The Ravens flirted with disaster again when Justice Hill’s fumble ended an impressive drive that could have put their win over the Cleveland Browns on ice. thanks to a blocked field goal from Malik Harrison that topped off a dominant special-teams performance. Gus Edwards, playing for the first time since January 2021, .
Players of the game
RB Gus Edwards: Edwards’ 66 yards on 16 carries won’t blow you away, but he looked like himself after 21 months away, pounding out tough yards in a tough divisional game. He helped the Ravens improve their efficiency on third and fourth down, providing them a short-yardage weapon they had lacked when he was injured. As quarterback Lamar Jackson said, “All that power.”
LB Patrick Queen: The Ravens’ defense handled the Browns for about 2 1/2 quarters, helping to give Jackson and the offense excellent field position with turnovers and tackles for loss. Queen epitomized this big-play success with a pair of tackles for loss deep in Browns territory and an effort sack. He has strung together three effective games, verging on the consistency that eluded him in his first two seasons.
OLB Justin Houston: Houston’s groin injury flew under the radar compared to some of the Ravens’ other health woes, but they missed the veteran, who remains their most productive edge rusher. He immediately reasserted himself with a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in just 16 defensive snaps.
Snap-count analysis
Outside linebacker Odafe Oweh played 55% of defensive snaps, similar to his load in Week 6 after he had been a workhorse over the first five games. Fellow outside linebacker Justin Houston eased back in, playing 16 snaps after he missed the previous three games with a groin injury. He made the most of his time with two sacks and a forced fumble. Safety Geno Stone played all 60 defensive snaps, solidifying his hold on the starting job vacated by Marcus Williams’ injury. Rookie Damarion “Pepe” Williams played 34 more snaps than Brandon Stephens after the two had shared the workload at cornerback almost equally in Week 6. Linebacker Devon Kennard played 11 defensive snaps in his Ravens debut, but Tyus Bowser will probably soak those up when he returns in Week 8 or Week 9.
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley continued to ramp up, playing 55 of the team’s 64 offensive snaps. Right tackle Morgan Moses shook off a heel injury to play 49 snaps. Patrick Mekari played 24 snaps in relief of both starting tackles. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman played 36 snaps, a full workload in his first game back from a foot sprain that cost him two weeks. Fullback Patrick Ricard and second tight end Josh Oliver played season-high snap counts, an indication of just how heavy the Ravens went with their offensive sets. Running back Gus Edwards played 23 snaps in his first game since January 2021 and carried the ball on 16 of them. Fellow running backs Justice Hill and Kenyan Drake played 20 and 17 offensive snaps, respectively. Rookie tight end Isaiah Likely played a season-low seven offensive snaps.
Number crunch
120: Lamar Jackson passing yards, his lowest full-game total since Week 17 of the 2020 season.
44: Ravens runs out of 63 total offensive plays.
9: Ravens remaining games against opponents with losing records.
8: Ravens short-yardage conversions on third and fourth down with Gus Edwards back in their lineup.
Quote of the day
Houston on the importance of surviving another tense fourth quarter: “It just helps build momentum, and I think what we’ve been going through is just growing pains. I prefer to go through it at the beginning of the season than the end. We all know you’ve just got to get hot at the right time. I love our team. I think we’ve got everything we need to win it. We’ve just got to continue to build and grow. That’s what we’ve been doing, and it showed today.”
Next up
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium, Thursday, 8:15 p.m.
The Bucs are a team in crisis coming off a 21-3 loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers. Coach Todd Bowles told the Tampa Bay Times his team was in a “dark place” after its fourth defeat in five games. The Buccaneers’ offense, led by quarterback Tom Brady, has failed to reach 20 points four times this season after averaging 30.1 per game in 2021. This could be the last time the Ravens face the 45-year-old Brady, one of their chief nemeses of the last 20 years.
How to watch Thursday’s game
Thursday night is the first Ravens game this season to be streamed on Amazon Prime, but it will also be viewable on WMAR (ABC/Ch. 2) in the Baltimore market.
To stream Thursday’s game on Amazon Prime:
- Open the Prime Video app on your device.
- Sign in. If you’re not a Prime member, sign up for a free 30-day trial at .
- Find Thursday Night Football from the homepage, search bar, sports section or “Live & Upcoming” carousel.
- Tap on that day’s game.
- Press play.
Offensive snap counts
Ben Powers G 64
Kevin Zeitler G 64
Lamar Jackson QB 64
Tyler Linderbaum C 64
Patrick Ricard FB 56
Mark Andrews TE 56
Ronnie Stanley T 55
Morgan Moses T 49
Devin Duvernay WR 42
Rashod Bateman WR 36
Josh Oliver TE 31
Patrick Mekari T 24
Gus Edwards RB 23
Justice Hill RB 20
Kenyan Drake RB 17
Demarcus Robinson WR 15
Nick Boyle TE 9
James Proche WR 8
Isaiah Likely TE 7
Defensive snap counts
Chuck Clark SS 60
Marlon Humphrey CB 60
Marcus Peters CB 60
Geno Stone SS 60
Patrick Queen LB 59
Calais Campbell DT 40
Jason Pierre-Paul LB 38
Damarion Williams CB 37
Justin Madubuike DT 37
Josh Bynes LB 33
Odafe Oweh LB 33
Malik Harrison LB 27
Travis Jones DT 23
Broderick Washington DT 23
Kyle Hamilton FS 21
Brent Urban DE 16
Justin Houston LB 16
Devon Kennard LB 11
Kristian Welch LB 3
Brandon Stephens CB 3
()
