CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns getting their lunch handed to them in Week 1 of an NFL season is the most normal thing we’ve had in 2020.
The Browns, who once again looked out-manned and unprepared, are now 1-20-1 in season openers following the Ravens’ 38-6 rout at M&T Bank Stadium Sunday afternoon.
That’s 16 straight winless openers, an NFL record, and Kevin Stefanski is the 11th consecutive head coach for the team to lose his debut. It was the second-worst defeat for a new coach in their first game in franchise history.
“Credit goes to the Baltimore Ravens,” Stefanski said. “They did a nice job. They beat us. They deserved to win. They did a great job. They out-coached us and outplayed us. We did a lot of things that losing teams do.”
Sunday afternoon in Baltimore we saw a comedy of errors – an interception, a fake punt fail, a missed PAT, Odell Beckham Jr. flagged for a face mask, a third-and-41, a missed field goal, the defense allow a 99-yard touchdown drive, a rare Beckham drop on third down, Beckham stepping out of bounds nullifying a catch, a Ravens tight end scored a pair of touchdowns, so did Buckeye J.K.
Dobbins, Nick Chubb fumbled and a partridge in a pear tree.
Reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson put on a clinic while Baker Mayfield looked like it was his first time running his third offense in three years.
“You can tell they have been together for a while, but I still wouldn’t say that our new system is an excuse,” Mayfield said. “We know what we have to do. We had the game plan and everybody knew their job. We just have to go out there and execute it.”
Jackson completed 20 of 25 passes for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns, finishing with a QB rating of 152.1.
Mayfield was an unimpressive 21 of 39 for 189 yards with a touchdown and interception.
The Ravens addition of defensive tackle Calais Campbell from Jacksonville paid dividends quickly. Campbell deflected passes from Mayfield on back-to-back plays on Cleveland’s opening drive, ultimately ending it. The first was a ball intended for Kareem Hunt, the second landed in the arms of Ravens safety Marlon Humphrey at the Baltimore 47.
Jackson turned it into a 7-0 lead by finding tight end Mark Andrews, who made a one-handed catch in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard score. Jackson scrambled to the 11 for 12 yards and lateralled the ball to a surprised Mark Ingram who went down quickly at the 7 to set up the first of many TDs on the afternoon.
After the Browns offense went 3-and-out on the ensuing possession, Stefanski green lit a fake punt from their own 31 that did not go well. Punter Jamie Gillan got blown up on the keeper, safety Andrew Sendejo whiffed on a block, Gillan fumbled and the Ravens recovered at the Cleveland 26.
“That did not work out, and you can put that right on me,” Stefanski said.
Luckily for the Browns, the Ravens settled for a 41-yard Justin Tucker Field goal and a 10-0 lead.
The lone highlight, and score for Cleveland, came when Mayfield threw a 1-yard TD toss to a wide-open David Njoku. A 29-yard run from Nick Chubb and 22 more from Kareem Hunt set up the score. Austin Seibert's PAT doinked off the left upright to keep it a 10-6 Ravens advantage.
Njoku left the game in the second half due to a knee injury.
Jackson’s deep ball to receiver Marquise Brown for 47 yards did no damage. Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi stripped fullback Patrick Ricard on a third-and-1 from the 8 and Myles Garrett jumped on the loose ball at their own 12.
Odell Beckham Jr.’s first catch was wiped out because he grabbed a facemask trying to give a stiff arm. There was a false start on KhaDarel Hodge, Mayfield got sacked by rookie linebacker Patrick Queen for loss of 7, a delay of game, throw away that led to a third and 41.
Despite Gillan dropping a 59-yard punt at the 1, Baltimore marched 10 plays and 99 yards capped by J.K. Dobbins’ 3-yard TD run as he dragged Browns cornerback Terrance Mitchell over the goal line for a 17-6 lead with 2:53 left in the half.
“Lamar is a talented player, and he is going to move the ball around,” Garrett said. “He was able to escape, get free and make things happen where you think there is nothing. You do not think anyone is open, and he is getting the ball off. Today, he put it on the money. Today, he was throwing it very well.”
Seibert missed a 41-yard field goal try by a mile to the right after a rare drop by Beckham on third down.
Baltimore ripped off 6 plays and 69 yards in 35 seconds to go into the locker room up 24-6 after Jackson found Andrews for a 9-yard TD. Jackson had a perfect QB rating of 158.3 in the first 30 minutes.
Jackson found receiver Willie Snead IV for a 19-yard touchdown to blow the game open, 31-6, with 7:48 left in the third quarter.
Replay review upheld a Chubb fumble after a 10-yard run as the third quarter came to an end. Dobbins cashed the turnover in for 7 with his second TD run of the afternoon, this one from 2 yards out, to make it a 38-6 laugher that saw Robert Griffin III get to mop up the final few minutes for Baltimore.