Baltimore Ravens Rally Back, Score 25 Unanswered to Defeat Cleveland Browns

The Baltimore Ravens came back from a 20-point deficit to defeat the Cleveland Browns, 25-20, and stay on top of the AFC North.

It was not pretty, but the Baltimore Ravens are 2-0 for the first time since 2009 after looking like they were in for a blowout.

Dennis Pitta had nine receptions for 102 yards and Mike Wallace scored two touchdowns as Baltimore scored 25 unanswered points to share the lead on top of the AFC North.

It was a rough showing right out of the gate for Baltimore. One week after limiting the Buffalo Bills to 160 total yards, the defense allowed the Browns to go 85 yards on their opening drive. Rookie Corey Coleman beat Shareece Wright for a 31-yard touchdown to give Cleveland a 7-0 lead.

The Ravens first drive sputtered and the Browns needed one play to add more points to the scoreboard. Isaiah Crowell broke free for an 85-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-0. It was the longest running play ever against the Ravens, eclipsing Ahmad Bradshaw’s 77-yard rush in 2008. Things could not have gone any worse for the Ravens.

Except it did. Flacco threw his first interception of the season on the second play of the series. Joe Haden read the route and picked off the pass to set the Browns up in terrific field position. Four plays later, Coleman scored his second touchdown of the day, beating Jimmy Smith on an 11-yard pass play, to give the Browns a 20-0 lead in the first quarter.

That is when things started to turn the Ravens way.

Baltimore would score its first points on a defensive two-point conversion by rookie cornerback Tavon Young. It is only the second defensive two-point conversion in NFL history.

The Ravens scored their first touchdown of the game just inside the two minute warning. The Ravens moved down the field quickly thanks to a 30-yard completion to Pitta and roughing the passer penalty. Flacco would find Wallace for a seven-yard touchdown to cut the Browns advantage to 20-9.

Josh McCown would throw up an easy interception for Eric Weddle for the Ravens defense first interception of the year, giving the Ravens an opportunity to score with 42 seconds remaining in the first half. Justin Tucker would hit a field goal from 52 yards out to make it a 20-12 game at halftime.

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Flacco and the offense started with possession to begin the second half and the Ravens moved downfield in a hurry. Steve Smith caught two passes for 50 yards on the drive, passing 14,000 career receiving yards in the process. Wallace would haul in his second touchdown pass of the day two plays later, and it was a 20-19 game early in the third quarter. It is the third touchdown of the season, more than he had last season with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Browns had a chance to add on to their lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Ravens got their hands on another kick and good field position to start the drive. They would not get far, but in position for Tucker to add another field goal to give them a 22-20 lead. Tucker would added on another field goal on their next series to make it a 25-20 game with 2:53 remaining.

Cleveland had an opportunity to win the game, moving the ball past midfield quickly. Coleman caught a fourth-down pass to keep the drive alive. McCown would throw up a prayer to the end zone and C.J. Mosley would come down with the interception to seal the game.

It was a classic Browns meltdown, would failed to score on their final eight possessions of the game. This is how they fared the rest of the way: punt, punt, interception, punt, punt, missed field goal, punt, interception.

With the Pittsburgh Steelers getting a win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, the Ravens share the division lead with their bitter rival. They will be on the road once again next week when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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It was not the outcome many expected from the Ravens, but they showed some grittiness to rally back from the early deficit. There are plenty of concerns exiting the game, and we will evaluate them as the week progress.

The most important thing is that the Ravens got the win over a team they should have beaten. Sometimes, it is not about how you when. It is just a matter of getting the job done.