It didn’t seem possible that the Baltimore Ravens could inflict more emotional damage on the city of Cleveland. But the franchise formerly known as the Browns pulled it off in a one-hour timeframe Sunday afternoon.
Baltimore rallied behind a pair of rookies — running back Ray Rice and quarterback Joe Flacco — to score 24 unanswered points in a little more than a quarter, sucking all of the life out of Cleveland Browns Stadium with a 37-27 win.
And just to make sure the entire North Coast felt the sting of the defeat, Ravens coach John Harbaugh lobbed a handful of salt into its still-open wound.
“As a football team, we want to dedicate this football game to Mr. Art Modell,” he said. “He deserves this more than anybody.”
Ouch.
It doesn’t get much worse than invoking the Art Card, especially when it’s done by a guy who grew up in Toledo rooting for the Browns.
It also was unnecessary because the Ravens inflicted enough pain on the field — figuratively and literally — to last a while.
Rice was like a 5-foot-8, 205-pound bowling ball, repeatedly knocking down defenders like bowling pins, while Flacco performed much better under pressure than veteran counterpart Derek Anderson. Their clutch execution helped Baltimore outgain the Browns 202-44 and outscore them 24-0 to end the game.
“Ray Rice runs the ball like a veteran and Joe Flacco throws the ball like a veteran,” Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said. “They might be rookies, but they don’t play like it.
“When they got going, we did too. Everybody definitely earned the day off (today).”
Baltimore’s supposedly too-old defense also rose to the occasion late, preventing the Browns from gaining a first down on five straight drives after they had taken a 27-13 lead. It also put the icing on the cake when linebacker Terrell Suggs picked off a terrible “D.A.” throw and returned it 44 yards for the game’s final score.
“They don’t change in a phone booth,” Anderson said, downplaying the Ravens’ defensive talents. “Ray Lewis is Ray Lewis. He’s 38 years old. Who cares? Ed Reed’s a great player, he keeps that defense intact.
“We made plays. We could make plays. We just didn’t execute.”
Even with all that said, Cleveland still could have won. In fact, it’s safe to say it would have done just that if Braylon Edwards hadn’t dropped a potential 77-yard touchdown pass two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Edwards’ latest key mistake came in the midst of Baltimore’s basketball-like 24-0 run and could have broken a 27-27 tie. Instead, the mercurial wide receiver failed, the Browns were forced to punt and the Ravens kept on rolling.
“I’m sure Braylon is going to put that play behind him quick,” said Joshua Cribbs, who spoke to the media after the game, unlike Edwards. “He has to, because we need him and he knows that. We count on him a lot.”
At this point, though, the only thing Cleveland can count on is being humiliated and abused by the Ravens (and Steelers). It’s become as much of a fall tradition as turning your clocks back one hour.
If only the Browns had the option to do that after the final whistle, they would have gone home with a smile on their faces and a 14-point win.
“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how it happened,” tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. said. “It was a big game and we didn’t meet the challenge. Everyone let everyone down on the team today.”
Contact Brian Dulik at (330) 721-4059 or brisports@hotmail.com.

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