Sports

 
             === Smith's late TD catch helps Ravens beat Browns ===
 
 Cleveland,  OH (Sports  Network) - Joe Flacco connected with Torrey Smith late
 in  the fourth  for the  go-ahead  score and  the Baltimore  Ravens avoided  a
 collapse in Cleveland, defeating the Browns, 25-15, on Sunday.
 
 Phil Dawson kicked a 41-yard field goal, his longest of five makes on the day,
 to give Cleveland a 15-14 lead in the fourth, but Flacco drove the Ravens down
 the  field  on the  ensuing  possession,  capping  the  drive with  a  19-yard
 touchdown pass to Smith.
 
 The  Ravens' offense did not pick up a first down in the second half until the
 go-ahead scoring drive. Flacco finished 15-of-24 for 153 yards, while Ray Rice
 and  Bernard Pierce each had rushing scores for the Ravens (6-2), who defeated
 the Browns for the 10th straight time.
 
 Rice led the Ravens' rushing attack with 98 yards on 25 carries.
 
 Brandon  Weeden moved  the ball down the  field most of the day, but was never
 able to get the Browns' (2-7) offense into the end zone. He completed 20-of-37
 throws  for  176 yards with two  interceptions for Cleveland, which was coming
 off a win against the San Diego Chargers.
 
 Trent Richardson ran for a game-high 105 yards on 25 carries for the Browns in
 the setback.
 
 The  Ravens offense looked phenomenal early, scoring touchdowns on their first
 two possessions of the game, but slowed drastically afterward.
 
 "Hey,  I wish  we would go out there  and continue to play like we were in the
 first  quarter  and go  up and  down the  field the  whole game," said Flacco.
 "Sometimes  it doesn't work  out that way and you have to be ready to continue
 to  play the whole  game, play the full 60 minutes and take whatever is thrown
 your way and make the best of it."
 
 On  their  first touch,  Flacco completed  all four  of his passes, connecting
 three  times with Anquan Boldin, who made a 16-yard catch on the ninth play of
 the  drive to put  Baltimore on the Cleveland 8. On the next play, Rice took a
 handoff  around the left side and stiff armed a defender to reach the end zone
 for an 8-yard score.
 
 It  was more of  the same on the Ravens' next possession. Smith made a leaping
 catch down the sideline for 26 yards to move the Ravens inside the Browns' 20-
 yard  line. From  there, Baltimore  converted twice  on third  and short,  the
 second  on  a toss to  Pierce, who bounced to  the outside and tight-roped the
 sideline  to  reach the  end zone  for a  12-yard score,  capping a march that
 lasted  nearly  seven minutes. The touchdown  was the first of Pierce's career
 and put Baltimore on top 14-0.
 
 The  slow-starting Browns finally got moving offensively in the second quarter
 after going three-and-out on their first two touches.
 
 On  the second  play, Richardson picked up 19  yards on a rush prior to an 11-
 yard catch by Ben Watson to put Cleveland in Baltimore territory. Later in the
 drive,  Richardson ran for 13 more yards on three consecutive carries to reach
 the  Ravens' 16, but the drive stalled from there and Dawson drilled a 32-yard
 field goal to make it 14-3.
 
 The  Browns  got the  ball back quickly  after forcing the  Ravens to punt and
 following  a 15-yard run  by Richardson, Weeden made two long throws to set up
 Dawson  for another field  goal. On third down, Weeden found Josh Gordon for a
 26-yard  gain and  then completed a 23-yard pass to Greg Little, advancing the
 ball  inside the Ravens' 20. After failing to convert on 3rd-and-8, the Browns
 were forced to settle for a Dawson 28-yard field goal.
 
 "I  missed  a couple  of throws  early, kind of  uncharacteristic of me," said
 Weeden.  "But I  think I  finally got  in  a rhythm  in the  second and  third
 quarters."
 
 Cleveland  continued  to chip away.  After forcing a Ravens three-and-out, the
 Browns  got  the ball back  with 1:03 to go  until halftime. Watson and Little
 each  hauled  in 11-yard  passes from  Weeden before  he connected with Travis
 Benjamin,  who  kept both feet  in before stepping out  of bounds on a 19-yard
 reception with six seconds remaining. Dawson came out and drilled a 29-yarder,
 making it a one score game at 14-9 heading into the third quarter.
 
 The  Browns  defense  forced  another three-and-out  on  the  Ravens'  opening
 possession of the second half, but Cleveland gave it right back.
 
 After  nearly  being picked  off on the  previous play by  Ed Reed, Weeden was
 intercepted by Cary Williams, who returned it 26 yards to the Cleveland 39.
 
 However, Baltimore did nothing with the good field position. They backed up 10
 yards after Michael Oher was called for holding and proceeded to go three-and-
 out for the third consecutive possession.
 
 With  2:39 left  in the third, the  Browns came within two when Dawson hit his
 fourth  field  goal of  the game.  A 15-yard  unnecessary roughness penalty on
 Dannell  Ellerbe  gave Cleveland a first  down on the Baltimore 30. Faced with
 3rd-and-4, Weeden scrambled toward the sideline to pick up the first down, but
 failed  to  complete a  pass  to  Mohamed Massaquoi  on  the  next third  down
 conversion. Dawson, however, salvaged the drive with a 33-yard field goal.
 
 The  Ravens  offense continued to  be stifled by  the Browns' defense and were
 forced  to kick away on their next two offensive possessions. After the second
 punt,  Cleveland took  over  on their  own  43  and moved  the  ball down  the
 field to  get in  position for the go-ahead score.  They  appeared to score  a
 touchdown  when Weeden completed an 18-yard pass  to  Gordon on 3rd-and-6, but
 an illegal formation penalty wiped out the play.
 
 Facing  third and  long, the  Browns  opted to  run with  Richardson, who  was
 stuffed for no gain. Dawson then came out to attempt his longest field goal of
 the  day, a  41-yarder, and kicked it  through the uprights to give the Browns
 their first lead of the day at 15-14.
 
 After  going three-and-out  on every possession of the second half, the Ravens
 offense finally got moving again and scored for the first time since the first
 quarter.
 
 Flacco  threw a  21-yard strike to Boldin before drawing a roughing the passer
 penalty on T.J. Ward, which moved Baltimore passed midfield. Rice then ran for
 10 yards on consecutive carries before Flacco fired a 19-yard pass to Smith in
 the  end zone to put the Ravens back on top. They then converted the two-point
 conversion, as Flacco lofted a pass to a wide-open Boldin to give the Ravens a
 22-15 lead with 4:26 remaining.
 
 This  time  it was  the Ravens' defense  that locked down,  as they forced the
 Browns into a 4th-and-2 on their ensuing touch. Choosing not to punt, Weeden's
 pass  intended  for Little  fell incomplete  and the Browns  turned it over on
 downs deep in their own territory.
 
 The  Ravens only advanced four yards, but Justin Tucker kicked a 43-yard field
 goal through the uprights to secure the victory for Baltimore.
 
 Weeden  was picked off by Ed Reed on the Browns' final offensive drive and the
 Ravens ran out the remaining clock.
 
 
                                   Game Notes
 
 John  Harbaugh  and Joe Flacco recorded  their 50th career wins ... Rice needs
 just  one more rushing yard to join Jamal Lewis as the only players in Ravens'
 history  to  reach 5,000  rushing yards  ... Defensive  tackle Phil Taylor was
 activated  from the  physically unable to perform list prior to Sunday's game.
 It was his first action of the season.
 
 
 
 11/04 18:40:06 ET