Baltimore steps it up in Cleveland

Ravens beat Browns 37- 27

The Browns had been digging their way out of the grave they were put in at the start of the season and they looked like they were poised to hold off a rising Baltimore coming into their stadium.

There was no doubt in my mind that the Ravens would put up some yardage against the Browns. I did however think the young Ravens would be held in check and kept from scoring touchdowns. My thinking was that at the mid-point of the season teams were going to begin to figure out Joe Flacco and what Cam Cameron was doing thus far. I though it was unrealistic to expect them to continue to grow together as an offense so fast. Well I was wrong.

Joe Flacco had one of his best games yesterday going 17 for 29 and 248 yards and 2 touchdowns. One beautiful 47 yard touchdown pass dropped right into the hands Mark Clayton. That ball got there in a hurry also. Flacco also had 0 interceptions. And what is an under rated stat, he averaged 8.6 yards per attempt. Anything over 7 is productive.

Another rookie who continues to open eyes is running back Ray Rice out of Rutgers. He picked up the load for a hampered Willis McGahee. Rice exploded for 154 yards on 21 carries for an impressive 7.3 yards per carry. Le'Ron McClain handled short yardage duty and added a workman like 34 yards on 14 carries and a TD. All in all the Ravens torched the Browns for 193 yards on the ground.

On the day the offense actually out shined their defense overall by compiling 429 total yards of offense. They also were a competent 7 for 16 on 3 rd downs.

The defense was a little below the lofty standards they hold themselves too but they were very good as a whole. They held the Browns to 64 yards of rushing yards and 274 total yards of offense. They actually held the Browns to 20 points.

The other 7 was thanks to a poor day on special teams coverage. Cleveland's Josh Cribbs ran laps around the Ravens special teams defenders all day capped off with a 92 yard kick off return for a TD in the first quarter.

> Find Baltimore Ravens jerseys & apparel online through Pro Football Fans and check out the 2008 NFL scoreboard!

The most encouraging part of this win was that toward the end of the 3 rd quarter the Ravens were trailing Cleveland by 14 points, it was Browns 27 and Ravens 13. What a great sign to have the young QB lead his team back from such a deficit so late in the game.

So here we are at the mid ― way point and the Ravens are a healthy 5 and 3. Which is much better than 4 and 4. The next 2 weeks are on the road. Next up is a make-up game of sorts with the struggling Houston Texans. This is a good chance to build up a head of steam heading into the second half of the schedule.

By Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Baltimore Ravens Correspondent