Week 3 Game Recap: Baltimore Ravens 15, Cleveland Browns 14

What you need to know

Baltimore Ravens

Despite being outplayed most of the game, the Ravens found a way to stay in the game, and came up with the big plays when they needed them most, including a late interception in the end zone, and a 52 yard field goal in the final minute to win on the road and go to 3-0. The Ravens found the most success on offense through the air, with Steve McNair looking for Derrick Mason on deep posts, Mark Clayton over the middle of the field, and Todd Heap coming off the line of scrimmage.

McNair finished the day with 264 yards and one touchdown while completing 23 of 41 passes. Derrick Mason had the biggest day of his receivers, coming up with at least three fantastic catches on the sidelines, and collected 132 yards on seven receptions. Mark Clayton was especially active early, and in the final game winning drive, where he was targeted often, and consistently came up with the ball while leading the team in catches with eight, to go along with his 74 yards. Despite a sore ankle, Todd Heap responded with a nice second half, hauling in five balls for 36 yards and a touchdown. Musa Smith was used out of the backfield on third downs, and came up with two catches for twelve yards. Second tight end Daniel Wilcox came up with his only catch on the final drive of the game, which went for ten yards.

Though he typically has a big game against the Cleveland Browns, Jamal Lewis was relatively kept in check, accumulating 86 yards on 21 carries, and kept out of the end zone. Musa Smith got into the game, and picked up eight yards on three carries. On a failed end around, Mark Clayton lost five yards late in the game.

Cleveland Browns

Charlie Frye was having a fantastic game until he tried to force one more ball into the end zone (leading to an interception) with just over three minutes on the clock and a two point lead. Despite a heavy pass rush that caused him to be sacked seven times, Frye was making good decisions throughout the entire game in finding the open receiver, and finished with 298 yards and one passing touchdown by completing 21 of 33 passes. Braylon Edwards came up with a long catch down the sidelines for the third week in a row (his Week 1 catch was negated by penalty), as he finished with 116 yards and a touchdown on five receptions.

Time and time again, when Frye was in trouble, he threw the ball up in the air, and Kellen Winslow Jr. kept coming down with it. The two appeared to be in sync, and the trust factor led to seven catches and 92 yards for Winslow, but was ultimately the undoing of the Browns late in the game. Dennis Northcutt made a few defenders miss en route to his 32 yards on three short passes. Using multiple tight end sets again, Steve Heiden got involved and picked up two catches for eighteen yards. Even the fullback got involved, as Lawrence Vickers took a swing pass for 29 yards in the fourth quarter.

Reuben Droughns was inactive for this game, and it was Jason Wright who saw most of the action in the backfield in his absence. For the third week in a row, the Browns rushing game was shut down, as Jason Wright gained only 31 yards on fifteen carries, though he did convert a pair of third and short opportunities when he was called upon to do so. Jerome Harrison was relatively unused in the rushing game, carrying the ball just twice for one yard. Charlie Frye added a bootleg touchdown on a play action, where the ball was faked to fullback Lawrence Vickers from the two yard line. Frye finished with six yards on two carries.

What you ought to know

QB Steve McNair, Pass: 23 - 41 - 264 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0

McNair completed 56% of his passes with an average gain per attempt of 6.4 yards for a passer rating of 83.8, but most importantly did not turn the ball over by way of interception or fumble. McNair spread the ball around well, maintaining the Tennessee connection he had with Derrick Mason, and showing great confidence in Todd Heap and Mark Clayton down the stretch as well. McNair seemed to put the ball up in the air and let Mason come down with the ball down the sidelines, while he was hit Clayton in stride coming across the middle of the field and Todd Heap after he had sat down in an open zone. He scrambled out when necessary, and found Musa Smith coming out of the backfield on third downs.

RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 21 - 86 - 0 (2 targets)

Lewis averaged 4.1 yards per carry, though failed to show his typical dominance against the Browns’ rushing unit which gave up big yardage to the Bengals and Saints in previous weeks, though it was obvious the defense was keyed on slowing him down.

RB Musa Smith, Rush: 3 - 8 - 0, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (4 targets)

Smith showed a nice balance of power and speed running the ball outside and coming up with a few screens on third downs.

WR Mark Clayton, Rush: 1 - -6 - 0, Rec: 8 - 74 - 0 (11 targets)

After a pair of quiet games to open the season, Clayton responded by being targeted on McNair’s first four passes, and another three times on the game winning drive. He showed good hands, especially on a play across the middle late in the game, and appeared to have his timing down with McNair in this game.

WR Derrick Mason, Rec: 7 - 132 - 0 (9 targets)

The first two catches Mason made in this game occurred directly in front of the Browns coaching staff, and both times, the red challenge flag was thrown. Both times, the officials confirmed that catches were made, and these were just two of the fantastic catches which Mason made. Later, while being held, he came up with a one-handed catch en route to a one hundred yards plus day.

TE Todd Heap, Rec: 5 - 36 - 1 (11 targets)

It appeared that with his swollen ankle, Heap was not a part of the game plan in the first half, though this quickly changed in the second half when the Ravens started down 14-3. All 11 targets came in the second half, including the touchdown, and on the ensuing play, a failed two point attempt during a nice defensive play.

PK Matt Stover 3 - 3 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 9 points

Stover came up big against the franchise which originally drafted him, nailing field goals from 32 and 43 yards out before kicking the game winner from 52 yards to break the backs of Browns’ fans. In doing so, Stover kicked his 12th career game winner, and extended a long streak of consecutive field goals made.

BAL Rush Defense

The Ravens limited the Browns’ rushing attack to 38 yards, and despite the fact that the Browns led most of the game, forced the Browns to abandon the run early, albeit the loss of starter Reuben Droughns.

BAL Pass Defense

The pass defense gave up nearly 300 yards and a touchdown, but did have seven sacks, and forced the key interception to set up the game winning drive and keep the Browns out of the end zone to further extend the lead.

QB Charlie Frye, Pass: 21 - 33 - 298 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 6 - 1

Averaging over nine yards per passing attempt with a passer rating of 90.2, Frye completed 64% of his passes, and after a near flawless game, made a critical mistake late to prevent the Browns from gaining their first win of the season. Frye showed great presence in the pocket, and was consistently finding the open receiver throughout most of the game. Whenever Frye was in trouble, he looked to Kellen Winslow Jr., and showed faith that if he threw it up, Winslow would come down with the ball versus a likely mismatched defender.

RB Jason Wright, Rush: 15 - 31 - 0, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (2 targets)

Wright didn’t have much greater success than Reuben Droughns had previously experienced in the first two weeks of the season, but did show good power in coming up with a pair of first downs on third and short, and perhaps illustrated his ability to take over the short yardage role in the future.

WR Braylon Edwards, Rec: 5 - 116 - 1 (10 targets)

Edwards was all over the field, and came up with a big play down the left sideline for a 58 yard touchdown where Frye threw the ball up in the air before Edwards had been the defender, but by the time the ball came down, Edwards had at least two steps on the defender. Edwards did a better job of coming up with the catch against the Ravens, and passed the 100 yard mark for the second week in a row.

WR Dennis Northcutt, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (6 targets)

Northcutt was targeted primarily on short passes, but did show some good moves in breaking tackles and making defenders miss to average over ten yards per reception.

TE Kellen Winslow Jr, Rec: 7 - 92 - 0 (9 targets)

Though Edwards had more targets, Winslow again appeared to be Frye’s favorite target, and most trusted receiver when he needed to make a big play. Winslow clearly adds an additional element to this offense and a physically big target for Frye.

TE Steve Heiden, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (3 targets)

With a shortage of quality wide receivers, Heiden continues to see the field, and caught two of three passes thrown his way.

PK Phil Dawson 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points

Dawson was not called upon to try a field goal, but connected on both extra points.

CLE Rush Defense

The Browns consistently brought an eighth man into the box, and made an effort to shut down Jamal Lewis, limiting the Ravens’ running backs to 94 yards in their best performance of the season.

CLE Pass Defense

The secondary couldn’t slow down each of the Ravens’ targets for the duration of the game, and despite a better pass rush on this game and two sacks, still gave up 264 yards through the air. Late in the game, safety Sean Jones had one go through his hands that would have been easily returned for a touchdown.