CLEVELAND — 4:07 p.m./ET-Browns fall to Ravens, get eliminated from postseason contention
The Cleveland Browns’ defense could keep the Baltimore Ravens’ offense at bay for only so long, and a three-possession stretch of touchdowns over the final minutes of the first half and at the start of the third quarter proved too much to overcome.
Behind a strong showing from second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson and a big game from tight end Mark Andrews, the Ravens (13-2) fought their way to a 31-15 victory over the Browns (6-9) at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, which locked up home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs for Baltimore and eliminated Cleveland from postseason contention for an NFL-worst 17th consecutive season.
As has been the case for much of the 2019 season, Jackson was efficient in both the run and pass games, completing 20 of his 31 attempts for 238 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, good for a 120.1 quarterback rating.
The leading candidate for the NFL Most Valuable Player Award, Jackson added 105 yards on 15 carries.
Andrews had a game-high 93 yards and two touchdowns on six receptions in nine targets.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 20 of his 33 attempts for 192 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Mayfield posted an 84.4 passer rating in the game against the Ravens, whom he is now 2-2 against as a starting quarterback.
In addition to extending the longest active playoff drought in the National Football League, the Browns will finish the 2019 season with a sub .500 record for the 12th consecutive year. The best the Browns can do record-wise is 7-9 if they beat the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati next week, which is a half-game worse than the 7-8-1 mark they posted in 2018.
The Browns last finished above .500 when they had a 10-6 record in 2007.
3:13 p.m./ET-Seibert chips away at deficit with long field goal
When the Cleveland Browns’ offenses stalled against the Baltimore Ravens’ defense on their first possession of the second half, they settled for a long field goal attempt and rookie kicker Austin Seibert delivered.
Seibert capped off a 10-play, 46-yard drive with a 47-yard field goal, which cut Baltimore’s lead over the Browns to 21-9 with 3:25 remaining in the third quarter of the AFC North Division game at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
2:58 p.m./ET-Lamar Jackson tosses third TD pass, increases Ravens’ lead
The Baltimore Ravens received the kickoff to start the second half, and they marched right down the field against the Cleveland Browns and increased their lead in the AFC North Division game at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson capped off the 13-play, 69-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to running back Mark Ingram II and kicker Justin Tucker followed with the extra point, which gave Baltimore a 21-6 lead over the Browns with 7:36 to play in the third quarter.
The Ravens took nearly seven-and-a-half minutes off the game clock with the opening drive of the second half.
2:32 p.m./ET-Andrews hits paydirt once again
It did not take long for the Baltimore Ravens to seize control of their AFC North Division game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Sunday.
After struggling through much of the first half, the Ravens got two scoring drives in the final two minutes of the first half to take a 14-6 lead over the Browns with just nine seconds remaining in the second quarter. Both of the scoring drives took less than one minute each.
On first-and-10 from the Browns’ 14-yard line, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson withstood a heavy rush from Cleveland’s defensive front, and lofted a pass down the left seam for tight end Mark Andrews, who got behind the coverage of safety Damarious Randall near the goal line.
Andrews high-pointed the ball, hauled in the catch and maintained possession through the end of the play for his second touchdown of the day against the Browns.
2:22 p.m./ET-Mark Andrews catches Baltimore TD
Somebody on the Cleveland Browns’ defense missed a coverage assignment on tight end Mark Andrews, and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson took advantage to the lapse for the go-ahead score late in the second quarter of the AFC North Division game at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
On first-and-10 from the Cleveland 39-yard line, Andrews ran a seam route down the right hash marks and Jackson found him open down the field. After securing the catch at the Cleveland 17-yard line, Andrews sprinted untouched into the end zone for the touchdown.
Justin Tucker’s successful extra point try gave the Ravens a 7-6 lead over the Browns with 1:18 to play in the first half.
1:53 p.m./ET-Demetrius Harris catches go-ahead touchdown
The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens played a scoreless first quarter, but second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield took care of that early in the second quarter of their AFC North Division matchup at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Sunday.
After the Browns’ defense recovered a fumble from quarterback Lamar Jackson, Mayfield and the offense took over at the Baltimore 45-yard line. Following two defensive penalties that extended the drive, the Browns’ converted the possession into points.
On first-and-goal from the Baltimore one-yard line, quarterback Baker Mayfield rolled to his right and lofted a throw to tight end Demetrius Harris along the back line of the end zone. Despite tight coverage from a Ravens defender, Harris caught the pass and maintained possession through the end of the play for the touchdown, his third of the season.
Rookie kicker Austin Seibert’s extra point was off the mark, but the Browns still held a 6-0 lead over the Ravens with 11:53 to play in the first half.
1:40 p.m./ET-Browns, Ravens play scoreless first quarter
The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens played a scoreless first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Sunday.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield started the game six of nine for 52 yards with a long throw of 22 yards to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. On his lone reception of the quarter, Beckham Jr. accounted for more yards than he did in four quarters of the Week 4 win over the Ravens in Baltimore.
The Browns’ running game struggled early against the Ravens, totaling 12 yards on their first five attempts.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was three for six for 17 yards and rushed for another 16 on three carries.
1:16 p.m./ET-Browns get fourth down stop, force turnover on downs
The Cleveland Browns’ defense started slowly against the Baltimore Ravens, but when it mattered most, they registered a defensive stop and forced a turnover near midfield with more than seven minutes left to play in the first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium.
After allowing a 27-yard run to Mark Ingram early in the drive, which got the Ravens out of a first-and-10 from the Baltimore 14-yard line, the Browns’ defense buckled down and forced an incompletion on fourth-and-three.
The fourth-down stop generated a turnover on downs.
With both teams failing to score points in their opening possessions, the score remained tied at 0-0 with 7:12 to play in the first quarter.
11:35 a.m./ET-Njoku inactive once again
For the second straight game, Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku is a “healthy scratch” and will not play against the AFC North Division champion Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Sunday.
This is the second time in Njoku’s three-year career that he is inactive for a game despite being healthy enough to play. Njoku also was deactivated for last Sunday’s 38-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Following the film sessions and meetings with coaches Monday, Njoku spoke with the media about the deactivation, which he found out about on the day of the game.
“It is what it is,” Njoku said in an impromptu press conference that lasted less than three minutes. “I can’t really say anything upon it because it wasn’t my request, so I’ve just got to keep going.”
Njoku was active for a Week 14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals at FirstEnergy Stadium, but a pass over the middle was ruled an interception when the ball was wrestled away from the Browns’ tight end by a defensive back.
That was Njoku’s first game action since he suffered a broken wrist in a Week 2 “Monday Night Football” matchup against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and had surgery to repair the damage.
Until now, Njoku has not dealt with major injury concerns in his professional career, as he played in 34 straight games since joining the Browns via a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami (Florida).
In three games this season, Njoku has five receptions in ten targets for 41 yards and one touchdown, which came in the Browns’ 43-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans in the 2019 regular-season opener at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland on Sunday, September 8.
11:00 a.m./ET-Browns looking for rare sweep of Ravens
What a difference three months make in the National Football League.
After Week 4, the Browns were in first place in the AFC North Division and in possession of a tiebreaker courtesy of a 40-25 win over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, but since that point, the two teams have gone in opposite directions.
The Ravens enter today’s rematch at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland on a 10-game winning streak, which locked up the AFC North championship and are just one win away from clinching home-field advantage for the playoffs, while the Browns have gone 4-6 and fallen to the brink of elimination from postseason contention for an NFL-worst 17th consecutive season.
The Browns come into the game against the Ravens after having started slowly against the Arizona Cardinals in last Sunday’s game. The Browns never got on track, offensively or defensively, on the way to a 38-24 loss at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, a setback that reduced the chances of a playoff appearance to less than one percent.
“We pretty much waited for them to punch us,” running back Kareem Hunt said. “At halftime, we came out fighting and stuff like that, but you can’t wait that long. You’ve got to be ready as soon as the freakin’ kickoff starts. That’s what we’ve got to do. We can’t come out flat, and then, something makes us mad and everybody wants to start playing hard. We can’t wait for somebody to hit us to start playing hard.”
It will not be easy for the Browns to build a lead over the Ravens.
Second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson has completed 245 of his 370 attempts (66.2 percent) for 2,889 yards and 33 touchdowns against just six interceptions while compiling a 112.8 quarterback rating. Additionally, Jackson has rushed for a team-leading 1,103 yards and seven touchdowns on 159 carries.
From 2018 to now, Jackson has improved his completion percentage from 58.2 to 66.2 percent.
The Ravens are 18-3 since naming Jackson the starting quarterback in Week 11 of 2018, and those 18 victories are the most of all NFL starters.
Jackson is the first player in NFL history to throw for at least 2,500 yards and rush for another 1,000 in a single season, and his 1,103 yards on the ground are the most ever in a single season by an NFL quarterback.
Over the last seven games, Jackson has completed 70.3 percent of his attempts for 1,239 yards and 22 touchdowns against one interception for a 130.9 quarterback rating. Also, Jackson has rushed for 527 yards and four touchdowns on the back end of Baltimore’s 10-game winning streak.
“As men, players and coaches, it is about trying to compete and regardless of the situation, playoffs or not, it is about going out there and performing well. It is the name on the front of the jersey as ‘Cleveland Browns,’ and most importantly, it is the name on the back,” Browns defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said.
“That is what we represent, and we are going to try to do everything we can to win this football game and try to finish strong.”