After nearly defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1, the Cleveland Browns hung tough with the archrival Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, before ultimately unraveling late in the game, falling by a final score of 41-17. Despite the ugly finish, there are some positive things to take away from the game, as well as some questions that need to be answered moving forward. Here are five things we learned.
1. The Defensive Front-Seven is Really, Really Good
The Ravens scored 41 points, but their offense generated only 242 total yards. The Ravens had seven possessions in the first half and mustered a total of 10 points, seven of which were thanks to a blocked punt that gave them the ball at the Cleveland 24. The Browns held Derrick Henry to an average of 2.1 yards per carry. Lamar Jackson was sacked three times and pressured on nearly half of his dropbacks.
Ultimately, giving up four passing touchdowns is rough, but one of those came against 99% great coverage from Cameron Mitchell and just a superior play by DeAndre Hopkins, while the other three involved poor leverage and/or communication from a combination of Mitchell, Myles Harden, and Ronnie Hickman. On the first drive of the third quarter, DeAndre Hopkins pulled a similar move to the one he did on Mitchell against Greg Newsome, but was called down inside the one-yard line. Despite having King Henry and four downs to gain half a yard, the Ravens ended up kicking a field goal.
The box score numbers do not reflect how well the Browns defense played overall, even without getting any help from their offense. The linebacker duo of Carson Schwesinger and Devin Bush played another outstanding game, and the deep defensive line did their job to stop Henry and limit Jackson's effectiveness outside the pocket; his two carries for 13 yards represent one of the 10 least productive rushing performances of his NFL career.
As good as the defense has been, there is still room for improvement; rookies Schwesinger and Mason Graham will continue to grow, other young players like Isaiah McGuire and Alex Wright are on upward trajectories, Denzel Ward was limited to only 20 snaps due to cramps, and Mike Hall Jr. is returning to the field soon. This is a young and extremely talented group with a bright future; the Browns just need to develop an offense that can complement them.