The feel-good vibes from last week’s thrilling overtime win were replaced by a gut-wrenching feeling of déjà vu Sunday in Cleveland.
After an impressive win in Atlanta, the Ravens entered Sunday’s game against the Browns hoping they had put the narrative of not finishing off opponents to bed, but the 13-10 loss was too familiar.
For a league-high 17th time since 2018, the Ravens lost after holding a double-digit lead. It’s the second time it’s happened this season, the first coming in the home opener in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints.
Instead of celebrating what would’ve been their fourth consecutive win on Sunday, the Ravens had to field questions about why the collapses keep happening.
“I’m not going to sound like a broken record,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “It’s Groundhog Day with this question. I don’t know. I’m not going to give you an answer. I really don’t know. So, sorry, that’s the best I can give you, but we’ve had this conversation so many times. I don’t even feel like addressing it again.”
With the way the Ravens started the game, it seemed unlikely that they could lose to a Browns team that appeared overmatched.
Quarterback Tyler Huntley, starting his second straight game with Lamar Jackson sidelined because of an ankle injury, picked up where he left off in Atlanta, leading the Ravens to 10 points on their first two possessions. The Ravens’ defense was suffocating, limiting the Browns to seven yards in the first quarter.
However, the offense didn’t score another point, and the defense, which was stout for most of the game, was not at its best when its best was needed.
The Browns scored 10 unanswered points in the final 6:30, aided by a missed 49-yard field goal try by Tyler Loop that would’ve made it a two-score game and a Derrick Henry fumble in Ravens territory that led to the Browns’ game-tying touchdown.
The game was still tied when the Browns got the ball with 1:59 left. They drove into Ravens’ territory and won it on Andre Szmyt’s 37-yard field goal as time expired.
It was a costly loss for the Ravens (4-2), who now have the same record as the Browns and Steelers in the AFC North. The surprising Browns sit atop of the division by virtue of their wins over Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
“[Head Coach] Jesse Minter told the Ravens heading into Sunday’s game that a win in the AFC North would be extra valuable,” The Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Shaffer wrote. “He called it ‘plus one and a half’ in the standings. Which means that the opposite is true, too. The Ravens not only wasted an impressive defensive performance, but they suffered an extra-valuable loss, too.”
Here’s what pundits said about the game: