CLEVELAND — If the Baltimore Ravens make something of this season, if they’re able to survive their 1-5 start and put themselves in position to play meaningful football in January and maybe even February, they’re going to look back to one sequence and offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s decision to call a play that was just added to the team’s repertoire days earlier.
The play that became the decisive one in the Ravens’ 23-16 comeback win over the Cleveland Browns Sunday at Huntington Bank Field was called “Hurricane.” Nobody seemed to know why it got that name, but nonetheless, the Ravens have struggled in short-yardage situations all year and again on Sunday, necessitating Monken to get creative and come up with ways to move the ball a couple of feet.
“We just put it in this week,” said fullback Patrick Ricard. “We practiced it a couple of times.”
It was a particularly gutsy time for Monken to break out a play that the team practiced “a couple of times.” Despite repeated mistakes and the Ravens’ offense looking overwhelmed for the better part of three-plus quarters on a cold and windy afternoon, Baltimore and Cleveland were tied with under three minutes to play.
Monken and Ravens coach John Harbaugh spent nearly three hours watching the Browns’ defensive front wreak havoc on their offense, so much so that Harbaugh, facing a fourth-and-1 from the Browns’ 35, strongly considered sending rookie kicker Tyler Loop, who had tied the game minutes earlier, to attempt a long potential go-ahead field goal.
“Hurricane” won out.
“I was excited,” Harbaugh said. “It was a good call.”
Or as tight end Mark Andrews put it, “a perfect scenario to pull it out there.”
The Ravens had picked up plenty of first downs over the past two seasons with Andrews, not quarterback Lamar Jackson, taking the snap and surging forward as running back Derrick Henry shoved him from behind. It’s their version of Philadelphia’s “tush push.” Except this was different from the play the Ravens have typically run.
If Andrews didn’t get the look he wanted, he had the option of making a check and reverting to Baltimore’s usual method of a quarterback-turned-tight end sneak. If he did get the look — and players and coaches were predictably tight-lipped on what was the key to making the determination — his task was to take the snap, turn to his right, follow his Pro Bowl fullback and blocking tight end, and head upfield.
Andrews, seeing what he needed to, stuck to the initial play call, and 35 yards later, the Ravens celebrated the fact that he did. Andrews’ dash to the end zone, his first career rushing score, provided the winning points, rewarded another strong effort from the resurgent defense and kept the Ravens on a winning streak that has turned their season around.
“It was so beautifully executed,” Harbaugh said. “A good idea has many fathers, but when you see it executed well, that’s what makes it a good idea. That’s what I’m probably most proud of.”
Jackson and Henry hustled to the left on the snap, perhaps freezing a couple of Browns defenders. Right tackle Roger Rosengarten and tight end Charlie Kolar pushed Cleveland defensive end Isaiah McGuire inside. Then Kolar reached the next level to get a block on inside linebacker Carson Schwesinger.
Ricard kicked out safety Grant Delpit, who seemed to be frozen on the play. It left Andrews with plenty of green in front of him, and he did the rest. The 30-year-old tight end reached 20.09 mph on the run, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
“I think it was executed the best way we possibly could have imagined,” said Ricard. “I honestly thought the play was dead just because when I went out there to block (Delpit), he kind of just stood there almost. I don’t think he knew what was happening. I thought it was a dead play. All of a sudden, I turned around and I see Mark, and I’m just trying to run as fast as I can.”
The defense, which held its ground despite the turnover-prone offense and special teams putting it in tight spots, then closed the game with middle linebacker Roquan Smith breaking up a Shedeur Sanders pass intended for tight end David Njoku on fourth-and-5. It appeared that the Ravens may have gotten away with an offside penalty on the fourth-down stop, but that predictably was paid no heed in a victorious locker room after finalizing the season sweep of the Browns.
Baltimore has now won four straight games, three of them coming on the road. The Ravens are 2-0 in the AFC North, and they remain one game behind the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers, who beat the Cincinnati Bengals earlier in the day. The Ravens return to Baltimore for three straight home games, starting Sunday against the 2-8 New York Jets.
“By no means is this the end. We’re 5-5,” Harbaugh said. “Our heads are just above water. We’re breathing. We’re not even out of the water. But what you saw out there was a tough, hard-fought game against a really good team.”
Henry, who rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown, said later that “you need games like this during the season.”
“It (feels) better than 1-5, I’ll tell you that,” he added.
The Ravens won despite Jackson throwing two interceptions, one that bounced off the hands of running back Keaton Mitchell and was returned 23 yards for a touchdown by Browns linebacker Devin Bush, giving Cleveland a 13-3 lead midway through the second quarter. The other came in the red zone on the next play after Nate Wiggins picked off Sanders, who relieved a concussed Dillon Gabriel in the second half.
The Ravens won despite going just 1-for-4 in the red zone and settling for field goals on two of their three first-and-goal situations. They won despite allowing Browns star Myles Garrett to sack Jackson four times in the first 32 minutes of the game. And they won despite special teams gifting the Browns six first-half points with rookie LaJohntay Wester muffing a punt deep in Ravens territory and Jake Hummel jumping offside to prolong a Cleveland drive.
“You just have to keep a clear mind,” said Jackson, who finished 14-of-25 for 193 yards and two interceptions and was sacked five times. He also rushed for just 10 yards.
“I wouldn’t say frustration, but you’re kind of ticked off because our defense just put us in a great spot, and then for us to turn the ball back over, we can’t have that. And shoutout to the defense, because they played a great game.”
Zach Orr’s defense allowed just 187 yards and held the Browns to a 2-for-15 performance on third and fourth downs, and 0-for-2 in the red zone. The Ravens also registered three sacks and an interception. Time and time again, the defense got the offense the ball back in decent field position after making a stop.
