Ravens Pluck a Win from Browns 

Mark Riley

A complete inability to stop Ravens RB Jamal Lewis by the defense and an equally staggering lack of offensive punch for 3+ quarters of the game spelled doom for the Cleveland Browns last night in a ESPN nationally televised game from Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Ravens running back Jamal Lewis punished the Browns defense with 187 yds.on 26carries, nearly equaling the all time rushing record of 200yds. by John Henry Johnson in the '50's. The Browns defense seemed confused on nearly every play and made QB Chris Redmond look like Johnny Unitas revisited. Unpressured all night, Redmond was able to look to 3 and 4 different targets, before throwing the ball, and was able to post a 23-0 lead before the Browns found the end zone.

Although statistically fair, Tim Couch looked less than sharp for the night. Some poor decisions were made from the QB position resulting in 2 interceptions that killed promising drives deep into Raven territory. Couch was soundly and unfairly booed by fans, even when he suffered a slight concussion. He left the game after finally connecting with Mark Campbell for a TD early in the fourth quarter.

Kelly Holcomb did provide some spark and threw for 180 yds and 2 TD's, both to Dennis Northcutt, trimming the Ravens lead to 26-21 with just under 3 minutes to play. After a brilliant onside kick that Browns kicker Phil Dawson booted between the spread formation of the Ravens and recovered his own kick, giving the Browns the ball back with a chance to win the game outright. Bravely standing in the pocket with an injured leg and picking apart the Ravens secondary and driving the Browns to the Ravens 14 with 10 seconds remaining in the game. A toss to the corner of the end zone was intercepted by Ed Reed, ending a valiant comeback attempt by the Browns.