Written by Thomas Moore

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The battling Cleveland Browns dealt with rainy weather, heavy balls and the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium.

And while the Browns gave a better effort than they did just four days prior, they still ended the night on the wrong end of the scoreboard, falling to 0-4 on the season after a 23-16 loss to the Ravens.

The Browns had some good moments – like the 11-play, 94-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter – and some bad – like converting just three-of-15 third downs, rushing for just 2.5 yards per carry, and Cary Williams’ pick six – in losing their ninth consecutive game to the Ravens and their 10th game overall.

“Offensively, there were flashes of good play,” Browns coach Pat Shurmur said. “I do think we gave away some gimmes early in the game. We had some drops, not acceptable. There’s a zero tolerance for that. I will say this, we have some tough guys out there playing that are not catching the ball efficiently enough, and we just need to keep working with them. That’s the reality of it. In the passing game, of course, there were some inaccurate throws, there were times when he got pressured. We played an outstanding defense, and I think our guys battled. I think that’s kind of how it goes.”

The Browns struggled against Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco, who threw for 356 yards and a touchdown. Flacco and wide receiver Anquan Boldin picked on the Browns secondary as Boldin finished with nine catches for 131 yards. The Ravens obviously saw something they could exploit in the second half as Flacco completed eight-of-nine passes for 125 yards to Boldin after halftime.

The defense did put some pressure on Flacco, sacking him four times, but when he had to make the plays he did, which explains why Flacco is 9-0 in his career against the Browns. On the flip side, for the third game in a row the defense was solid against the run, limiting Ray Rice to just 49 yards and the Ravens to just 3.7 yards per carry.

After falling behind 9-0 in the second quarter, the Browns answered back with their lone touchdown drive of the night. Weeden was 7-of-7 on the drive, with the biggest play being a 43-yard reception by wide receiver Greg Little.

“That drive was huge,” Weeden said. “It was one of the best drives we’ve had all year. It was a good to come into the locker room with a little momentum.”

The Ravens took that momentum right back, however, when they opened the third quarter by taking the ball 89 yards, scoring on a Flacco run to push the lead to 16-7.

At that point the Browns really needed to answer back with a touchdown to keep the pressure on the Ravens. The drive started out nice, as Weeden converted a third-and-two by hitting Richardson with a 15-yard pass. On the next play, Weeden hit tight end Ben Watson for 13 yards and a personal foul penalty on Bernard Pollard moved the Browns to the Baltimore 37-yard line.

But in typical Browns fashion the offense stalled. Following a two-yard run by Richardson, Weeden threw incomplete to Jordan Norwood on second and third down (although the third-down pass went right through Norwood’s hands) and the Browns settled for a 51-yard field goal from Phil Dawson.

The field goal was the first of three that Dawson hit from 50-plus yards, the seventh kicker in NFL history to do that in a single game. As much as we love Dawson, the fact that he is so good in some ways hampers the Browns; since they know they can rely on him the sense of urgency to score once they cross midfield doesn’t always seem to be there.

“I was pleased with heavy balls, a wet environment and old Phil Dawson just keeps going,” Shurmur said. “He’s amazing.”

OK, then.

The missed scoring opportunity came back to bite the Browns later in the third quarter when, after the Ravens missed a 47-yard field goal (Dawson just laughs at that distance), the Browns took over own their own 37. Weeden quickly moved the Browns to the Ravens’ 43-yard line, but his pass for Travis Benjamin was intercepted by Williams and returned for a touchdown.

“I put us in a tough spot,” Weeden said. “I told a lot of the guys on offense, a lot of the guys on defense, ‘Hey, man. It’s a seven-point game and I spotted them seven.”

“He battled,” Shurmur said of Weeden. “He made some good throws and he stood in there and took some shots. He made progress as a player tonight. But when you really make progress is when you lead your team to victory.”

The Browns eventually cut the lead to 23-16 with 4:33 left in the game. The defense was able to get the Browns the ball back for one last shot – although the Browns started the drive on their own 10-yard line.

Weeden moved the team to the Baltimore 18, but his final shots to the end zone came up empty and the Browns ended up with their 12th consecutive loss in the AFC North.

“It’s no doom and gloom here,” Shurmur said. “We’re fighting in this next 10-day stretch to do what we can to go to New York and beat the Giants. That’s what we’re doing. Then we add them up at the end and see where we are.”

We know there are no moral victories and all that, but the fact that the Browns had a chance to tie the game at the end is a positive. The Ravens are a Super Bowl contender that has won 12 consecutive home games and 20-of-21 overall at home. After spending all week hearing about how the Browns were going to be embarrassed on national TV, it was good to see the Browns hang with the Ravens as best they could.

Of course, if they go out next week and play against the Giants they way they did against Buffalo it won’t mean anything. And moral victories are not real victories, after all.

“We need to win the game,” Shurmur said. “That’s when you develop the level of confidence that you can win the game. I will say this, our guys went out there, we didn’t have any pre-snap penalties on offense, they handled the crowd noise fine and they battled from start to finish. Along the way we’ve all got to play and coach better.

“This is the group of guys I want to get this thing fixed with and I told them that in the locker room (after the game).”

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One final note to mention about the game was the hit that Josh Cribbs took from Dannell Ellerbe on a punt return in the first quarter.

That was one of the most wicked kill shots we’ve ever seen. Not only was Cribbs drilled in the helmet by Ellerbe’s shoulder, but his head bounced off the turf and, for good measure, he was kicked in the face during the scramble for the loose ball.

“Josh is doing well today, much better than you might expect,” Shurmur said on Friday.

Cribbs will reportedly be cleared to play when the Browns take on the Giants.

(Photo by The Plain Dealer)