The Cleveland Browns needed to make a statement in Week 4 after falling short against the Los Angeles Rams, and they did exactly that.
Both the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens were coming off of tough losses to teams that made it to their respective conference championship games in 2018, and that’s a spot both the Ravens and Browns hope to be in this season.
But the narratives were a little different. While the Ravens were 2-1 behind a brilliant start to the season from franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Browns were 1-2 and had to deal with “overrated” criticisms directed towards their franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The 2018 No. 1 overall pick bounced back in a huge way against Baltimore, making a normally tough defense look foolish. Mayfield completed 20 of 30 passes for 342 yards, averaging a whopping 11.4 yards per pass attempt. He leaned on Nick Chubb’s brilliant day at the office, as the feature back ran for over 150 yards and three touchdowns, including an impressive 88-yard scamper in which he completely outran the Baltimore defense.
And Mayfield threw for more than 300 yards without needing to complete a single pass to Odell Beckham, who was shutdown by the soon-to-be-punished Marlon Humphrey. Odell’s hard work in drawing coverage from the Ravens defense enabled Jarvis Landry to have his best day as a Brown, hauling in over 150 yards of receiving. And even backup tight end Ricky Seals-Jones chipped in with 82 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, the Browns were excellent, once again overcoming injuries to top cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams. Jermaine Whitehead came up big with another pick, as the Ravens offense, which had been operating at an elite level entering Week 4, struggled to move the ball.
Jackson finished with three passing touchdowns, but he also had two interceptions. Ace running back Mark Ingram averaged well over five yards per carry, but he was also well short of the 100-yard mark. The Browns rolled with the punches, allowing the Ravens offense to make some plays, but never allowing anything that could actually hurt them. It says something that no pass-catcher on the Ravens managed to be a consistent threat to the Browns defense.
The 40-25 win means that the Browns are in control again. Both teams are 2-2 in an AFC North that is essentially a two-horse race, with the Cincinnati Bengals struggling without a victory and the Pittsburgh Steelers looking even worse as a winless team with Mason Rudolph at quarterback. One of either the Bengals or Steelers, likely the Bengals, will no longer be winless tomorrow night, but the Ravens and Browns are the top teams.
And since the Browns won in convincing fashion behind excellent performances from the passing game, running game, and entire defense, they are once again the favorites in the AFC North. As impressive as Jackson has been this season, it was Mayfield who shined the brightest in Week 4, making use of Landry and Chubb to carry the day for the rest of the offense.
The Browns were confident, tricky, and finally looked like a finely-tuned machine under new head coach Freddie Kitchens. If they can keep it up, they can control the AFC North after this defining victory. Following an awful Week 1 against the Titans, an unconvincing Week 2 win over the woeful Jets (without Sam Darnold and a host of key starters on defense), and a rough outing against Los Angeles, the Browns can finally say they are back on track.