10 talking points and takeaways from the Ravens 28-3 demolition of the Browns

In a game with notable player absences on both teams, the Baltimore Ravens (3-1) did everything (literally) on their way to earn a 28-3 win over the Cleveland Browns (2-2).

Baltimore entered the game without many starters available (not that you didn't know...) while the Browns missed just two but their most important ones: QB Deshaun Watson and RB Nick Chubb (arguably their absolute best performer).

And the Elves could do nothing under that duress.

Lamar Jackson's extraordinary performance proved to be a game-changer, he made history by throwing two touchdowns and rushing for two more, something he had never done before, and that's all the Ravens needed to put the Browns to sleep.

The win also marked Ravens head coach John Harbaugh's 150th career victory, highlighting the team's ability to defeat whoever is in front of them, including the self-called "no. 1 defense in the NFL." So much for that.

Here are the most important talking points following Baltimore's trouncing of the Browns at the Dawg Pound, which they might want to rebrand the Puppy Pound after falling 28-3 to their much stronger divisional foes.

1. Bookmark it: Lamar Jackson is the MVP of the 2023 NFL Season

Let's not sugarcoat it, folks.

Lamar is coming off one of the best games of his career or at least one of the most efficient and productive ones. It's the first time he passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more.

Jackson is now in a select club of 65 quarterbacks with at least one two-and-two game throughout their careers, which is no joke considering the league is a freaking 100 years old and there are 30+ quarterbacks actively playing weekly these days.

The Ravens quarterback completed 15-of-19 passes (79%) for 186 yards and two touchdowns. He threw no picks at all. He fumbled twice and lost one of those balls, yes, but that was handing the ball to Justice Hill so it's not that worrying and there are some opinions out there about both players having to split the blame.

Lamar was sacked just thrice while rushing the rock nine times for 27 yards on the ground and two more touchdowns. He was simply sublime and made the most of the tools he had at hand, namely tight end Mark Andrews and a plethora of rotational players at the wide receiver/running back positions.

There are going to be loud voices out there claiming the MVP award is Josh Allen's, Patrick Mahomes', or whoever else's to lose, but Lamar has been much better than advertised and he deserves all of the attention and consideration to be named the best player doing it in the NFL right now.

2. The Ravens defense might not be the no. 1, but it's better than the Browns' unit

The Ravens were lucky when Cleveland announced that the team wouldn't be able to count on QB Deshaun Watson for the divisional matchup against Baltimore.

That was really something that helped the Flock have an easier day, but it's not that there aren't 21 more players worth stopping on the field for a single team counting on both the offense and the defensive members of a squad.

Even if you just reduce that to the offense, the Ravens had to deal with 10 more men on a snap-per-snap basis, and they simply dominated Cleveland while at it.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson, the rookie QB of the Browns starting his first game Sunday, looked just like that: a freshman lost in a sea of angry Ravens. DTR turned into INT by the look of it.

The rookie tossed three interceptions, completed 19 passes on 36 attempts, and only reached 121 yards through the day while limited to just helping Cleveland reach field-goal territory so they could at least break the zero-figure in the scoreboard to put up their lone three points of Week 4.

Meanwhile, the Ravens defense only allowed 166 offensive yards to the Browns, and 53 of those came on a final drive in which Baltimore was already thinking about their upcoming matchup against the Steelers more than about the game still being played in Cleveland. The Flock also swarmed the pocket and sacked DTR four times.

Baltimore completed 54 tackles (10 for a loss) and its defenders broke 10 passes through four quarters along with hitting DTR eight times. Not bad for a "mediocre defense" facing the "no. 1 defense in the nation," was it?

3. Mark Andrews owns the Cleveland Browns

Brothers and sisters, whenever you need to dominate an opponent and need a tutorial on how to do it, just ask Ravens tight end Mark Andrews for advice based on his outings against the Cleveland Browns.

Andrews, who entered Week 4 with an already-decorated past against the Elves, put on another absolute masterpiece by grabbing just five passes but turning them into two touchdowns and 80 yards. No more, no less than that.

Lamar connected for the first touchdown of Andrews' day before halftime, making it 21-3 Ravens. Then, in the fourth quarter, they both shared a connection once more to put the cherry on top of the divisional contest and add six more points to the board on the way to the final 28-3 score.

Andrews' first TD came on a 7-yard reception and the second one saw the tight end score an 18-yard touchdown of which he made the most of the gain after the catch.

It's now, somehow, 9 TDs in 11 games against the Browns for Andrews. Now go and try to explain that.

4. Nobody knows what to expect from the Ravens backfield anymore

It was promising at first, it was worrying then, it was atrocious later, and now, all of sudden, it's a... relatively positive enigma?

The Ravens started the season with a healthy backfield featuring three stout rushers capable of carrying a running back room easily--with strength in numbers, that is. Sadly, that lasted just two quarters before J.K. Dobbins suffered an Achilles injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

Then injuries to Gus Edwards and Justice Hill forced the Ravens to use Melvin Gordon and Kenyan Drake heavily even though they are only practice-squad members.

But going against a strong (at least before Week 4) defense in Cleveland, Melvin Gordon and the two starters in Baltimore's backfield were simply unstoppable.

Gus Edwards rushed the ball 15 times for 48 yards, Justice Hill logged only three carries but racked up 33 yards, and Melvin Gordon added 21 yards on three rushing attempts. More impressively, Edwards grabbed two passes for the first time in his career while MG3 caught one pass himself for 23 yards.

This backfield is far from a reliable one because of the health issues that all of their members carry with them and because they are veterans but not quite steady and kinda volatile at times.

This backfield is also solid and boosted by Lamar Jackson's presence and skill set (the QB rushed the ball nine times for 27 yards and two touchdowns) it should be enough for the Ravens to keep producing when using it.

5. Is the "next man up" mentality the best thing to happen to Baltimore?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: no franchise wants to lose a thousand starters to injuries, but the truth is that there aren't many franchises as talented and ready to endure those problems like the freaking Baltimore Ravens.

The Flock simply thrives under this type of pressure, and they are proving it once more this season on a weekly basis.

The Ravens entered Week 4 having ruled out their best two wide receivers (Odell Beckham Jr. and Rashod Bateman), their best running back (J.K. Dobbins), their best offensive lineman (Ronnie Stanley), their best safety (Marcus Williams), and while playing they lost three more starters in Daryl Worley, Morgan Moses, and Jalyn Armour-Davis.

No need to mention Marlon Humphrey keeps herabbing while on the sidelines along with David Ojabo and Odafeh Oweh, three through-and-through starters in this team.

Even then, the Ravens keep racking up wins with gusto, and barring a fluky loss to the Colts in Week 3 (while already boasting a very depleted roster and falling by a measly field goal and an endless string of missed calls by the refs) these guys are 3-1 and could have easily started the season with an impeccable 4-0 record.

Not saying Baltimore doesn't need all of the talent they can get back as soon as possible, but the backups are simply putting on starter-level performances and we have nothing to complain about.

The minute all starters are back, though, this time is going to scare the living hell out of everybody in the NFL.

6. Kyle Hamilton, Brandon Stephens, and Geno Stone cannot be slept on anymore

If you have a friend who calls himself or herself a fan of the NFL, ask that person if he knows Kyle Hamilton (probable), Brandon Stephens (not so probable), and Geno Stone (very improbable).

If the answer is not 100% positive, then I'm sorry to tell you that your friend is a fake fan.

Hamilton made history last weekend by racking up three sacks in a single half of play against the Colts. He had never sacked a quarterback in college, and he had only completed two sacks through the full 2022 season. Welp.

Something Hamilton had not done in the NFL at all was intercepting a pass. It took him a while, we must say, but he did it on the last play of the game when he added another (the third) pick to Dorian Thompson-Robinson's Sunday tally.

Brandon Stephens has been said to "lack ball skills," meaning he cannot track a flying ball. Well, let me tell you he might not agree with that after intercepting DTR off a deflected pass by Arthur Maulet.

Just in case you missed it, he returned that pick all the way upfield for a 52-yard gain that could be considered 75% of the touchdown the Ravens would score right after that.

And then, there is Geno Stone who also intercepted the rookie Browns quarterback to welcome him in a warm way to the NFL.

I'm going to give you a pass for not recognizing at least one of those names before Sunday's win. From now on, though, there are no excuses for you not to do so.

7. The veteran free agents are all well worth the gamble and the investment

The Ravens are missing many players and they have been forced into coming up with solutions in a very quick and sudden fashion.

They had to sign running backs after knowing about injuries to bolster a unit that at a point had zero players in the 53-man roster filling it.

They had to sign their supposed starter at nickel back (Arthur Maulet) right before training camp only for him to miss all of August and September with an injury forcing other players to rotate at the position. Of course, Ar'Darius Washington was placed on IR after being named the backup-then-starter nickel.

They lost cornerbacks and safeties in bunches, so many in fact that we don't have the real state to name them all here. The solution? Again, rotating players, using makeshift safeties at corner and the other way around, and signing veterans like Ronald Darby.

And in the pass-rushing side of the game, well, things have not been that great. With Tyus Bowser starting the season on IR and now David Ojabo there too and Odafe Oweh out for a while rehabbing his own injury, the Ravens had to enter the market and sign Jadeveon Clowney in August and Kyle Van Noy right before Week 4.

All of the veterans (and by all we mean all) have been wonderful and great performers for the Ravens without exception.

Clowney played for the first time in Cleveland since leaving the Browns earlier this year and completed two tackles and (almost, not officially but we here counting them!) two sacks.

Van Noy was forced into playing much more than the coaches would have loved after spending just a few days within the organization, but he already logged a pass deflection while applying pressure.

Maulet deflected the pass that would end up in Brandon Stephens' hands and returned for 52 yards. Darby (and Rock Ya-Sin, who was also signed this offseason but missed most of training camp and the start of the regular season) played opposite Stephens and held the Browns wideouts to nearly no offensive production at all.

Melvin Gordon was fantastic rushing the ball and catching a pass for more than 20 yards. Gordon, by the way, is out of practice-squad elevations so the Ravens will need to sign him to the full 53-man roster if they don't want to risk losing him through waivers this week).

There has not been a single swing-and-miss when it comes to free-agent signings this season. Not a single one, and we're glad about that.

8. The offense is still a work in progress, but Todd Monken is a genius

There two fumbles. There were some penalties. There was a very ugly second half of football played by your Baltimore Ravens.

There were, more important than anything, 28 points on the board when all was said and done. Count that as a W, folks.

The Ravens had to do with a couple of fumbles by Lamar Jackson, and Jackson felt some defensive heat at times. That's partially fixable and should improve as the season keeps progressing.

There were the now-classic pre-snap penalties hurting the offense at times. Happens when you find yourself using a good deal of backups at all positions, including members of both lines.

There were two-quarters of seven-point football after scoring 21 in the first half. That's a fact, but that's also something you do when you start the third quarter leading your opponent by 18 points and only need to run the clock and call it a day.

The offensive line limited the "super" defense of the Browns to sack Lamar just three times, which doesn't really speak so nicely of such a "great" defensive unit, let alone with Myles Garrett coming off sacking Ryan Tannehill 3.5 times last week alone.

The combination of pass plays and rushing attempts was nice, Lamar carried the rock fewer than 10 times while Edwards led the backfield with 15 carries, four players (including Jackson) rushed for more than 20 yards, and seven players caught at least one pass (four of them racked up 14+ yards).

To think this is just the fourth game into the Monken era and what might be yet to come should have every Ravens fan incredibly excited.

9. Stout Jordan Stout is stout

Not a lot to talk about here because Stout's numbers and actions on the field do all the talk by themselves.

The Ravens punter had to punt the melon seven times. He did it without much trouble, reaching 334 yards while averaging 47.7 per punt and dropping three inside the Browns 20-yard line.

The longest punt went 59 yards deep, which is probably four or five times the distance I would reach even if I tried with all of my heart.

Stout has had some ups and downs, but he's more than shown what he's capable of when performing to the peak of his talents. Let's keep it going.

10. The injuries won't ever stop happening, will they?

The football gods just want to have some fun and screw around Baltimore, right? Come on!

The Ravens ruled out five starters ahead of Week 4. The Ravens also deactivated Marcus Williams right before kick-off. The Ravens, of course, already had a bunch of players on IR before Sunday.

The injury bill basically comes down to the Ravens starting running back, cornerback, safety, two outside linebackers (plus the main backup), offensive tackle, and two wide receivers (plus the WR6 and special-teams member). Not bad! And I'm forgetting a bunch of people most probably.

Then, on Sunday, the Ravens lost three more players to still-unknown periods of time, although head coach John Harbaugh should provide an update later on Monday.

Safety Daryl Worley started in place of Marcus Williams and suffered a shoulder injury before halftime. Offensive tackle Morgan Moses injured his shoulder in the second quarter. Cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis suffered a hamstring injury.

There was also an injury to Arthur Maulet when he seemingly suffered a concussion and was forced out of the game, but he is good and should avoid missing any game going forward.

Still, this team's injury luck is just not there, never there, not at all, not even the tiniest of drops. All hope is not lost, because at some point this will have to stop.

Also, at some point, people will start getting back to the field and boosting both the offensive and defensive units, which have already played impressively even while ravaged by injuries.

Speaking of injuries and as a final note, we also feel bad about the Cleveland Browns Stadium. If low attendance and folks exiting venues can be considered injuries to the pride of an NFL franchise, then the Browns suffered a torn ACL and a torn MCL yesterday.

Sad Elves fanatics were mad. Cannot blame them.

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