Ravens continue making history and 4 more takeaways from division-clinching win over Browns

Some questions were answered while others came into focus in the regular season finale.

The Baltimore Ravens notched their fourth straight blowout win to close out the 2024 regular season with a 35-10 win over the Cleveland Browns. With the win, they clinched back-to-back AFC North titles and the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoff standings.

“It’s an awesome thing,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “It’s a week-to-week league, and you really just have to take it one week at a time, one day at a time, one play at time, and our guys have done a really good job of holding onto that. That 1-0 T-shirt that we all wear around is real, and so, four wins later, we’re the AFC North Champions.”

Offensively, the Ravens shook off a sluggish start and made NFL history on multiple fronts led by the MVP frontrunner. Defensively, Baltimore continued to show that their incredible turnaround was not a fluke by putting together another dominant and smothering overall performance.

The win gives the Ravens the division crown and ensures they’ll host a playoff game against an opponent they’ve already handily beaten this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers or Los Angeles Chargers. Several encouraging performances by players and units in all three phases were vital in securing a fourth straight win in lopsided fashion, improving the Ravens’ overall record to 12-5.

Here are five takeaways from Saturday’s division-clinching victory at M&T Bank Stadium.

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Offense rebounded from sloppy start to break multiple records

There was never a doubt about who was going to come out on top of this game, but the Browns managed to keep it closer than it had any business being in the first half because the Ravens’ offense sputtered and couldn’t get out of its own way at times. Even though their early struggles, they still managed to find the end zone and get within scoring distance multiple times.

After halftime, they stopped playing around and got back to doing what they do best on their way to finishing with record-breaking totals for key players and the unit as a whole. With their 10th game of the season posting over 400 yards of total offense, the Ravens finished with 7,224 yards. They not only surpassed the 2000 St. Louis Rams a.k.a ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ for the third-most yards in a single-season all-time but they also became the first unit in NFL history to record 4,000-plus passing yards and 3,000-plus rushing yards in a single season as well.

Reigning league MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson made history in both halves to help cement his ironclad case to receive the honor a third time and for the second year in a row. By halftime, he became the first player in NFL history to record 4,000-plus yards passing and 900-plus yards rushing in a single season. He avoided sacks, didn’t turn the ball over and finished with 280 yards of total offense himself—217 passing and 63 rushing—to become the first player in franchise history to record 5,000-plus total yards. Jackson came into his game with 39 passing touchdowns and after tossing two more against the Browns with no picks, he became the first play in NFL history with at least 40 touchdowns and four interceptions with a ratio of 10.25-1.

Five-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry’s 31st birthday couldn’t have gotten off to a slower start on Saturday as he had just eight rushing yards on six carries in the first half for a woeful average of 1.3 yards per carry. On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, he more than tripled his rushing total through the first two quarters by ripping off a 25-yard run and didn’t slow down from there. Henry finished with 20 carries for 138 yards and a pair of scores including a 43-yard dagger to put himself over 1,900 for the season, breaking the franchise rushing touchdown record and making him the first player in NFL history with multiple seasons of 1,800-plus rushing yards and 15-plus rushing touchdowns.

Defensive turnaround continues to be impressive

This unit proved once again that it is an overwhelming strength heading into the playoffs after being a glaring liability through the first 10 weeks of the season. They held both of the Browns quarterbacks to a combined 174 net yards passing on 34 attempts, recorded multiple sacks and turnovers and allowed just 56 rushing yards on 19 carries for an average of just 2.9 yards per attempt.

Several players recorded noteworthy career milestones both in the trenches and secondary. Fourth-year outside linebacker Odafe Oweh joined veteran Kyle Van Noy in the double-digit sack club by recording his 10th of the season, giving the Ravens their first 10-plus-sack tandem since Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil a decade ago in the 2014 season. First-round rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins logged his first career interception and a touchdown on the same play for the first points of the game via pick-six and nose tackle Michael Pierce made arguably the most athletic play of the day when he dropped into coverage and hauled in his first career interception.

Penalty bug reared its ugly head again

While the roughing the passer and defensive holding calls on defensive tackle Travis Jones were highly questionable and the officials were really quick with their whistles and flags when calling both teams for delay of games, 10 penalties for 83 yards is still too much to accrue for a team with high expectations heading into the postseason. The Ravens were able to overcome their lack of discipline at times on both sides of the ball against a clearly inferior opponent but against some of the heavy hitters they could cross paths with in the playoffs, it could cost them dearly.

Teams like the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and their archrival Pittsburgh Steelers have shown that can capitalize on those opportunities created by unforced errors to the Ravens’ detriment. In their prior two games heading into the finale, they had been flagged just five times for 40 combined yards and more than doubled that against the Browns. Being more disciplined will be vital to winning within the margins in close games with a chance to continue chasing a championship on the line.

Ravens avoided major injuries

With the playoffs just one week away, the team’s second biggest goal in this game after securing a second straight division crown was to come out of it unscathed from a health standpoint. Even though their top two wide receivers exited the game in the first after vicious collisions, neither suffered significant injuries. Rashod Bateman returned to action and had a nice game in which he finished as the team’s leader in receptions (five), receiving yards (76), targets (eight) and hauled in his ninth touchdown.

Pro Bowl wideout Zay Flowers didn’t re-enter the game after leaving with a knee injury in the second quarter but after the game, Harbaugh told reporters that his injury is one he “has a chance to be okay with” without going into specifics and said they’ll know more after an MRI. According to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, he is believed to have suffered a knee sprain which could put his availability for Wildcard weekend in doubt.

Two-time Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton spent some time in the medical tent briefly but came back on the next series and finished the game with the starters before being pulled on the second-to-last drive. They’re fortunate to be one of the healthiest teams heading into the postseason which is usually part of the recipe for deep runs.

Potential Achilles heels on both sides of the ball were on display

The Ravens’ offense didn’t struggle to get open targets or move the ball against the Browns but when it came to their three turnovers on downs, they were either over-aggressive in going for it or got too cute and failed to execute. On the first, instead of handing the ball off needing just a yard, they tried an RPO rollout with a pop-pass option but Jackson overthrew Henry with pressure in his face.

On the second, they bypassed a field goal attempt under 50 yards and Mark Andrews had the first-down reception punched out of his grasp. The third occurred on the final drive of the first half but it was the third down play that set them up for failure after a 13-yard gain was negated by penalty because two players went in motion and weren’t set long enough, drawing an illegal shift. Mistakes and risks such as these could prove fatal in a tight game against a more formidable opponent in the playoffs because it costs them scoring opportunities while giving their foe momentum.

Defensively, the player the Browns went after the most in coverage in this game was fourth-year cornerback Brandon Stephens as has been the case for most of the season with similar discouraging results. The most telling example of this was on Cleveland’s lone touchdown drive of the game where Stephens was targeted multiple times relentlessly it felt like. While he was fortunate that the 30-yard touchdown he gave up to rookie backup receiver Jamari Thrash was overturned to an incompletion after a review, five plays later he gave up a 16-yard scoring catch to backup tight end Jordan Akins who was starting in place of Pro Bowler David Njoku.

No matter who they have lined up across from him, opposing teams are not afraid of and make a concerted effort to go after Stephens. In the playoffs against better quarterbacks who are more aggressive and accurate as passers, the Ravens should expect him to continue being a popular perceived weak link in the eyes of their opponents.

Being in the right place and well-positioned to make plays is not the pending free agent’s issue but when the ball is in the air and the vicinity of him and the intended target is when he often gets beat, out-leveraged or too physical resulting in a completed catch or penalty for a first set of downs. To avoid the high frequency of this unfortunate and often untimely occurrence, the Ravens could deploy two-time Pro Bowler Tre’Davius White more often as the other outside corner when four-time Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey moves into the slot to combat three-plus receiver sets.