Baltimore Ravens Grades vs Cleveland Browns, Week Seventeen
By Brett Foote
Dec 28, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; A Baltimore Ravens fan known as “Captain Defense” holds up a sign after beating the Cleveland Browns 20-10 at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
For three quarters, the Ravens offense continued their multi-week streak of looking absolutely flat in the final week of the regular season. The Browns took advantage by jumping out to a 10-3 lead on the back of undrafted rookie quarterback Conner Shaw, who was making his very first NFL start.
It was shades of last week, when the Ravens lost to another practice squad call up quarterback, Case Keenum. Ravens fans were beginning to make tee times for next weekend, even as the Chiefs held up their end of the deal by defeating the Chargers easily.
Then, the offense suddenly sprung to life as Torrey Smith caught a 53 yard pass and a 16 yard touchdown on the very next play to put the Ravens up 13-10. After a Browns three and out, the Ravens again drove down the field and scored again to put the Browns on ice with a 20-10 final.
With the win, the Ravens secure the 6th seed in the AFC and head to the playoffs after sitting out last season.
As we do each week, we have assigned letter grades to each unit based on their performance. While we oftentimes focus on the final stats, it’s usually best to look at the big picture when you want to get the whole story. Here are my Baltimore Ravens grades for week 17.
Next: Offense: It's allliiiivvveeee!