The Ravens' 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns wasn't the prettiest, but there was still a lot to like in the film.
Here's a look at what happened on some of the keys plays and some under-the-radar standout moments:
Gus Edwards was clearly a standout with two touchdowns and 66 yards rushing in his first game back from last year's season-ending knee injury. Edwards may still be in the process of knocking off some rust, but it's clear his power is still there. One of the best aspects of Edwards' game is the extra yards he picks up after contact.
Patrick Queen had a third straight strong game with a sack, three tackles for loss and a team-leading 11 tackles (seven solo). His run diagnosis and speed to hit the hole on back-to-back plays sent the Browns backwards nine yards and destroyed their third drive of the game.
Rookie safety Kyle Hamilton got in on the sack parade, beating backup Browns right guard Hjalte Froholdt one-on-one with a nasty hand swipe and swim move to take down Jacoby Brissett. The Ravens executed Mike Macdonald's overload blitz on the left side perfectly.
The Ravens offense started with two field goals from Justin Tucker, then faced a key third-and-11 in the second quarter.
Baltimore's passing game didn't put up many yards with just 120 on 16 attempts, but the concept worked and Lamar Jackson made a nice play to convert to Rashod Bateman. The drive ended with Edwards' 7-yard touchdown, which was aided by another strong run block from tight end Josh Oliver.
Speaking of great throws …
Pass rushers get the credit for sacks, and of course they deserve their due. But when pass rush and coverage are married, teams can get sack/strips like this when the quarterback has to hold the ball for a split second longer than they want.
A huge moment in Sunday's Ravens win was their fourth-and-1 conversion from midfield on a trick play toss from Mark Andrews to Jackson. Baltimore ended up getting a 55-yard field goal from Tucker that proved to be the difference.
After the game, Jackson said, "I should have scored – for real. I wish I would have scored on that play, but it was a dope play." He was right. The play would have gone the distance had Devin Duvernay got a bigger piece of Browns linebacker Deion Jones. Still, the call completely caught the Browns by surprise and was well executed on the edge with key blocks from Ronnie Stanley and Justice Hill.
The Ravens offense had a chance to ice the game in the fourth quarter and mounted a strong drive into Browns territory before Hill's fumble. A key conversion on that drive came from another new wrinkle in the Ravens offense when Andrews took a handoff from Jackson and ran up the middle for a 4-yard gain. The key block on the play came from Patrick Mekari, who once again proved his worth stepping in for Stanley and Morgan Moses at different points in the game.
