Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.Instant takeaways from Browns 28-3 loss to Baltimore Ravens …1. Pffffffffft: And just like that, the air was taken out of another Browns’ season by the Baltimore Ravens. Too early for that, you say? Yes, of course. But if you can’t defeat an arch-rival missing six starters on your own field, good luck when they’re healthy in November. The Ravens, seasoned by years of resilience, clobbered the Browns, 28-3, to send them into their bye week a .500 team at 2-2, but 1-2 in AFC North games. The field was leveled somewhat when sore-shouldered Deshaun Watson became a late scratch after light throwing in a morning workout was unimpressive in front of the Browns’ brass. Fifth-round rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson got his first NFL starting nod. He was understandably overmatched against a division rival fired up to take sole possession of first place with a 3-1 record. And the Jim Schwartz defense’s first effort against Lamar Jackson was shockingly bad. Back to the drawing board.
2. Dorian’s gray day: It wasn’t pretty for the preseason Golden Boy from UCLA. He got no help from repeated poor field position and down-and-distances due to offensive penalties. His throws were scattershot, often forced into windows that were slammed shut. He was intercepted three times and several times his over-hyped passes were almost intercepted after deflections hither and yon. Here’s a sampling of just some of the impossible situations DTR stepped into: Second-and-30, third-and-31, second-and-21, third-and-21, second-and-15, third-and-21, second-and-24. The scoreboard made running the ball equally impossible, leaving DTR defenseless once the Ravens took a 7-0 lead. Cleveland Browns Stadium emptied out when DTR tossed his second interception with 9:36 to play. There was another to come. The Browns crossed mid-field only two times. For the record, Thompson-Robinson was 19 of 36 for 121 yards, three interceptions. He was sacked four times and had a passer rating of 25.3.
3. Lamar the Magnificent: Jackson finished with two rush touchdowns and two by air to tight end Mark Andrews. He was 15 of 19 for 187 yards, two TD, zero INT, and a passer rating of 142.8 in running his record against the Browns to 7-1 in games he started and finished.
4. Fill ‘er up: The Browns’ defense left the field outta gas and leaking oil after giving up touchdown drives of 93 and 74 yards on their last two possessions of the first half. The team slinked into the locker room to a chorus of boos down by 21-3. The most yards the defense had surrendered in three games was 255 to Pittsburgh. Baltimore had 249 at halftime.
Lamar Jackson wore down the Browns' defense with two TD runs and one TD pass in the first half to take a commanding lead. (Cleveland Browns)
Jackson carved them up with across-the-body throws and deflating keeper runs. Jackson connected with Andrews for 36 yards, and then the tiring defense failed to tackle on big runs by Justice Hill (15 yards) and Melvin Gordon (22). Jackson scored his second TD of the game on a keeper – the defense didn’t touch him on either run. Then Jackson used his arm to tack on a third touchdown. Jackson dropped in a beauty touch pass over Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to Gordon for 23 yards, bought time and then tossed a dime to rookie Zay Flowers for 43 yards ahead of a trailing Martin Emerson, and punctuated the drive with a 7-yard pass in the deep right corner to Andrews over Denzel Ward and Juan Thornhill.
6. Self-inflicted wounds (SIWs): The Browns’ first offensive possession began with a 26-yard run by Jerome Ford. However, Amari Cooper was called for holding and it was reduced to 10 yards. Two plays later, the Browns were whistled for an illegal shift with Elijah Moore doing that orbit motion thing. After a good throw to tight end David Njoku for a first down, DTR was almost intercepted by linebacker Roquan Smith forcing a ball to Donovan Peoples-Jones.
7. The force is with him: The Browns evidently didn’t alter their offensive game-plan as a result of the Watson late scratch. DTR continued to throw and force balls into double coverage. He underthrew Cooper effectively on a deep route covered by two Baltimore defenders on second-and-3 from the Browns’ 45. Then on third down, DTR’s laser for Cooper was deflected by cornerback Arthur Maulet and intercepted by Brandon Stephens, who carved up the Browns’ offense for 52 yards before DTR tripped him up at the 10. On the very next play, Jackson slithered untouched to the end zone on a quarterback draw.
8. Please stop: Ultimately, this play was saved on a 37-yard pass interference penalty on Stephens. But this play must be burned from the playbook: On third-and-1 from the Browns’ 44, tight end Harrison Bryant took a direct snap, pitched it back to DTR, who threw horribly downfield for Cooper, who drew the flag. Granted a reprieve, the Browns continued their clown show on offense. From the Baltimore 19, Elijah Moore received a handoff and went backwards. Way back. Loss of 20 yards. Then on second down, DTR kept the ball and ran around the right edge. He came up with the brilliant idea of lateraling the ball to a trailing Bryant, and it went out of bounds. Called an illegal forward pass, the Browns faced third-and-31 from the 40. They saved field-goal range with a 5-yard Ford reception and Dustin Hopkins drilled a field goal from 53 yards.
9. More Joe love: 2023 Hall of Fame inductee Joe Thomas was presented his Ring of Excellence by HOF President Jim Porter, as was the family of 2020 inductee Mac Speedie. At halftime, the Browns formally unveiled Thomas’ name in the Ring of Honor. He previously was honored with 10,363 – the number of consecutive snaps Thomas played before his career-ending injury in 2018.
10. Pre-game notes: Watson’s late scratch was the big news, but the Browns dodged a bullet when tight end David Njoku was made active for the game. Njoku suffered burns to his face and arm in a fire pit accident on Friday night. The big question was whether he could wear his helmet and that was alleviated prior to the game … The Ravens had two mild surprises on their inactive list. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley (knee) and safety Marcus Williams (pectoral) were made inactive despite practicing this week. Also inactive for Baltimore was receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Rashod Bateman, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, and edge rushers Odafe Oweh (ankle) and David Ojabo (ankle, knee). By the way, ex-Browns Jadeveon Clowney and OBJ were game captains for the Ravens.
