CLEVELAND - The Ravens had the game in front of them, then watched it slip away piece by piece.
Andre Szmyt’s 37-yard field goal as time expired sent Cleveland to a 13-10 win Sunday, a stinging AFC North opener for Baltimore that featured a quiet second half, a late Browns surge and one more ending the Ravens would rather forget.
Baltimore led 10-3 early in the fourth quarter and had a chance to slam the door. Instead, Tyler Loop missed a 49-yard field goal, Derrick Henry lost a fumble, and the Browns kept hanging around long enough for Deshaun Watson to deliver when it mattered most. Watson found Jerry Jeudy for a 33-yard gain on third-and-5 with 42 seconds left, setting up Szmyt’s winner inside Huntington Bank Field.
The Ravens are now 4-2, but this one will sit badly for a while. From Week 7 through their Week 13 bye, they face the Bengals, Bills, Jaguars, Chargers, Panthers and Texans. All but Los Angeles are viewed as serious playoff contenders.
Tyler Huntley, starting again for the injured Lamar Jackson, finished 19 of 31 for 165 yards. He was sacked three times, didn’t do much throwing downfield and came dangerously close to a few interceptions.
Baltimore’s run game opened well and then faded, finishing with 87 yards at 3.8 per carry. Henry had 58 yards at 3.4 per carry along with the turnover that helped open the door for Cleveland.
Baltimore crossed Cleveland’s 45-yard line only once after halftime, and that march ended with Loop’s missed kick early in the fourth quarter. At that point, the Ravens still had a 10-3 lead.
Watson went 16 of 26 for 164 yards and took five sacks, while Jeudy finished with four catches for a game-high 69 yards.
The Browns finally got on the board to start the third quarter, when Szmyt drilled a 48-yard field goal to trim the margin to 10-3. Then midway through the fourth, Cleveland tied it up. Two snaps after Keyon Martin was flagged for pass interference on a third-and-6 in the red zone, Audric Estime punched in a 2-yard touchdown to finish a 35-yard drive that began after Henry’s first fumble of the season.
Baltimore had burst out of the gate. On its first two possessions, the offense piled up 111 net yards. Josh Cuevas capped an 11-play, 66-yard opening drive with a 2-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-goal, and Loop made it 10-0 with a 34-yard field goal a few minutes later.
Cleveland looked stuck for much of the first half, managing only three first downs on five possessions before halftime. But the Browns found life late, and the Ravens never answered.
The loss also fit a familiar pattern. Baltimore had already built a reputation for letting leads get away, and Sunday only deepened that feeling. Even after strong wins over Dallas and Atlanta, the setbacks against New Orleans and Cleveland have left the Ravens with a lot to sort out.
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