Cleveland Browns loss on Monday night will serve them well

If the Cleveland Browns loss can keep the team focused on improving and help renew motivation, it could help drive them to legitimate playoff success.

All season long the Cleveland Browns have proven their doubters wrong and continued to improve at every turn, with Monday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens being no exception.

The Browns lost in heartbreaking fashion as Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker hit a 55-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to clinch a much-needed victory for the Ravens. But despite the disappointment of the last-second defeat, one could argue that the loss against Baltimore might actually be better for the Browns in the long run than if they had won.

When teams win football games it tends to mask many of the deficiencies that they may have exhibited in that game, overlooked in the wake of a positive outcome. The Browns AFC North foes in Pittsburgh are no stranger to this, as the Steelers 11-0 start helped hide some of the flaws that have been exposed in recent weeks.

For Cleveland, this game was full of opportunities to improve and the sting of this game being stolen away in the final minute of the game just might magnify those imperfections even more.

The Browns defense has been a weakness all season long, but their showing against Baltimore was downright unacceptable. An inability to cover along with an inability to bring ball carriers to the ground is a recipe for disaster in the NFL and it proved to be exactly that on Monday night.

It’s no secret that Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is a remarkably dynamic playmaker with his legs, which makes it tough to blame the Browns for getting carved up by Jackson’s athleticism. But you had to know coming into the game that Baltimore was going to put a focus on running the ball and yet the Browns allowed Baltimore to rack up 231 yards on the ground in the game.

Even more troubling was the fact that Cleveland couldn’t seem to tackle anyone, allowing Baltimore to turn even short completions into significant gains. It’s no secret that the defense is missing key contributors, especially in the secondary, but they simply need to find a way to get the job done at a higher level. Every NFL team is battling attrition at this point in the season and while the Browns have done a great job as a whole of overcoming it, this was an instance where guys needed to step up and they simply fell short.

But it’s not all about looking deeper at their flaws, there are several reasons that this loss could help push them forward. In addition to highlighting the shortcomings in their performance, this loss will also light a fire under the Browns and help revive the chip on their shoulder that has helped propel them to their successes over the past 13 games.

The Browns are a tight-knit group, and this is the kind of loss that will stick with them for a while. It’s not as if they were blown out or demoralized, this was a game that they had within reach that they let slip away. That feeling of disappointment will help drive the guys on this team to keep working and keep improving so that the next time they’re in that situation, they’ll be able to find a way to pull it out in winning time.

There are plenty of bright spots to reflect on in the wake of this game. Quarterback Baker Mayfield continues to improve, looking more and more like the quarterback we all thought he could be after his rookie season with each passing week. Running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt continued their dominance, with each scoring two touchdowns and combining for 213 yards of offense.

This game was one of the best performances we’ve seen all season from the Browns, and it was certainly a disappointment to see them walk out of First Energy Stadium without a victory.

But with a focus on what needs to improve and a renewed intensity about what they’ve still got left to accomplish, this loss to the Ravens could be the thing that helps Cleveland take the final steps and truly solidify themselves as a dangerous threat in the AFC playoffs.