BALTIMORE — It seems pretty unbelievable to say this, but the Browns beat the Ravens Sunday in Baltimore 40-25 after running up 30 points in the second half.
It is amazing. Have the Browns finally become the Browns we expected them to be? There are some signs that they have found their way.
The thing that's that's been consistent through all four games so far? The defense continues to play very well. Coming in here and having to defend Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram and Mark Andrews (along with the rest of Baltimore's tight ends), the defense was good all day long.
But the worry was could the Browns offense finally play to the potential that we see on paper. The answer was yes, they could. Baker Mayfield got it going, with a new target: Ricky Seals-Jones. Not a household name yet, but maybe an answer to David Njoku being injured at the tight end position. Seals-Jones was tremendous in the game, and scored the team's first touchdown.
Mayfield spread the ball around. Jarvis Landry had an exceptional day, but there is a bit of a concern right now. Landry left late after a tremendous run down to the Raven 1-yard line that set up another TD. He was being checked for a concussion, but otherwise he was as great as he's been since joining the team last year.
Imagine: The Browns win scoring 40 points, and Odell Beckham Jr. only had one catch in the game during mop-up time.
But the man of the day was Nick Chubb. When the Browns win, normally Chubb's a big reason: How 'bout 165 yards with an 88-yard touchdown run (three total scores on the game)? Vintage Nick Chubb, so for everyone that's been worried about where he is, for the Ravens the bad news was he was in Baltimore today.
The Browns are now in first place in the AFC North. Take a moment, let that ruminate in: The Browns are in first place in the AFC North, and get a long week now to get ready and head west to take on the San Francisco 49ers.
At the quarter-poll of the NFL season, the Browns are 2-2, but 1-0 in the division. A gutsy, big-time win in Baltimore.