BALTIMORE — The Browns are a one-phase team right now and if they can’t figure out the other two, they’re in for a very long season.
Yes, the Browns gave up a ton of points, but let’s be honest — they did their job for much of the game but ran out of steam on a day when they were the only phase of the team doing any sort of lifting.
The Browns lost, 41-17, and it seems strange to sing the praises of the defense given the finish, but they were bound to crumble under the expectation that nothing short of perfection would even give this team a chance.
Everything felt difficult for the offense a week after they controlled possession against the Bengals and did enough to win — until their kicking game let them down. Any honest assessment of that performance, though, had to include that it came against an abysmal Bengals defense, one that gave up more than 250 yards to the Jaguars in the first half — and more than 400 for the game — this Sunday.
This Ravens defense presented a different challenge, a physical team that had quarterback Joe Flacco under pressure and struggling to find open receivers.
Even Flacco’s touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman was a small miracle, a deflection off cornerback Marlon Humphrey that Tillman corralled along the sideline. (The Browns deserved a little karma like that after a couple of deflected passes got intercepted by the Bengals last week.)
Then there’s the special teams.
Hey, at least the kicker made some kicks today. That’s the standard at this point. Do normal things and get celebrated.
On a day when the Browns had to control field position, they nearly gave up a punt return touchdown and then had a punt blocked that set up the first Ravens touchdown.
Baltimore thrived on short fields and the blocked punt was just the start on a day when the Browns lost even though they outgained Baltimore and won time of possession.
By the end of the game, the Browns defense looked worn down and the lack of depth in their secondary with Denzel Ward missing due to cramps was getting exposed.
You’ll hear this over and over, but there is almost no margin for error with this football team, especially against a team like the Ravens and they need all three phases to contribute in a positive manner to even have a chance to win.
The concern coming out of this week is that what happened against the Bengals was an outlier, at least offensively. This team couldn’t consistently move the ball and the end of the Flacco era seemed much closer than it did a week ago.
The game even ended with Dillon Gabriel relieving Flacco and leading a touchdown drive on the Browns’ final possession.
With an even better defense looming next week when the Packers come to town, it’s probably not the right time for a change at quarterback, but it feels like a switch could be a real topic soon.
As for special teams, a team can win, or at least stay in games, with great defense and special teams and the Browns aren’t getting high level play from that unit anywhere.
The Browns defense did enough in this game, at least until they finally ran out of steam on a hot day at M&T Bank Stadium and the wheels fell off.
By the time they finally folded, the other two phases had put the team too far behind to ever have a chance.
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