The Jameis Winston era in Cleveland is off to an excellent start.
The Browns bottled up the scorching Ravens and racked a season-high point tally in a 29-24 upset of Baltimore on Sunday. The win was just the second of the season for the Browns and came against a Ravens team that entered Sunday tied for the second-best record in the AFC.
Cleveland capped the game on offense with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Winston to Cedric Tillman with 59 seconds remaining.
One play before the touchdown pass, Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton dropped a would-be interception that hit him in the hands and would have all but secured a victory for Baltimore.
The game for Winston was his first as a starter for Cleveland, a week after starter Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear. Winston led the Browns to a second-half lead with a pair of third-quarter touchdown drives before throwing the game-winning touchdown in the final minute of regulation.
Winston finished the day completing 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. A Browns offense that entered the day averaging an NFL-worst 253.9 yards per game posted 401 yards of total offense.
Browns emerge victorious from frantic fourth quarter
Cleveland held a 20-17 fourth-quarter lead and opted to attempt a 48-yard field goal rather than go for it on fourth-and-3 with 4:55 remaining. Dustin Hopkins was successful on his attempt to extend the lead to 23-17.
The Ravens responded with a six-play, 91-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard Derrick Henry touchdown run, leaving 2:19 for Cleveland to respond. The Browns countered with a 69-yard touchdown drive in 1:37 capped by Tillman’s touchdown catch.
Cleveland’s defense then did the rest, stopping the Ravens short of the end zone before the game clock hit zero. The Ravens had a shot at the end zone on their final play after Lamar Jackson scrambled and bought some time on first-and-10 from the Baltimore 30. But his pass fell incomplete as Cleveland’s secondary didn’t allow any Ravens receivers to get open in the end zone.
When his final pass fell incomplete, Jackson removed his helmet and slammed it to the turf in frustration.
Mistakes doom Ravens down the stretch
Jackson, who’s in the midst of an MVP-caliber season, finished the day completing 23 of 38 passes for 289 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers to go with 46 rushing yards. Henry added 73 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
But Baltimore’s defense struggled to slow a rejuvenated Browns offense that was arguably the league’s worst with Watson at quarterback. And the Ravens made multiple game-altering mistakes, including Hamilton’s dropped interception attempt and a fourth-quarter drop by Rashod Bateman that led to a Ravens punt.
With Cleveland leading by three early in the fourth quarter, Jackson scrambled and looked deep over midfield to Bateman on third-and-14 from the Baltimore 15-yard line. The pass hit Bateman in the hands, but he dropped the ball that would have secured a 50-yard gain and a first down.
Instead, the Ravens punted, and the Browns extended their lead with the field goal on their ensuing drive, setting up the game’s final frantic minutes.
With the upset of their division rivals, the Browns improve to 2-6 and shed some light on what was previously a dark season in Cleveland. A Ravens team that started 5-2 suffered its first loss since Week 2 to drop into the middle of the pack of AFC playoff contenders.
