3 Takeaways From Heartbreaking Loss

It was a heartbreaker for the Baltimore Ravens of their 29-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

After the AFC North rivals exchanged leads all through, the Browns took the lead for good on a 38-yard landing cross from Jameis Winston to Cedric Tillman with 59 seconds left within the sport. Lamar Jackson acquired the Ravens down close to the 20-yard line, however they could not rating on any of their last three performs to finish the sport.

It was a myriad of errors all through the sport that paved the way in which for Baltimore (5-3) to be upset by Cleveland (2-6). With the loss, the Ravens had their five-game successful streak snapped and the Browns acquired again within the win column after shedding 5 in a row.

Listed here are three takeaways from the Ravens’ loss.

Missed alternatives kill Ravens:

The play earlier than the Browns took the lead for good was an ideal microcosm of how the sport went.

An errant throw from Winston discovered its manner into the arms of Kyle Hamilton. Fairly than coming down with what might have been an interception that might have positioned Baltimore to win its sixth-straight sport, the All-Professional security bobbled the ball earlier than dropping it.

Hamilton’s drop was removed from the one blunder that value Baltimore. Security Eddie Jackson had a number of alternatives for an interception that went proper by his fingers. Receiver Rashod Bateman had an enormous play negated by an important drop on third down within the fourth quarter when the Ravens had been down by three.

You are solely asking for bother once you make errors and let an inferior group grasp round, That bother got here again to chunk the Ravens and hand them a debilitating loss.

Lack of Derrick Henry proves pricey:

Derrick Henry was pivotal within the Ravens going from dropping their first two video games to successful 5 in a row.

Exterior of a 39-yard run and his two-yard run for a landing within the fourth quarter, he was largely absent. He completed the day with simply 11 carries, his fewest of the season, and ran for 73 yards.

In the course of the Ravens’ successful streak, he averaged 20.6 carries and 148.6 dashing yards per sport and scored six dashing touchdowns.

Whereas the Browns’ protection did a strong job of creating certain Henry did not break the sport, his operating fashion thrives the extra he will get the ball. It is also helpful given the present state of the Baltimore protection, particularly with two beginning cornerbacks out.

Henry was very a lot on the root of the Ravens’ turnaround after an 0-2 begin to the season. Straying away from that proved to be pricey in opposition to Cleveland.

Protection stays an issue:

The Browns’ offense had been among the many league’s worst by seven weeks and Winston was in his first begin of the season.

You would not have been in a position to inform with how they performed in opposition to the Ravens protection.

Cleveland’s 401 whole yards and 29 factors had been season-highs. Winston carved up the league’s worst cross protection, finishing 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns.

Even with the Ravens having beginning cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins out, it is onerous to look previous how simple it was for the Browns to seek out success throwing the ball in opposition to Baltimore for a lot of the sport.

Baltimore cannot afford to lean on Jackson and the offense to win a shootout to bail out the protection. Whether or not it is bolstering the cross rush or making personnel or schematic modifications, the Ravens want to enhance their protection and discover some consistency with that unit if they’ll be a real risk within the AFC.

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