Baltimore dominated from there and took a 31-15 win to clinch home field in the playoffs for Baltimore and another losing season for Cleveland.
Baker Mayfield threw both of the Browns touchdowns but finished with under 200 yards passing for the afternoon.
The now 6-9 Browns will finish their disappointing season next Sunday in Cincinnati against the one victory Bengals.
Brownie Bits
1) The key to this game was those two minutes when the Browns allowed Baltimore to score two touchdowns in the final two minutes without any timeouts remaining.
Both drives covered lots of yardage, weren't caused by a fluky turnover and were essentially caused by an inability to cover Baker Mayfield's best friend in the tight end, Mark Andrews.
2) On both touchdowns, Andrews was so wide open that the problem had to be either a blown coverage or a miscue by Damarious Randall.
The first saw no Browns even remotely around Andrews and I'm not sure I couldn't have run into the end zone.
The second saw Browns players around Andrews, but Randall watched the ball fly over his head without even a jump and Mack Wilson was behind Andrews like he was attempting to protect the Dawg Pound.
3) Why did Baltimore have time for the second touchdown?
Because Freddie Kitchens called three pass plays (all incomplete) and allowed a team with no timeouts to conserve clock.
I'm understanding of the first two passes, but a simple draw on third down would have taken the clock down to nil and Baltimore would have likely kneeled.
Inept.
4) And then the setup for the first touchdown.
With the Browns having a 3rd and 1, Kareem Hunt is hit for a loss of eight yards.
Kitchens said the plan was to try for a big play and then go for it on fourth and one.
Ok, I might buy the big play portion, but why Hunt throwing the ball rather than Baker Mayfield?
Hunt may be a more accurate passer. but he is still a running back and to make that play work, he has fake the run and be able to stop behind the line and then throw.
The play is set up for a big play, but the pure schematics of the play make sizable losses possible.
If you were counting on a 4th and one, why a play that could result in a loss?
5) I'm trying hard to not mention more inaccurate passing from Baker Mayfield.
So, I'll just leave these two numbers here- 5.8 yards per pass attempt and a season passer rating of 79.7.
That rating places him a solid 31st of 32 passers ahead of only the quarterback that the Browns will face next week- Andy Dalton.
6) The other passers in the first round of the Mayfield draft and their ratings?
Lamar Jackson (3rd), Josh Allen (22nd), Sam Darnold (23rd) and Josh Rosen ( hasn't thrown enough passes to qualify), so the numbers are mixed.
Even putting Jackson aside, Allen is taking his team to the postseason and Darnold has gone .500 since returning from illness with a team that has Robby Anderson as its top weapon with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Baker Mayfield? 19 touchdowns and 18 interceptions with a team with Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, and Kareem Hunt as receivers and Nick Chubb running the ball.
I'm not giving up hope, but Mayfield's performance this year is what I expected when the Browns selected him with last season being the surprise.
7) I still cannot explain the decision to try for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.
The Browns have cut the lead to 24-15 on Baker Mayfield's pass to Odell Beckham (a well-thrown ball, by the way) and an Austin Seibert extra point cuts the lead to eight.
That's a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game with eight minutes remaining, but still one possession.
Instead, the Browns go for the two, fail and are down nine points with two possessions needed to lead.
It was irrelevant as Baltimore would kick a field goal in their next drive, but it's just bad coaching at that point in the game and I've yet to see any reason that you would try for two when you know with a failure that you will need two possessions.
I know Austin Seibert missed an extra point earlier, so it was not guaranteed, but you have to cut that to one score in that situation.
8) The Ravens did a nice job in controlling Nick Chubb as he finished with only 45 yards on 15 attempts, but once again the Browns had large periods where they didn't involve Chubb in the offense.
Seven carries in the first half that saw them leading 6-0 for most of the half?
Not enough.
9) Baker Mayfield wasn't sacked, so that's a positive for the offensive line, but he was still pressured plenty of times off the edge and Greg Robinson had a very bad day at left tackle.
The Browns should use their first-rounder on a tackle, get the best veteran tackle that they can add through free agency and draft another tackle early on the third day of the draft.
That's the number need for this team.
10) The Browns were eliminated from playoff contention.
The Browns needed three things to happen (as well as a win over Baltimore) to stay alive.
The needs were Titans and Steelers losses and a Colts win and just as last week, all the other teams lost and the Browns could have stepped up with a win.
Just as last week in Arizona, everything happened but a Browns win.
11) The Browns 6-9 record is the same as three other teams (Atlanta, Denver, New York Jets).
There are five teams with seven wins currently (Oakland, Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, and Tampa Bay), so a win could drop the Browns even farther down the line.
Currently, the Browns would pick between 10th and 13th depending on tie-breakers, but a win could see the Browns picking as high as 18th with a 7-9 record.
Of the 6-9 teams, Atlanta will play at Tampa Bay, Denver will host Oakland, and the Jets will visit Buffalo.
Should the Browns lose to Cincinnati, they could fall into the area of the tenth pick.
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