It wasn’t pretty, but the Baltimore Ravens shut down the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football. All it took was a nice interception return by Dawan Landry. That play just about closed out the Browns. I’m going to take a look at how we got to that point.
The first half was a really ugly half of football. Neither team could get anything going on offense and the defenses dominated. Then Cleveland got the ball to start the second half and went three-and-out. The Ravens took over and Derrick Mason got free for a 41-yard gain in to Cleveland’s red zone. Ray Rice ran it in from there for the first score of the game.
Landry picked off Brady Quinn’s next pass and took it in to the end zone. The Browns were done then, but the Ravens put another field goal on the board to complete the game’s scoring.
What bothered me about this game was the Ravens’ first half clock management. While there was time left in the first quarter, the Ravens had no timeouts left. Partially this was due to a bad challenge by John Harbaugh on a Jamal Lewis run. The offense sputtered in the first half. Cam Cameron never got the running game in rhythm and Joe Flacco looked flustered at times.
Steve Hauschka added to frustration with his first quarter field goal going wide left. That was his third miss in six chances. I can’t see Hauschka surviving for another week. Points are just too valuable in the NFL, and especially in the upcoming weeks against Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. Hauschka needs to hit his field goals all the time, not just in garbage time. He also missed an extra point. Harbaugh wasn’t happy with Hauschka after the game and he has since been released.
The shining part of this game was the defense. The defensive line got to Quinn multiple times throughout the game. Baltimore’s linebacker corps was one of the better units on the field playing in pass coverage and stuffing the run. I liked how the secondary tackled the receivers and gave run support to the front seven. Of course they had their interceptions and added to the scoring.
Lardarius Webb may be the next big time player on the roster. His time in the secondary was solid, but his real value Monday night came on special teams. Webb had a good return on the opening kickoff of the game, but was spectacular on punt coverage. If he wasn’t making the tackle, Webb was searching for the ball and helping the team down it inside the 20.
Overall, the Ravens played a good half of football. They obviously have to improve if they’re going to even compete with Indianapolis. I liked certain things from the Ravens on Monday night, but there are plenty of holes to work on this week in practice.
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