Jordan Elliott's block of a Justin Tucker field goal helped the Browns preserve a 13-3 win and make for an uncommon two-miss game for the Ravens' Hall of Fame-bound kicker. (Cleveland Browns)
Browns play down to Ravens’ ugly style and emerge victorious in Deshaun Watson’s home debut
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
They could have run all night, but chose not to.
They eschewed three points for a fourth-and-1 gamble, and blew it.
They had a field goal blocked, and missed another.
They turned the ball over three times on offense and couldn’t find the end zone.
No, not the Browns. The Ravens.
This was such a turnabout of roles. The Browns played Ravens football. The Ravens played, well, Browns football.
Ultimately, the Browns were patient and disciplined and scored two field goals and one touchdown to defeat the Ravens, who had one field goal in three tries and couldn't find the end zone with a GPS.
The final score of 13-3 made Deshaun Watson victorious in his first home game with the Browns amid freezing temperatures and light snow flurries.
The Browns are 6-8 and can be eliminated from the division race, finally, with a Cincinnati win on Sunday. But their infinitesimal wild-card chances – perhaps as low as .1 percent – will continue for another week.
The loss was crushing to Baltimore’s AFC North title hopes. It was the first time the Ravens even trailed by more than seven points all year.
The defeat dropped the Ravens to 9-5, one-half game behind the Bengals, and cost them a chance to lock up the division record tie-breaker over the Bengals. With franchise QB Lamar Jackson expected back for their final three games, the Ravens have the favorable schedule to catch up, but that probably would require a win in Cincinnati in Game 17.
Spoiling anything for the Ravens makes for a satisfying night for Browns fans, no matter the artistry of the performance.
“I embrace the spoiler role, so I’m happy to do it,” said Myles Garrett, who pushed his season total to 13.5 sacks with 1.5 on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter, when the Ravens’ last three possessions ended with a blocked field goal, turnover on downs, and turnover on downs.
“Wish we could’ve gotten that one last week [against Cincinnati], but we are just trying to go 1-0 and they were the task at hand. I love that we could get a W. It’s not all about trying to take away their crown or ruin their chances. We really want to be in that win column at the end of the day.”
This was an ugly game. The Browns were pretty, however, in the manner in which they were dragged into Ravens-style football without Jackson and played virtually error-free, save for two Cade York field goal misses, which equalled the number of misses of Justin Tucker, the greatest kicker in the history of pro football. But Tucker only converted one and York made two.
“This is what you have to do, especially against that defense and against that team in general,” Watson said.
Watson was 18 of 28 for 161 yards and saved his best five throws for the lone touchdown drive that covered 91 yards. Two connections with Amari Cooper of 16 and 28 yards put the Browns in the red zone. Nick Chubb (99 yards on 21 carries) converted a fourth-and-1 from the 9-yard line, and then Watson completed the drive with a quick pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones three plays later. DPJ cut inside and crossed the goal line for a 3-yard touchdown.
Overall, Watson showed more improvement in his third game of the year by connecting with nine receivers and also making a keeper run for 17 yards. He was sacked three times and didn’t turn the ball over in his first cold game. Temperatures dipped below 30 degrees in the second half.
“It was a great, fun game on the lake, especially in the fourth quarter when [light snow] started coming down and swirling around,” Watson said. “It didn’t bother me. My job was going out there, competing and making plays, getting the ball to the guys that needed to get it, taking care of the ball and letting Chubb and Kareem [Hunt, 24 yards on four carries] tote the ball.
“My first home game was a victory, and it was special. Many more to come.”
Besides Garrett, the defensive stars were:
Linebacker Deion Jones and safety John Johnson, who stuffed 305-pound fullback Patrick Ricard on John Harbaugh’s fourth-and-1 gamble at the Browns’ 7 on Baltimore’s first possession; cornerback Denzel Ward, who broke in front of DeSean Jackson on a slant and intercepted Tyler Huntley at the Browns’ 9-yard line on the first possession of the second half; Johnson again, who knocked a fumble loose from Demarcus Robinson and then recovered it at the Ravens’ 40; and Jordan Elliott, whose outstretched right paw blocked Tucker’s 50-yard field goal try with 14:02 to go in the fourth quarter and the Browns clinging to a 13-3 lead.
Tucker had made a 53-yard field goal to tie the game early at 3-3. It was his fifth field goal of 50+ yards in FirstEnergy Stadium; only Browns legend Phil Dawson has more with seven. But Tucker also missed from 48 yards at the end of the first half. It was the first time Tucker missed two field goals in a game in four years.
“I just made it a point to let a number of my teammates know I felt this one was on me,” Tucker said.
Tucker's bad night proved what a graveyard for kickers this stadium by Lake Erie can be. Which didn’t ease the hurt Cade York felt by missing from 38 and 46 yards toward the closed end zone in the fourth quarter after making kicks from 47 and 23 yards towards the Dawg Pound. He also didn’t take solace in outpointing the great Tucker, two field goals to one.
“[The weather] had nothing to do with what happened. I was kicking it well until that fourth quarter,” York said. “It’s supposed to be easier [at the closed end]. Maybe I just got a little too comfortable. It hurts, but I just have to move on.”
The Ravens amassed 198 yards on the ground for a 7.1-yard average, but for some reason they had Huntley hurtling the ball hither-and-yon 30 times, completing 17 for only 138 yards.
Coach John Harbaugh’s decision to not take a field goal on Baltimore’s first possession changed the complexion of the game. The Browns know that feeling.
“Looking back on it, if I didn’t think we were going to get it, I’m kicking a field goal,” he said. “I felt like we were going to get it. They got theirs, and it led to a touchdown.”
Yes, a complete turnabout of roles.
