Browns come from ahead to lose to the Ravens, 25-20

The Cleveland Browns found a way to lose an 18-point lead, falling to the Baltimore Ravens by a final score of 25-20.

It was all going perfectly for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in the home opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

Then the second quarter began.

The Browns somehow managed to race out to an 18-point lead in the first quarter only to just as surprisingly see the Ravens come all the way back for a 25-20 victory.

Cleveland’s highlights all came in the first quarter as the Browns scored on their first three possessions.

Josh McCown opened the scoring by hitting Corey Coleman with a 31-yard touchdown pass, who would add a second touchdown reception later in the quarter, this time on a 11-yard pass from McCown. Coleman would finishes with five receptions for 104 yards.

Sandwiched between those scoring passes was an 85-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Crowell.

The Ravens finally got on the board following Coleman’s second touchdown reception when Tavon Young returned the blocked extra point attempt for a two-point conversion.

It was a sign of things to come.

After the initial outburst the Browns offense went into hibernation as their final eight drives of the game ended with five punts, a pair of interceptions and a missed field goal.

That allowed the Ravens to work their way back into the game, especially late in the second quarter and early in the third.

Baltimore closed out the first half by scoring 10 points in the final two minutes, first on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to Mike Wallace, and then on a 52-yard field goal by Justin Tucker.

The Ravens then took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 75 yards in just six plays, scoring on another Flacco to Wallace touchdown pass and suddenly the Browns lead was down to 20-19.

While the Browns defense would keep the Ravens out of the end zone the rest of the way, a pair of Tucker field goals in the fourth quarter, the last one coming with just under three minutes remaining, was enough to give the Ravens a five-point lead.

Cleveland had one final drive in them, however, and after a 20-yard pass from McCown to Terrelle Pryor, the Browns had the ball on Baltimore’s 10-yard line with a chance to win the game. But a taunting penalty on Pryor – one of the worst calls you will see all season – pushed the ball back to the 30-yard line.

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McCown took a shot into the end zone on the next play, only to see the pass intercepted by linebacker C.J. Mosley to seal the defeat for the Browns.

Reflecting the offense’s day, it was a tale of two halves for McCown, who was 10-of-14 for 141 and 2 TDs in the first half, but just 10-of-19 for 119 yards in the second half.

McCown also took a major beating from the Ravens defense, who sacked McCown three times and hit him eight other times. McCown had to go to the locker room at one point in the first half with a sore left shoulder, but stayed in the game to once gain show that he may be the toughest quarterback to ever play for the Browns.

Just like last year, McCown is also clearly the best quarterback on the roster, which means he is good enough to keep things exciting but not necessarily good enough to help lead the team to a win. Of course, with the beating he took against the Ravens, McCown may not be long for the starting lineup.

It was another rough day for center Cameron Erving, who had another bad snap, a costly penalty when he wandered too far down the field when it looked like McCown might scramble, and left the game after injuring himself when he completely missed a block and hit the ground.

Erving was taken to the hospital following the game with what the Browns described were cramps, as well as “discomfort in his chest and ribs.” He is undergoing more tests but is reportedly in stable condition.

The running game was also missing in action, outside of Crowell’s big run. For the rest of the game the Browns ran 22 times for just 60 yards, and Crowell averaged just 2.82 yards per carry on 17 carries when you subtract the long touchdown run.

Defensively the Browns were able to put some pressure on Flacco, but were never able to sack him as they continually were a second late. Cornerback Joe Haden did interception Flacco twice.

The loss drops the Browns to 0-2 on the season and the now prepares to hit the road for a game next Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.