Tuesday

Ravens win snoozer

This game never had a chance. Not after Sunday night.

Sunday night, we saw the game of the week, the game of the year, the rivalry of the decade. And that game lived up to the hype. There is the Patriots versus the Colts, and then there is everyone else.

And part of everyone else played Monday night. But let’s be honest. After Sunday’s night game, did anyone outside of Baltimore and Cleveland even care about this game? Heck, maybe even including those cities, did anyone care? NFL fans were still hungover from the exhilaration of the Sunday nighter, and still discussing around water coolers across the country how Bill Belichick could have gone for it on 4th and 2.

This game — Baltimore versus Cleveland — was expected to be a snoozer. And this game lived up, or down, to that hype. Is there any team in the league that deserves to be in the national spotlight less than the Browns? If so, the list is short. And this game reinforced why.

Cleveland managed just 278 total yards. And that includes 93 yards on kick and punt returns. But that is not surprising from a team with an offense that has scored fewer touchdowns than New Orleans’ defense. What was surprising was that the Cleveland defense managed to keep Baltimore’s offense scoreless through the first two quarters, keeping them in the game, at least until the third quarter.

All the scoring in this game came in the third quarter, including two touchdowns coming within 17 seconds of each other. RB Ray Rice rambled in for a 13-yard touchdown on Baltimore’s first possession after halftime, and one play later, S Dawan Landry intercepted a Brady Quinn pass and returned it 48 yards for the Ravens’ second touchdown.

As the score would suggest, there were no blockbuster stats lines to report. Baltimore QB Joe Flacco went a less than impressive 13 for 18 for 155 yards, while Rice added 89 yards on 20 carries to go with his one touchdown. Browns’ QB Brady Quinn went 13 for 31 for 99 yards in his first start since being pulled in Week 3.

This was the only game this year in which both teams went scoreless in the first half, but with their 16 points in the third quarter, the Ravens still managed to cover the spread as they were favored by 11.