Ravens demonstrate typical toughness in win over Cleveland

It was far from a convincing performance, but at the same time no-one doubted the inevitability of a Baltimore win from the moment Torrey Smith caught his third touchdown pass of the season just two minutes into the second quarter.

Although Cleveland did get a touchdown on the board shortly before half time, leaving them with a 9-7 deficit, the Ravens started out the second half strongly and opened up a 23-10 advantage by the time the third quarter drew to a close.

The Ravens’ third touchdown was yet another defensive TD, something the Baltimore franchise has been synonymous with since Ray Lewis joined 17 years ago.

Two Phil Dawson field goals put Cleveland in the position to square it up with the last possession of the game but QB Brandon Weeden sailed a pass over the end-zone and the game ended.

Ravens fans will hardly have had their hearts in their mouth given Weeden’s 25 for 52 passing performance, finishing without a touchdown pass for the second time in just four games.

For different reasons to in the first three weeks of the game, the spotlight was on the referees, back from their lockout. There were no contentious calls this time round, with players laughing and talking with the referees throughout.

"I thought they handled it great. I had all the confidence in the world that this was going to be officiated the right way,” said Browns coach Pat Shurmur.

image: © Keith Allison

Jason Torquato

more stories from Jason Torquato

Jason Torquato has always been passionate about sport and has played golf and tennis from a young age. In recent years, he has mostly enjoyed sport from his sofa, which has allowed him to accumulate knowledge and good understanding of numerous disciplines, with a special focus on American sports. Jason can’t fall asleep or wake up without listening to a sport podcast.