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Sunday Blitz: Ravens-Browns Recap

Prim Siripipat and Cris Carter break down the Ravens' 25-15 win over the BrownsTags: Sunday Blitz, NFL, recap, Prim Siripipat, Cris Carter, Ravens, Browns

Sunday Blitz: Ravens-Browns Recap

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• Sunday Blitz: Ravens-Browns Recap

  Sunday Blitz: Ravens-Browns Recap

  Prim Siripipat and Cris Carter break down the Ravens' 25-15 win over the BrownsTags: Sunday Blitz, NFL, recap, Prim Siripipat, Cris Carter, Ravens, Browns

CLEVELAND -- There seems to be something about those plain orange helmets that fires up Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and the Ravens.

When they see them, they beat them -- every time.

Flacco threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith with 4:26 left as Baltimore won its 10th straight game over Cleveland and 11th in a row inside the AFC North with a 25-15 comeback win over the Browns on Sunday.

That's nothing new for Flacco, Rice and Ravens coach John Harbaugh.

"We're 10-0 against them," said Rice, who entered the league in 2008. "You didn't see Joe blink."

Smith caught Flacco's strike and spun away from cornerback Joe Haden as the Ravens (6-2) once again found a way to defeat the young Browns (2-7). It was also Baltimore's 15th straight win following a loss, and it helped the Ravens shake off a disastrous 30-point loss to Houston two weeks ago.

Baltimore improved to 5-0 after a bye week under Harbaugh, who was relieved following another rugged division game that included hard shoves, kicks, taunting and the usual amount of animosity.

"Whew," Harbaugh said. "That was a fight. That's a really good football team. They are well coached, tough and physical. They are building something here. They are an up-and-coming AFC North-style team. That was an AFC North battle."

Phil Dawson kicked five field goals for the Browns, who were again competitive but failed to score a touchdown on five trips inside Baltimore's 20-yard line. The only time Cleveland got into the end zone, quarterback Brandon Weeden's 18-yard TD pass to rookie Josh Gordon was nullified by an illegal formation penalty.

"It's frustrating," said running back Trent Richardson, who gained 105 yards. "But we can't point fingers. We all have to be accountable for what we do. I've got to run harder. We gotta make better calls. We have to make sure we pick up blocks and catch the ball, and we have to do the right things.

"Once you're in the red zone, you gotta score some kind of way."

After Dawson's 41-yard field goal put the Browns ahead 15-14 with 8:48 left, Flacco got Baltimore's offense moving again.

The Ravens, who led 14-0 with touchdowns the first two times they had the ball, went six straight possessions without a first down when Flacco completed a 21-yard pass to Anquan Boldin. Two plays later, Flacco threw an incompletion on second down but Browns safety T.J. Ward was called for roughing.

"You need a play to get yourself going," Flacco said of his throw to Boldin. "That was a good one."

On third-and-10, Flacco then fired a slant pass to Smith, who wheeled away from a flat-footed Haden and sprinted into the end zone to make it 20-15.

Haden offered no excuses.

"When he broke inside I was coming down to make sure he didn't get the first down," Haden said. "He spun out on me. I took a bad angle and he made a really good move."

The Ravens then converted the 2-point try with Flacco hitting a wide-open Boldin to extend the lead to seven.

Cleveland had plenty of time left and two timeouts. But facing a 4th-and-2 at his own 28, Browns coach Pat Shurmur, who chose to punt two weeks ago at Indianapolis in similar circumstances, decided to go for it with 3:53 remaining. However, Weeden's pass for Greg Little was incomplete and the Ravens took over.

"I felt like we had a play that we liked and we didn't execute it," Shurmur said.

Baltimore's Justin Tucker kicked a 43-yard field goal to put the Ravens up by 10.

The Browns' last chance ended when safety Ed Reed intercepted Weeden, who went 20 of 37 for 176 yards and two interceptions.

"We had a chance." Weeden said. "We just couldn't finish it."

Flacco finished 15 of 24 for 153 yards. He completed his first 10 passes, but Cleveland's defense shut him and the Ravens down for most of the second half until the final TD drive.

"We started fast and finished strong," Harbaugh said. "In the middle? Eh, it was iffy. But we came together at the end to win. "I was thinking (when the Ravens were struggling), 'This is not good. It would be nice to get a first down.' They didn't do anything different. They just did it better. The play to Anquan got us going."

Rice had 98 yards and an 8-yard TD run and Bernard Pierce scored from 12 yards as the Ravens jumped to a quick 14-0 lead.

Richardson is the first rookie to run for more than 100 yards against the Ravens since Jacksonville's Fred Taylor in 1998. Following the game, he and Rice exchanged jerseys on the field.

"It felt good to trade jerseys with a beast in Trent Richardson," Rice said. "Mutual respect on both ends."

Down by two TDs, the Browns' offense awakened in the second quarter, when Dawson's three field goals pulled Cleveland within five at halftime.

Dawson's 29-yarder with 3 seconds left made it 14-9 and sent Cleveland's players to the locker room feeling confident after nearly letting the Ravens get too far in front.

But it was Cleveland's inability to score TDs when it had the chance that doomed the young Browns and coach Pat Shurmur, who will head into their bye week stinging from another game they could have won.

"You start getting threes instead of sevens when you make your way down there, the outcome is much, much different," said Shurmur, who fell to 6-19 in two seasons. "When we did score, we were lined up improperly. There was some sloppiness in there. Of course, I'll take responsibility for that."

Game notes

Dawson made kicks of 32, 28, 29, 33 and 41 yards. His 23 consecutive field goals are still 19 shy of the NFL record set by Mike Vanderjagt, who converted 42 straight for the Colts. ... Weeden's interception in the third quarter snapped a streak of 209 consecutive offensive plays without a turnover for the Browns. ... Ravens CB Cary Williams picked off Weeden and has two of his four interceptions this season against the Browns. The five-year veteran entered the season with no picks in 39 career games. ... Browns executive vice president Bryan Wiedmeier attended his first game since undergoing surgery on Oct. 26 to have a brain tumor removed.