CLEVELAND (AP) — Lamar Jackson's final throw was his helmet. Seconds after his last-play pass to the end zone fell incomplete, s ealing Baltimore's 29-24 loss at Cleveland , the Ravens' star quarterback yanked off his helmet and spiked it with both hands in frustration. It was that kind of day for the Ravens (5-3), who couldn't put away the Browns (2-6) and had their five-game winning streak stopped.
Baltimore came in with the NFL's top-ranked offense, the league's leading rusher and Jackson doing MVP-type things. But beginning with a failed fourth-down conversion at Cleveland's 2-yard line on their opening drive to safety Kyle Hamilton letting a game-clinching interception slip through his hands with one minute left, the Ravens didn't play up to their standards. “Every loss is frustrating,” said Jackson, who couldn't connect with Zay Flowers on two throws into the end zone in the final 14 seconds.
“We didn't make plays.” This one may have hurt a little more because the Ravens had more than a few chances to put the Browns away. Baltimore twice had the lead in the second half and had gone back in front 24-23 on Derrick Henry's 2-yard run with 2:19 left.
The Ravens defense, which was missing cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins due to injuries, needed one stop in the final two minutes but couldn't get it. They were so close. After Cleveland quarterback Jameis Winston, who passed for 334 yards and three touchdowns, converted on a third-and-7 with 1:18 left, Rav.