Pretty much the only thing that slowed Lamar Jackson down in Cleveland were his cleats and cramps. His cleats got him in the first half and the cramps in the second.
Jackson slipped six times during the first half at FirstEnergy Stadium, including three times that led to sacks. He was visibly frustrated on the sideline after one that caused a big loss.
Social media was practically begging Jackson to change his cleats.
Jackson did seem to get better footing near the end of the first half on a 17-yard touchdown run. Even Head Coach John Harbaugh told ESPN's Lisa Salters at halftime that Jackson's cleats were a problem.
Sure enough, Jackson came out of the locker room with new white cleats. He promptly took off for a 44-yard run in which he weaved and darted through and around Browns defenders.
"I changed them after halftime. We had a long sack, and I tried to make something happen, [and] I ended up slipping. It wasn't the perfect cleats for the grass," Jackson said. "I made a change, put on some better cleats, and I didn't have that problem anymore. That was it."
Harbaugh said the Ravens went to a longer seven-stud cleat. He said a lot of players were changing into them even on the sideline.
"It's just a different type of feel. It's a different type of grass. It's fescue. It's not … What we have [at M&T Bank Stadium] is a Northern Bermuda," Harbaugh said. "So, that's just the way the field is here [in Cleveland] at the end of the year. It was in good shape; it's just a looser field. It was a little moist and everything. We did slip quite a bit."
Jackson set the record for most rushing yards by a quarterback on Monday Night Football when he was only in the third quarter. He finished with 124 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.
