following players to injuries during the game: Cornerback Robert Jackson (finger), linebacker Jacob Phillips (knee), tight end David Njoku (knee).
3.About that chemistry: Everybody said chemistry between Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. was much better than last year. Say what? In the first half, Beckham had one catch for 16 yards on three targets. One of his misses was a huge drop on a 3-yard pass that should have been a first down deep in the Ravens’ end. The Browns came out in the second half and started forcing the ball to Beckham. On the first series, there was a low throw defended by the Ravens, an overthrow and another incompletion. But Beckham drew defensive penalties on both of those. Same drive: Throwaway in Beckham’s direction (Baltimore holding call), completion to Beckham negated when he stepped out of bounds before the catch and a third-down incompletion. In the fourth quarter, Mayfield overthrew Beckham, who got behind cornerback Marcus Peters at the Ravens’ 10-yard line.
4.Chief is back: David Njoku made two big plays in the first half as the third tight end. He was wide open for Mayfield’s 1-yard TD pass out of heavy formation (three tight ends, fullback and Nick Chubb). Later, Njoku came down with a 50-50 ball against safety Tavon Austin for a 29-yard gain.
5.Deflation: Kicker Austin Seibert began his second season the same way he began his first one. He missed the PAT after a Browns touchdown, doinking it off the right post. Then with a chance to draw the outplayed Browns to within, 17-9, with under a minute to go, Seibert missed a 41-yard field goal wide right. That followed a dropped pass by Beckham at the Ravens 20 that would have been a first down. The Browns then put up no defense against Jackson, allowing him to hyper-speed his offense 69 yards in 35 seconds to go up at halftime, 24-6.
6.Wanna be a play-caller?: The Browns didn’t commit a penalty until midway through the second quarter. Then in rapid succession came a false start on KhaDarel Hodge, a face mask on Beckham and a delay of game. Add in a near interception and a 7-yard sack and Mayfield faced the never-seen third-and-41 situation. What did Stefanski the play-caller dial up? We’ll never know. Mayfield had to throw away the ball under pressure.
7.Wanna be a play-caller, Part 2: First second-guess of the season came with 6:08 left in the first quarter. Browns lined up to punt from their 31, down by 7-0. From their 31. Stefanski called for a fake punt. Punter Jamie Gillan ran with the long snap and was blown up by ex-Brown L.J. Fort short of the first down. The ball came out and the Ravens recovered. It resulted in a Ravens field goal.
8.Play like you practice: Mayfield was intercepted frequently in training camp practices, a lot of times after his passes were tipped. On his third pass of the game, defensive end Calais Campbell rejected the ball at the line of scrimmage. On Mayfield’s very next play, Campbell dropped back into coverage and tipped another pass, and it was intercepted by cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who caught it diving to his knees. By the way, prior to those two plays, Campbell stuffed Nick Chubb for no gain on a first-down run. So he had quite a sequence.
9.El Capitan: Stefanski said he would appoint one captain for each game. He chose long snapper Charley Hughlett for Game 1. Who saw that coming?
10. Pre-game changes: Aside from the injured players, made inactive were rookie WR Donovan Peoples-Jones and newly added DE Joe Jackson. Announced as starters were JC Tretter at center, Terrance Mitchell at cornerback, and rookie Jacob Phillips at weakside linebacker. With his inactive status, CB Greedy Williams (shoulder) has now missed five of his first 17 NFL games.
11.Social justice statements: The Ravens lined up arm-in-arm on a goal line for the playing on video boards of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The Browns elected to stay in their locker room. The Browns did come out for the National Anthem. Most stood. A handful kneeled.