The Browns out-gained the Ravens 174-168 in the first half.
They also had 41 offensive plays to the Ravens 25 and 98 rushing yards to Baltimore’s 62, yet still trailed 17-9 at halftime.
Both defensive units were stout in the first half, but the Ravens were able to turn big plays from rookie running back Keaton Mitchell into scores.
With the third quarter set to begin, we’re looking at takeaways from the first half.
Kyle Hamilton Strkes First
The dynamic safety played close to the line with Geno Stone and Marcus Williams on the backend, and he struck early, deflecting a Deshaun Watson pass and returning it 18 yards for a touchdown.
Hamilton finished the first half with 3 tackles and one pass defended along with the pick six off Deshaun Watson.
Keaton Mitchell is a difference maker
Mitchell has 177 yards and two touchdowns in his last 10 carries after taking his first touch against Cleveland 35 yards for a touchdown.
On his 12th NFL touch, Keaton Mitchell (37-yard TD run) reached a top speed of 20.92 mph.
Mitchell is now responsible for the two fastest speeds by @Ravens' ball carriers this season (20.99 mph on 40-yd TD run last week vs SEA).#CLEvsBAL | #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/0rSDNngYs4
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 12, 2023
The undrafted rookie from ECU could put the Baltimore offense on another planet going down the stretch.
Mitchell finished the first half with two rushes for 32 yards and a touchdown. He also produced in the passing game, logging 1 catch for 32 yards.
Kyle Van Noy cost baltimore points
Dustin Hopkins put the Browns on the board with a 36-yard field goal, and they stopped the bleeding, trailing 14-3 at the 7:27 mark of the fist quarter.
This is why Kyle Van Noy was flagged. https://t.co/ShjmsSmMK4
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) November 12, 2023
Todd Monken mixing things up
Monken ran a creative screen and utilized Keaton Mitchell as a pass catcher on the outside.
.@_KeatonMitchell has some serious speed 🔥
📺: #CLEvsBAL on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/kECSNGc6Bj pic.twitter.com/bsSgWEmZHb— NFL (@NFL) November 12, 2023
Mitchell had two early touches for 70+ yards.
Jadeveon Clowney gets some early revenge
Clowney is up to 4.5 sacks on the season, and is among the league leaders in QB pressures.
In the first half, Clowney has 5 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, and 1 QB hit.
Lamar Jackson
Jackson was efficient and mistake free and until a late second quarter interception while targeting Rashod Bateman. In the first half, Jackson was 8-13 passing (8.5 AVG), for 111 yards and 1 interception.
Jackson was quiet as a rusher, carring the ball twice fro 12 yards.
Deshaun Watson
Watson was 6-of-20 for 79 yds, 1 INT; 6 rushes for 18 yards before exiting the game with an injury.
Browns not converting red zone trips
Cleveland has outgained Baltimore on the road and they’d be winning if they were able to convert into touchdowns.
Clock eating, strong running drive for #Browns there. 12 plays, 70 yards in 7:16 with another Hopkins FG. #Ravens 17-6 halfway through the 2Q.
— Brian Wacker (@brianwacker1) November 12, 2023
Ravens three headed monster
It appears that halfway through the first half, Justice Hill has taken a step back in the pecking order at running back.
Ravens RB snaps –
Gus Edwards 8
Keaton Mitchell 6
Justice Hill 1— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) November 12, 2023
Gus Edwards led all Ravens ball carriers with 6 rushes.
Ravens getting gashed on the ground
Jerome Ford led all ball carries with 11 rushes for 75 yards (6.8 AVG).
Ravens are allowing 6.4 yards per carry so far. They did not have these problems in Cleveland.
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) November 12, 2023
Ravens pass catchers
The normally dominant Mark Andrews has 1 catch for 8 yards, while Zay Flowers has 3 catches for 44 yards on 4 targets.
Odell Beckham and Neslon Agholor have been held without catches.
Ravens defense
Baltimore has allowed 10 first downs, the Browns are 3-9 on third downs and have run 41 plays, 15 more than the Ravens.
