It’s back to the drawing board for the Ravens.
The team’s worst performance of the season so far resulted in a 12-9 overtime loss to the Browns
Much is being made of the lack of a Ravens running game. Baltimore only rushed the ball 25 times on Sunday compared to 57 pass attempts.
John Harbaugh is okay with that ratio.
“I don’t understand the question, why that’s a topic,” he said. “You got to do whatever you can do to move the ball and score points. We’ve been doing a pretty good job of that up until this last game. We just need to put more points on the board.”
The Ravens rank seventh in the NFL with 139 rush attempts. They’ve accumulated 472 yards, which is good for 23rd in the league.
Also contributing to Sunday’s defeat is more drops by receiver Michael Crabtree. None was bigger than the one late in regulation, in the end zone, that could’ve given Baltimore the lead.
“Michael Crabtree is a pro. He’s been here before. He’s had these kind of situations before,” said Harbaugh. “He’s a standup guy. All of our guys are. So, they’ll go to work and try to be the best they can be next week.”
The Ravens went the bulk of the contest without an accepted penalty. But when the flags started to fly they were costly.
Chris Moore’s block in the back negated an Alex Collins gain into field goal range in overtime that could have set up the potential Justin Tucker game-winning field goal.
“We have not had a lot of trouble with penalties. We’ve been very disciplined that way. Sometimes things move a little fast out there. But, there are ways to avoid calls. It would have been great if we hadn’t had that call there for sure. We’ll take responsibility for it,” said Harbaugh.
As for cornerback Jimmy Smith, who made his season debut, Harbaugh said he “played well and looks good”.
Harbaugh also said tight end Hayden Hurst “did fine” in his NFL debut.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
