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Boldin catch propels Ravens
Browns fall 25-15
browns.com
CLEVELAND- Baltimore wide receiver Anquan Boldin made a big catch in
Sunday's win over the Cleveland Browns.
If the Baltimore Ravens go on to do great things this season, they
could very well point to a play that in their 25-15 victory over the
Browns on Sunday that was pivotal to that end.
Their coach, John Harbaugh, said as much.
Trailing, 15-14, with just over 81⁄2 minutes left, and with their
offense stuck in neutral and their lead in the AFC North in jeopardy,
the Ravens stepped up with a play that Harbaugh called “a turning
point.”
It was a 21-yard pass from Joe Flacco to wide receiver Anquan Boldin on
a crossing route on second-and-10 from the Baltimore 19. That gave the
Ravens their initial first down in two quarters, and flipped the game
back in their favor.
With some new-found confidence and momentum, the Ravens drove 81 yards
in nine plays for the go-ahead touchdown on Flacco’s 19-yard pass to
wide receiver Torrey Smith with 4:26 remaining, which, following a
two-point conversion on Flacco’s pass to Boldin, made it 22-15.
“When you’re struggling like we were, you always need a play to get
going, and that was the play,” Harbaugh said of the 19-yarder to
Boldin. “It got us the first down and got us going.
“There are a lot of turning points in a season, and that was definitely
a turning point. There will be a lot more turning points before it’s
all over, but that was a big play.”
Harbaugh had called the visit to Cleveland “a must game.” The Ravens
were 5-2 and in first place by a game over the improving Pittsburgh
Steelers (4-3), but they were coming off a 31-point (43-13) loss to the
Houston Texans two weeks ago and then a much-needed bye week to figure
out what went wrong.
The Ravens opened against the Browns as if they had gotten the message
from their coach, playing almost a perfect first quarter in building a
14-0 lead. The Ravens had 152 total yards to just 22 for the Browns,
and an 11-0 advantage in first downs.
A one-sided Baltimore win appeared to be on the way.
Then, the game turned. The Ravens got another first down with 81⁄2
minutes left in the second quarter, then didn’t get another one for six
straight possessions, until Flacco hit Boldin on the aforementioned
play almost exactly two quarters later.
“Things got a little iffy,” Harbaugh said of the offensive struggles.
“I was thinking, ‘It would be nice to get a first down.’ If you can’t
get a first down, it’s hard to get into any rhythm offensively.”
Meanwhile, the Browns got going offensively and began moving the ball.
While they didn’t get a touchdown, they did get five Phil Dawsonfield
goals.
“The Browns made adjustments,” said Ravens running back Ray Rice, who
had 58 yards rushing in the first quarter en route to 98 overall.
Added Harbaugh, “You’ve got to tip your hat to the Browns. They’ve got
an up-and-coming football team.”
Though staggered, the Ravens stayed upright. Outside linebacker Terrell
Suggs wouldn’t let them fall.
“He kept encouraging the offense,” Rice said. “He said to us, ‘We’ll
hold them from scoring touchdowns. You guys just put a drive together
to win the game.’”
With Suggs’ headiness came more of the same from Flacco, which enabled
that game-winning drive to materialize.
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