It was a familiar sight for Ravens fans, who watched McCown rack up 457 passing yards and two touchdowns in an overtime win in 2015, but Baltimore shook off the slow start and consistently harassed the veteran quarterback on Sunday. Joe Flacco threw for 258 yards and a touchdown to lead the offense, but the run game averaged just 3 yards per carry, which is a concern going forward. In the receiving end, Corey Coleman posted 69 yards in two receptions while Terrelle Pryor added 68 yards in three catches. They’ve now won their first two games in 2016 by a total of 11 points.
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Ed Lee, Ravens reporter: The Ravens appeared doomed after that disastrous first quarter, but are suddenly tied atop the AFC North with that furious comeback over the Browns.
Putting pressure on quarterback Josh McCown will be huge for the Ravens defense, as it gives McCown’s risky receivers less time to get open and as a result, could lead to McCown making mistakes trying to force a pass. Things could not have gone much worse last week for a fanbase that has become far too accustomed to things going wrong. However, on fourth-and-2 from the Browns 28, Harbaugh eschewed a field-goal attempt for a running play.
Josh McCown took a beating in the loss to the Ravens and the question remains will he share a similar fate to what happened to Robert Griffin III a week ago.
The Browns jumped to a 20-0 lead a little more than 10 minutes into the first quarter. On Cleveland’s first play of their next offensive drive, RB Isaiah Crowell took it straight up the middle for a dazzling 85-yard touchdown run, the longest of his career! Wallace gained inside position against Haden during the play, which came four plays after Haden almost intercepted a deep ball on a go route to wide receiver Breshad Perriman. If the Browns designated him as the team’s player to return, he would be eligible to return to practice in six weeks, but would have to sit out a minimum of eight games.
How did the Ravens rally from the second-largest first-quarter deficit in franchise history? The Browns are trailing by five points with under 30 seconds to go. It looked as though Coleman’s second foot may have come down out of bounds, but, in a quarter full of breaks for the home team, the call was upheld. A play after being called for a questionable holding call, Haden leaped up and picked off a Flacco pass in the end zone to keep the Ravens from taking the lead earlier. Flacco passed 12 times in the situation in the first half, perhaps because of the 20-2 hole.
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On the very next play, McCown threw an interception and the game was over. The defense almost allowed the Browns to march down the field for the winning drive in the final minutes if not for the taunting penalty on Browns receiver Terrelle Pryor. Seven plays later, Tucker kicked the field goal. It’s not often that a team worries about the backup quarterback, but McCown is one quarterback that has given the Ravens fits.
