Ravens 41, Browns 17: Joe Flacco has rough return to Baltimore as Cleveland overmatched, 'embarrassed'

BALTIMORE — The Browns didn't spoil the party.They played the role of pinatas instead.The Ravens turned a close game into a 41-17 rout Sunday in the fourth quarter. They ruined 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco's return to Charm City and left him and his Browns teammates to pick themselves off the M&T Bank Stadium grass."This sh**'s embarrassing," defensive end Myles Garrett said.Browns Myles Garrett on loss: This shit's embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/sQ2n8juL1n— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) September 14, 2025https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe Ravens (1-1) spent Sunday celebrating 30 years of existence and stealing the franchise from Cleveland. They trotted out former general manager Ozzie Newsome and Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Jonathan Ogden. They honored the men responsible for the move, including recognizing John Modell, the son of Art, the late former owner who made the deal to leave Cleveland for Baltimore during the 1995 season. They showed off the trophies from their two Super Bowl wins.Commentary: Don't blame Joe Flacco, blame the franchise that can't get it rightThe Ravens looked like a team capable of making a run at a third. The Browns played like a team headed for another high draft pick, dropping their eighth straight dating to last year.Another special teams disaster. An offense lacking explosion, dropping too many passes and not blocking well enough. A defense asked to do too much, especially when it's short-handed at cornerback.The Browns fell to 0-2 with their second straight AFC North loss. Cleveland's schedule doesn't get any easier, with the Packers (2-0) visiting the lakefront next Sunday.The E-word made a few appearances after the defeat."You definitely feel a little bit embarrassed when you lose like this, but that's part of what you got to deal with when you're in this league," Flacco said. "We're all fortunate to be in positions we are, and I hope that we can realize that and just get back to work and prove that this was an anomaly and that it won't happen again."He had never played a game in Baltimore after spending 2008-18 with the Ravens, including winning a Super Bowl. The return featured too much pass rush in his face and not enough completions. He was hurt by drops for the second straight week, going 25-for-45 for 199 yards, a touchdown, an interception, a fumble, two sacks and a 65.0 passer rating.The fumble came in desperation time as he was being sacked by linebacker Tavius Robinson. Linebacker Roquan Smith scooped it and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown."I'm embarrassed about it," Flacco said. "The fact that came out of my hand and, you know."The interception was a forced pass in the third quarter and returned 61 yards by Nate Wiggins to set up a Ravens touchdown for a 20-3 lead. Flacco was chased out of the pocket, tried to fit in a pass to tight end David Njoku and threw off-target.Flacco caught a break on the next drive, as a fourth-and-3 throw toward the end zone went off safety Kyle Hamilton's hands and to receiver Cedric Tillman, who corralled it in the end zone.That was the only Cleveland touchdown until rookie Dillon Gabriel replaced Flacco for the final drive in his NFL debut. Gabriel went 3-for-3 for 20 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown to rookie running back Dylan Sampson.Odds are good Gabriel will become the starter at some point if the season goes sideways, but coach Kevin Stefanski isn't there, saying he wasn't considering a change.Browns Kevin Stefanski on message to team after ugly loss to Ravens. pic.twitter.com/35Y37HGaqx— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) September 14, 2025https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"The collective we as a team, we as an offense, we as a coaching staff, all of us didn't do a good enough job," he said.Left guard Joel Bitonio isn't ready to abandon the plan two weeks into the season."We have to play better for Joe before we make any of those decisions," he said. "We have to give our offense a chance to perform and make sure we're good to go before we make any changes. And if you pick our problems, I don't think Joe's high on the list."Flacco was sacked twice, hit nine times and hurried into throwaways all day. Receiver Jerry Jeudy dropped a pass and bobbled another on the sideline for an incompletion. Tillman caught the touchdown but fell down multiple times running routes, looking for a penalty on at least two of the occasions. The run game was better, but the numbers (22 rushes, 114 yards, 5.2 average) were inflated by a 31-yard run in garbage time from Quinshon Judkins in his debut. He rushed 10 times for 61 yards and caught three passes for 10.The defense kept the Browns in the game through three quarters — 20-10 — despite difficult circumstances.Baltimore's only touchdown of the first half came after a blocked punt gave it the ball at the 24. Personal protector Ronnie Hickman was run over by Jake Hummel, who stuffed punter Corey Bojorquez.The second touchdown was after Flacco's interception was returned to the 5. The defense forced a field goal in the previous goal-line situation, but this time Lamar Jackson threw 2 yards to Devontez Walker on fourth down.Cornerback Cameron Mitchell was in coverage, as he was for three of Jackson's four touchdowns. He was in the game because Pro Bowler Denzel Ward missed most of it with cramps.Nickelback Myles Harden gave up the other touchdown, a 23-yarder to DeAndre Hopkins. Harden's playing because Martin Emerson Jr. was lost for the season in camp with a ruptured Achilles tendon.Jackson either stood in the pocket and fired or extended plays to give his targets time to break free. He was 19-for-29 for 225 yards, four touchdowns, three sacks and a 128.6 rating. He rushed only twice for 13 yards."We put our defense in too many really, really tough spots and we need to do better as a football team," Stefanski said. "It's frustrating when you get beat like we got beat. But nobody's hiding from it. You own it. I know what these guys are about and we'll just get back to work."The Browns backed up safety Grant Delpit's comment that it's "not hard" to tackle Ravens star running back Derrick Henry by holding him to 24 yards on 11 carries, with a long of 8. But Garrett, who had 1.5 sacks to give him 3.5 in two games, didn't see many silver linings despite the Ravens totaling 244 net yards."We got to be better on defense, we got to be better as a team," he said. "They slowly chipped away. We did a solid job holding it to three when we could. And then eventually the dam broke and then they just did whatever they wanted and we had to continue to play a 60-minute game."Stefanski told the team the "storm" came early this season."It's hard when you start off the season the way we have," Flacco said. "There's a lot of tests that you face in this league, and it's very easy to just put your head down, tuck your tail between your legs and run off. And I just don't see that in the guys in that locker room. And I honestly didn't see it today."We're fighting out there and we're trying. Are we doing things to our best ability? Are we playing as good as we can? We're not. But we got guys that are trying hard in there, and I have all the confidence in the world that we're going to continue to have those guys do that same thing."The post Ravens 41, Browns 17: Joe Flacco has rough return to Baltimore as Cleveland overmatched, 'embarrassed' first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.