CLEVELAND — Wow! What a wild game and what a wild win for your Cleveland Browns.
When it's all said and done, the Browns 33, the Ravens 31. Cleveland improves to 6-3 on the season, and more importantly, they enjoy a serious statement win on the road in Baltimore.
Against the first-place team in the division, against a team some people were saying was the best in the AFC, against a team you were a touchdown underdog against, it felt like a big game today, but I don't know how many people were realistically picking the Browns to win this one.
Sure, we hoped, but the Browns went out and made a statement with this win over the Ravens. Were there too many penalties? Yep. Were the Browns a bit sloppy? You bet! Too many turnovers? Absolutely.
Not the cleanest game ever played, and the Browns found themselves in a 14-0 hole early again. But we can address all that at a different time, a different day.
Today the Browns pick up their biggest win of the season, their biggest win since Deshaun Watson arrived. And oh yeah: In the second half, he played like a big money, elite quarterback, too.
Watson has taken a lot of heat (from yours truly included), but No. 4 looked like a franchise QB in the second half and played like an elite one, as well, more impressive because he's clearly pretty banged up.
I thought the Browns could've folded several different times today. That muffed Proche fumble? They could've packed it in and gotten ready for next weekend with the Steelers coming to town. But no — they were a resilient bunch that never gave up.
Heck, even the kicker, Dustin Hopkins. The Browns made it 31-30 and he misses a critical extra point to tie the game, only to win it for Cleveland a few minutes later with a game-winning field goal.
Kudos to the Browns — the players, Kevin Stefanski, the coaching staff. This is the biggest win for the Cleveland Browns in a long, long time — a signature win, on the road, against the top team in the division.
The Browns are showing us they may be the real deal, and today's win in Baltimore only helps back that up.
A statement win, and a football team that looks like they may be here to stay.