These are not the “same old Browns.” Since Hue Jackson’s firing, Cleveland is 5-2 and has been a thorn in the side of former playoff contenders like the Broncos, Panthers, and Falcons. With Baker Mayfield behind center, the team was playing with a swagger that didn’t just make it dangerous, but for the first time in years, also made it fun.
The Browns lost two different 93-yard TDs in an amazing display of Browns-dom
For 2 plays, the Browns were the Browns again, in all their glory
But over the course of two plays Sunday, the Browns were the Browns again, in all their glory. One 10-second span in Week 17’s game against the Ravens somehow saw the team blow up a pair of 93-yard touchdowns, taking two top-10 moments and turning them into zero points in the process.
One came thanks to an awful call from the officials. The other due to a rare glitch from top wideout Jarvis Landry. And now, instead of heading into halftime of a game Baltimore needs to win in order to clinch a playoff spot down 20-14, Cleveland rolled into halftime of their spoiler effort trailing by 13.
First, officials blew a Cleveland fumble recovery dead to award the Ravens a touchdown
Lamar Jackson had spent the first half of his game torching the Browns with his legs, scoring a pair of touchdowns to open up a double-digit lead on his home field. He was primed to add a third when he took a designed QB draw to the right side of his offensive line and dove toward the end zone, only to have the ball pop out of his hands, get knocked deep behind the line of scrimmage, and be picked up by Cleveland defensive back Jabrill Peppers, who had a clear path to the end zone and few, if any, Ravens capable of chasing him down from behind.
This should have been six game-changing points for the Browns. Instead, the line judge award six to the Ravens. Officials ruled Jackson had broken the plane of the goal line before fumbling, negating Peppers’ recovery. This was the wrong call.
Officials reviewed the touchdown as they do every scoring play, only to find Jackson hadn’t breached the goal line, making the ball the referee had blown dead should have been the easiest touchdown Peppers has ever scored in his life. The good news was the Baltimore touchdown didn’t count. The bad news was neither did the one Peppers almost certainly would have scored.
The Browns nearly got their touchdown right back, but botched a would-be monster play
The Browns got the ball back at the point of Peppers’ recovery — their own seven-yard line. Mayfield dropped back on 1st and 10 with every intent in jumping on the momentum his defense had created for him. He found a wide-open Landry streaking down the right side of the field and unleashed a dart downfield. Landry adjusted to the ball, extended his arms to make an over-the-shoulder catch, and ...
Oh no.
Oh no no no.
The ball clanked off Landry, the team’s leading receiver, and fell harmlessly to the turf. Three plays later, the Browns would punt the ball back to the Ravens, having scored zero points on a pair of plays that should have been 93-yard touchdowns.
And then Cleveland opted not to challenge a third-down spot it probably would have won
The Browns cut the Baltimore lead to 23-17 early in the fourth quarter, but the Ravens answered with a long drive that turned their advantage back into a two-possession lead. But it may not have happened if Cleveland had been a but more proactive with its challenge flag.
Facing third-and-4 at the Cleveland 45, Jackson handed the ball off to Kenneth Dixon, who churned upfield and appeared to be stopped a half-yard short of the 41. It should have set up fourth-and-short for Baltimore and a potential punting situation — though the Ravens were in excellent shape to go for it in a short-yardage scenario. Instead, a shaky spot kept Jackson’s drive alive.
Interim head coach Gregg Williams could have challenged the spot with a good chance of winning and forcing Baltimore into a fourth-down decision. Instead, he kept his red flag holstered and saved a potential timeout in the process. More than four-and-a-half minutes of game time later, the Ravens kicked a 23-yard field goal to extend their lead back out to two possessions.
It turns out all those points were pretty important
The Browns’ defense turned up in a big way to limit the Ravens to just six points. When they forced a crucial three-and-out late in the game, it meant Baker Mayfield would have 1:50 left to drive his team down the field and score the game-winning points in a 26-24 game. Mayfield’s drive started promisingly, but Baltimore’s smothering defense brought up fourth-and-10 from the Ravens’ 39-yard line.
Mayfield dropped back to pass in the face of an all-out blitz on fourth down, but even as he found his man up the seam, he wasn’t able to get the ball past the outstretched arms of linebacker C.J. Mosley.
Mosley hauled in the interception, sealing the win and a playoff berth for the Ravens. But it would have been a very different scenario late in this game had Peppers’ fumble-six counted. Or if Landry had caught the deep ball that wound up caroming off his facemask.
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