With the Cleveland Browns driving for a potential go-ahead score, Browns quarterback Jameis Winston floated a ball too high for receiver Elijah Moore. The ball dropped right into the chest of Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton — and then after a couple of bobbles, right onto the ground.
That was just the biggest in a litany of mistakes made by the Ravens in all three phases as they suffered a 29-24 loss to the Browns at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on Oct. 27.
Hamilton lay prone, face down in the grass, for several seconds after the drop, and then on the next play, Winston found receiver Cedric Tillman behind the Ravens defense for a 38-yard touchdown pass with 59 seconds left for the game-winning score.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson quickly led the Ravens down the field in the final minute, but two passes into the end zone in the closing seconds fell incomplete, and with that, the Ravens’ five-game winning streak also came to an end.
Pressed into starting service by Deshaun Watson’s season-ending Achilles injury, Winston played with a veteran’s poise and delivered Cleveland’s most successful offensive performance of the season against a short-handed Ravens secondary.
The Ravens (5-3) were playing without top cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey (knee) and Nate Wiggins (illness), and starting safety Marcus Williams also sat out with what head coach John Harbaugh described as a “personnel” decision.
Cleveland had not passed for 200 yards in any of Watson’s six starts, but Winston, making his first start since 2022, finished 27 for 41 for 334 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions — and Hamilton wasn’t the only one who dropped one.
For all their problems through 3 ½ quarters, though, the Ravens were in position to win after Derrick Henry scored on a 2-yard run with 2:36 left for a 24-23 lead. Jackson willed the Ravens down the field on that drive, which began with Jackson wiggling out of pressure in his own end zone and running for 22 yards. A 23-yard pass to Zay Flowers later set up the Ravens at the 2-yard line, and Henry scored on the next play.
If anything, the Ravens might have been guilty of scoring too fast; after struggling to find much offensive rhythm, the Ravens went 91 yards in 2:19 and left Cleveland and Winston enough time to answer.
Jackson finished 23 of 38 for 289 yards and two touchdowns, and his receivers dropped several balls. The most notable was a bomb to Rashod Bateman, who was all alone in the middle of the field. Bateman had stumbled, and then the ball hit him in the hands and helmet before falling incomplete. Bateman appeared to have trouble looking back into the sun, and the Ravens were forced to punt on the next play.
The Ravens’ No. 1-ranked offense was held to three points for the game’s first 29 minutes, but they pulled ahead 10-6 at halftime after Jackson hit Nelson Agholor for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 27 seconds left in the half. That score came two plays after Hamilton strip-sacked Winston, with linebacker Trenton Simpson recovering at the Browns’ 25-yard line.
The Browns took the lead back on their opening drive of the third quarter when Winston threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Njoku, and Jackson answered with a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews. That was Andrews’ fourth touchdown catch in the past three games.
Back and forth these AFC North rivals went through the fourth quarter, but when Hamilton dropped the potential interception and gave the Browns another chance, they capitalized.
Here are five quick impressions of the game, which for one day at least, drops the Ravens out of first place in the AFC North:
1. The Ravens have a safety problem.
And no, that doesn’t include Kyle Hamilton, who despite his dropped interception was the Ravens’ best defensive player. But safety Eddie Jackson got beaten on two touchdowns, including the game-winner when wide receiver Cedric Tillman ran past him. Earlier in the game, Jackson had coverage against David Njoku when the Browns tight end made a nifty 23-yard touchdown catch. And the entire defense looked utterly confused on Tillman’s first touchdown catch, with Roquan Smith pointing and players scrambling into position as the ball was snapped.
Jackson is normally the team’s No. 3 safety, but he moved into a starting role at Cleveland because the Ravens benched Marcus Williams. Williams was not on the injury report this week, and he was in uniform on the Ravens sideline, but he never entered the game. Head coach John Harbaugh didn’t elaborate except to describe Williams’ absence as a “personnel” decision.
The Ravens increasingly have used Ar’Darius Washington at safety, and in fact he was one of three starting safeties against Cleveland. But it’s clear that this has become a position of major concern. Jackson was overmatched at times and had a would-be interception go through his hands in this game. Washington has also dropped a gift interception or two, something that has been a weekly occurrence in the Ravens secondary.
And something is obviously brewing with Williams, who has a base salary of $12 million and the team’s third highest cap figure this year at $18.7 million.
The Ravens are a better team when Hamilton plays near the line of scrimmage, and he proved that once again when he fired off the edge and recorded a strip-sack that set up the Ravens’ first touchdown. He also blew up a wide receiver screen and made a nice pass breakup on a third-down play. Hamilton finished with 10 tackles, although he will spend the entire flight home from Cleveland, and probably a great deal of time afterward, thinking about the dropped interception.
No, Hamilton is not the issue. But the rest of the safety position has become one.
2. Todd Monken got too cute at times.
The Ravens have the most powerful running back in the game today in Derrick Henry, one of the greatest running quarterbacks in NFL history in Lamar Jackson, and a 300-pound battering ram fullback in Patrick Ricard. It seems a pretty straightforward formula for short-yardage situations, but Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken just got too cute with his personnel in those situations.
On their opening drive, the Ravens opted to go for the first down on fourth-and-1 from the Browns’ 7-yard line. Aggressive? Sure, but head coach John Harbaugh has consistently made that fourth-and-short decision throughout his career. This time, though, the Ravens took both Jackson and Ricard out of the equation. Henry lined up in a Wildcat formation, with Jackson lined up as a wide receiver to the right. Granted, Henry can usually power ahead for a yard or two regardless, but this time, he took the direct snap, tried to run right and the Browns’ defensive front blew up the play, dropping him for a 2-yard loss.
With no one else in the backfield, everyone in the stadium knew Henry was getting the ball. If Jackson is in the backfield with him, the threat of either of them running has to change how the defense reacts. If Ricard is in the backfield with them, that much power going forward is hard to stop at the line of scrimmage.
Later in the game, the Ravens had third-and-inches from the Cleveland 28-yard line. This time, Monken had tight end Charlie Kolar line up under center for what appeared to be a “tush-push” type play. Except Kolar bobbed his head, perhaps to try to draw the Browns offside, and instead was whistled for a false start. Third-and-inches became third-and 5.
The Ravens converted that on a 25-yard catch-and-run by tight end Isaiah Likely, and Mark Andrews caught a 7-yard touchdown pass two plays later. So that decision with Kolar under center didn’t prove as costly as the failed fourth down.
Still, the Ravens have the most dynamic and physically imposing running game in the league. No need to get too cute or overthink it.
3. Penalties compounded the problems.
Under the NFL’s new kickoff rules, any kick that flies into the end zone for a touchback is spotted at the 30-yard line. Twice, Ravens’ returner Chris Collier opted against a touchback and returned a kick from in the end zone. The Ravens didn’t reach the 30 either time.
And twice, the Ravens started on offense inside their own 20 because of penalties on the kickoff return. On one of those returns, a holding penalty (actually two were called, one enforced) backed the Ravens up to the 19-yard line, and on the other, a block in the back set them back at the 9-yard line.
Penalties continue to be a recurring problem for this team. They were penalized seven times for 53 yards in this game, and often they derailed drives. A 22-yard scramble by Lamar Jackson was negated by a holding call on center Tyler Linderbaum, and that drive couldn’t overcome second-and-19.
Early in the fourth quarter, Ronnie Stanley was whistled for a false start on second-and-3. Backed up to a second-and-long situation, the Ravens failed to get the first down, and then they came up empty when Justin Tucker’s 50-yard field-goal attempt hooked wide left.
That might start more rumblings about Tucker, who had hit a 49-yard field goal for the Ravens’ first points despite slipping on the kick. Tucker is now 2-for-5 on 50-plus field goals this year and 3-for-10 from 50-plus since the beginning of last year.
The Ravens came into the game ranked No. 2 in third-down conversion percentage, gaining a first down on exactly half their third downs this season. Against Cleveland, they went 2-for-10, in part because penalties at times put them in bad down-and-distance situations.
On a day when the Ravens had issues across all three phases, penalties only compounded the problems.
4. The trade deadline is nine days away, and Eric DeCosta has some work to do.
The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 5 at 4 p.m., and it’s hard for Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta to come away from this game thinking the roster doesn’t need significant help in certain areas.
This team has designs on the Super Bowl, with the reigning MVP at quarterback and the league’s leading rusher in the backfield, but a defense that has looked too broken too often.
Granted, two top cornerbacks missed this game with injuries, and it’s also worth noting that the Ravens lost two defensive linemen — Brent Urban (concussion) and Michael Pierce (calf) — during the game as well. But one reason Browns quarterback Jameis Winston enjoyed such success was because he usually had all the time he needed to read the field and step into a throw. The Ravens recorded two sacks, and one of them came from safety Kyle Hamilton on a blitz from the slot.
The Ravens’ edge rush group is asking a lot of veteran Kyle Van Noy, who has delivered a team-high seven sacks at age 33. Odafe Oweh has 4.5 sacks, but beyond that, the impact has been limited. David Ojabo was a healthy scratch in this game.
The Ravens have already signed veteran Yannick Ngakoue this season, and he and Tavius Robinson combined on a sack of Winston. But might DeCosta make an aggressive play for an impact pass rusher?
Will he target a safety, given that the Ravens’ issues at the position were badly exposed by the Browns and by the benching of Williams?
DeCosta likes the wheeling and dealing aspect of the job. In past deals near the deadline, he has traded for cornerback Marcus Peters (2019), Ngakoue on his first stint with the team (2020) and linebacker Roquan Smith (2022). He tried to trade for running back Derrick Henry at the deadline last year but no deal was ever finalized.
The Ravens have the draft capital to make a move; they are expected to have 11 picks in the 2025 draft, so DeCosta will have a lot of flexibility and options in negotiations.
DeCosta has nine days to fortify this roster through trades, and at the very least, this loss to Cleveland came at a good time. It has to get DeCosta’s attention.
5. The Ravens are looking up at Pittsburgh now.
The loss to Cleveland sends the Ravens a half-game behind Pittsburgh (5-2) in the AFC North, pending the Steelers’ “Monday Night Football” matchup against the New York Giants. Cincinnati suffered a 37-17 loss to Philadelphia to fall to 3-5 and is fading from the picture. Yes, there is time for the Bengals to get right, but the Ravens have a chance to all but finish them in the division race in a “Thursday Night Football” showdown at M&T Bank Stadium on Nov. 7.
The Browns (2-6) appear invigorated by having Jameis Winston at quarterback, but the damage done during Deshaun Watson’s sputtering offensive performance will be too much to overcome.
As so often has been the case, this division is likely to come down to Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The teams have their first meeting in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Nov. 17, and that game, currently scheduled for 1 p.m., could be a candidate to get flexed to prime time. The teams meet again at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 21.
The Ravens have a divisional-loss blemish on their resume now, and that could prove costly later, but they are still well-positioned in a division that doesn’t appear as formidable as it did in July. But first, they need to fix the mistakes and issues on display at Cleveland.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox