The Browns beat the Ravens 13-10 on Sunday when Andre Szmyt hit a 37-yard field goal as time expired. The game was tied 10-10 at that point, per Sportsnet. Pro Football Talk and Yahoo Sports led with Cleveland moving into first place in the AFC North. The game was played at Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland started badly. Dawgs By Nature's Chris Pokorny wrote that the Browns fell behind 10-0 in the opening quarter and then got a shutout from their defense the rest of the way. A fourth-quarter forced fumble set up the Browns' first touchdown, which tied the game at 10-10. The box score credits that touchdown to Audric Estime. Baltimore Beatdown's Nikhil Mehta framed it from the other side: the Ravens "let yet another double-digit second-half lead slip away." That framing is a little off. The line score shows the Ravens' 10 points all came in the first quarter, so the lead was 10-0 early and 10-3 at halftime. Jared Mueller, also at Dawgs By Nature, called the home offense "atrocious for most of the game" and said Baltimore made big plays on third down when it needed them.
The box score supports the low-scoring read. Total yards were nearly even, with Cleveland at 237 and Baltimore at 235. Deshaun Watson went 16 of 26 for 164 yards and was sacked five times. Tyler Huntley went 19 of 31 for 165 yards and a touchdown, ran five times for 28 yards, and was sacked three times. Both teams were poor on third down: Baltimore converted 6 of 16 and Cleveland 5 of 16. Baltimore lost a fumble by Derrick Henry, and Cleveland committed no turnovers. Mehta noted Huntley's "usual limitations."
The kicker's day had a wrinkle. Szmyt entered 10 for 10 on field goals this season. The box shows him 2 for 3 on Sunday with a long of 48. The final entry in the play log is a 42-yard attempt blocked by Keyon Martin, then wiped out by a defensive offside penalty on Martin that moved the ball five yards closer. That fits the 37-yarder that won it, though none of the recaps we have describe the sequence.
Whether Cleveland is in first depends on the source. The recaps say the Browns took over the division. BenchScout's standings have both teams at 4-2 with no games back, so it is a tie. Our team data lists Baltimore first and Cleveland second, which presumably reflects a tiebreaker. Baltimore holds a +24 run differential to Cleveland's -16. Cleveland has now won two of its last three, with a 27-24 win over Pittsburgh on Oct. 1 and a 17-12 loss at the Jets on Oct. 11. Baltimore had won 30-23 at Atlanta and 24-18 over Tennessee before this loss.
Cleveland travels to Tennessee next Sunday, Oct. 25. The Titans are 1-5. Baltimore hosts Cincinnati the same day. The Bengals are 3-2, so the Ravens face a divisional game as they try to avoid back-to-back losses.
| Team | W | L | PCT | Home | Away | Strk | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | .667 | 3-0-0 | 1-2-0 | W2 | +9 | |
| 4 | 2 | .667 | 3-0-0 | 1-2-0 | W1 | -16 | |
| 4 | 2 | .667 | 1-1-0 | 3-1-0 | L1 | +24 | |
| 3 | 2 | .600 | 1-1-0 | 2-1-0 | W1 | +19 |
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