The Baltimore Ravens dropped their first divisional game of the season, losing a sloppy 13-10 affair in Cleveland after the Browns hit a walk-off field goal. Here are Baltimore Beatdown’s top takeaways from the sluggish defeat:
The Ravens need a real quarterback …
Look, we all love Snoop, but after his gutsy performance in Atlanta, the Ravens got the worst version of him in Cleveland. Tyler Huntley wasn’t helped by a slow offensive operation and plenty of pressure from the Browns’ defensive front, but he put the ball in danger too often
and could not move the chains on third down. This offense is just so limited with him under center that the rest of the offense has to execute flawlessly, and that’s just not going to happen when the defense can constantly overload the box against the run. Huntley’s usual magic was nowhere to be found on Sunday, but Lamar Jackson wins that game handily. The Ravens need him back for their tough string of upcoming opponents. — Nikhil Mehta
… And the Ravens need a real center
Again, utmost respect to Vega Ioane for sliding to center for three starts, but the Ravens have clearly been playing with fire. The first-round pick’s inconsistent snapping nearly led to a fumble during a crucial second-half drive. Huntley managed to dive on the football, but the play turned a 2nd-and-19 into a 3rd-and-22 that all-but-guaranteed a punt on 4th down. Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle definitely needs to clean up his playcalling operation, but having a backup QB and a rookie guard-turned-center is not ideal for pre-snap communication. Enter trade acquisition Cam Jurgens, who should be ready for his Ravens debut next week. He’ll help the entire unit at the line of scrimmage, snap the ball cleanly, and, crucially, move Ioane back to right guard to get Emery Jones off the field. — Nikhil Mehta
Kyle Hamilton and Nnamdi Madubuike deserve better
I could probably throw other names in here, but Hamilton and Madubuike were the best players on the field on Sunday afternoon. They carried their entire team for stretches of the game with disruptive play around the line of scrimmage against the run and the pass. I almost feel bad watching them field questions about another second-half defensive collapse. They’re good teammates who won’t throw the offense under the bus, even though most of the blame belongs on that side of the ball. Hamilton, who has taken Roquan Smith’s mantle as the defense’s de facto leader, looks especially pained when he has to answer for a loss despite another All-Pro performance. Madubuike, meanwhile, has impressively come all the way back from last year’s neck injury to recapture his previous elite form. But they can’t make every play for the defense, nor can they will the offense to score. — Nikhil Mehta
It’s time for Mark Andrews to lose snaps
Anyone watching lately can tell Mark Andrews has been caught at the scene of the crime too often, but that alone isn’t why I think this. Even the simple plays are proving costly: Andrews has six drops through six games. Fortunately, rookie TEs Matthew Hibner and Josh Cuevas have shown flashes of playmaking that Andrews no longer has at 31. In addition to the flashes, the young TE duo have had steady hands, hauling in 12 of their combined 13 targets, with two touchdowns to Andrews’ one. Cuevas flashed in today’s loss, catching his first NFL touchdown along with a 29-yard catch-and-run from an impressive Declan Doyle play call that saw Cuevas line up at left guard pre-snap. Hibner made noteworthy plays against Dallas and Tennessee. I expect Andrews to continue to lead the unit in snaps if Hibner stays sidelined. However, as soon as both rookie tight ends are available, they should be cutting into the veteran tight end’s snap count. — Mark Myers
The Ravens need more efficiency in the run game
Entering today’s game, the Ravens ranked No. 3 in rushing yards per game, averaging 164.4 yards on the ground with 822 total. However, their efficiency has left much to be desired in recent weeks and Derrick Henry in particular has found running room hard to come by often. Against the Browns, Henry rushed for a season-low 58 yards on 17 carries (3.4 yards per carry). Since Week 1, Henry has not eclipsed 4.3 yards per carry in a game and over the last three weeks, his longest rush has gone for just 17 yards. Too often it feels like Henry is running into a wall of defenders for minimal gain, which has happened at times in high-stakes short yardage attempts on third or fourth down. The Ravens have not been able to open up gaping holes for Henry to rip off breakaway runs as has usually been the case over the past couple years. Justice Hill had a 47-yard rush in Week 5 lined up in the fullback spot, but that has been the Ravens’ only big explosive run in a while. They need to be more consistent at the line of scrimmage in their run blocking, and Henry also needs to ensure he won’t lose any more fumbles in key moments like he did in the fourth quarter of this game — Frank Platko
