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Cleveland Browns: 3 takeways from loss to Ravens in Week 12

By The Sports Xchange
Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI
Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI | License Photo

CLEVELAND -- Baltimore Ravens safety Will Hill gave up the tying touchdown in the fourth quarter Monday night, but he atoned for that error in a big way.

Hill returned a blocked field goal 64 yards on the final play of regulation, lifting his team to a 33-27 win over the Cleveland Browns.

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The Ravens (4-7), playing with backup quarterback Matt Schaub plus backup running backs Javorius Allen and Terrance West, avenged a 33-30 loss to the Browns on Oct. 11 in Baltimore.

"It was almost a game of redemption," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "Will Hill didn't do a very good job in coverage. He got fooled a little bit and gave up a touchdown pass. He comes back, picks it up and runs it in.

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"All the guys on the field-goal-block team set the wall down the sideline. It was a thing of beauty."

The loss was doubly painful for the Browns. Starting quarterback Josh McCown, who missed the two previous games with a rib injury, was knocked out of Monday's game with a collarbone injury in the fourth quarter. Austin Davis replaced him and tied the game, 27-27, on a 42-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Travis Benjamin with 1:47 to play.

"It's a tough one to wrap your brain around," Browns coach Mike Pettine said. "It's frustrating. The guys battled back from some deficits. We didn't finish it."

Cleveland kicker Travis Coons attempted a winning 51-yard field goal on the final play. Defensive end Brent Urban blocked the kick, and Hill scooped it up and sprinted down the left sideline for the touchdown.

"It felt really good coming off my foot," Coons said. "I was really surprised. I don't know if it was me. As soon as it comes off your foot and you hear another thud, that's not a good thing."

The Browns (2-9) took their sixth consecutive loss -- every game since they beat the Ravens. They fell for the 14th time in 16 games dating back to last season.

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What we learned about the Browns:

1. Austin Davis finished the game at quarterback for the Browns, and he likely will start against the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday. Davis got some starting experience with the St. Louis Rams last year, and he showed it with some clutch passing in the fourth quarter in relief of injured Josh McCown. Davis completed seven of 10 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. He doesn't have the strongest, arm but he threw the ball accurately.

2. Kicker Travis Coons was a perfect 18-for-18 on field-goal tries until his attempt to win the game from 51 yards was blocked. It was his longest attempt of the season, and it appeared to have a low trajectory. He will have to work on his longer kicks and his kickoffs, which sailed out of the back of the end zone early in the season but more recently are barely reaching the goal line.

3. Getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks is still an issue for the Browns. They sacked Matt Schaub only once. It has been a recurring theme this season, and it explains in part why the Browns already have given up 23 touchdown passes after giving up only 22 in 2014. The Browns have 17 sacks this season, but seven of them came in one game, against the Tennessee Titans in Week 2. They had 31 sacks last year.

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Etc.

--CB Justin Gilbert started for the Browns for the first time this season, but he was knocked out of the game with a concussion after returning a kick in the third quarter. The Browns are very thin in the secondary because LCB Joe Haden is already out with a concussion. Gilbert made one tackle.

--QB Josh McCown might be out for the rest of the year. He has an injury to his collarbone, and though the Browns did not announce the severity of it, they could decide to sit him. He previously sustained a concussion and a rib injury this season. McCown is 1-7 as a starter.

--TE Gary Barnidge caught seven passes for 91 yards. The last time the Browns played the Ravens, he had eight catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Barnidge leads the Browns with 55 catches and seven touchdowns.

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