The Cleveland Browns must have wondered if there was a way they could rewind the game and start over on Sunday in Baltimore. After forcing the Ravens offense to punt the ball, the Browns took over at their own 22 and proceeded to fumble the very first shotgun snap from C Jeff Faine to QB Trent Dilfer. Five plays later the Ravens would score and proceed to own the rest of the 1st half and win the game 16-3.

The Browns have probably heard the statement, "Sometimes you need to take 1 step back to take 2 steps forward", hopefully for them and their fans Sunday was just that. The offense was never in sync all day and failed to even attempt 1 rush until there was 12:32 left in the 2nd quarter. They finished with 18 rushing attempts and a mere 52 plays on offense.

QB Trent Dilfer was sacked 4 times, threw 1 INT and fumbled the ball twice. It was clearly his worst day as the QB of the Cleveland Browns in 2005. Dilfer was only able to amass 147 yards and completed only 53% of his passes for a QB rating of 53.1.

Perhaps more perplexing was the play calling on offense. The failure to even attempt a rush until the 2nd quarter meant the Browns were down already 13-0 when they finally did. On consecutive plays in the first quarter with the Browns facing 2nd and 1 and 3rd and 1 the Browns failed to try and run to pick up the 1st down. Two incomplete passes by Dilfer and the Browns were forced to put their defense on the field again. The Browns were on the short end of the time of possession again Sunday, holding the ball almost 15 minutes shorter then the Ravens.

The defense was very good holding RB Jamal Lewis to only 59 yards and 2.5 yards per carry, they forgot about RB Chester Taylor though. Taylor tallied 92 yards on 8 carries, breaking a long run of 52 yards at the end of the 1st quarter which led to a 27 yard Matt Stover field goal and a Ravens 13-0 lead.

The Browns special teams was horrible Sunday, both covering kicks and returning them as well. The Browns punt coverage allowed 3 returns for 74 yards, an average of over 24 yards per return. For what seems like the 5th consecutive week the punt return team was flagged negating nice returns by Dennis Northcutt. The team was flagged on 3 of 5 Ravens punts, 2 penalties on S Sean Jones and another on RB William Green late in the 4th quarter that wiped out a 32 yard Northcutt return. Special teams coach Jerry Rossburg, the only Butch Davis coaching staff hold over, must really be feeling the heat. Special teams on Sunday was as bad as they could be and cost the Browns crucial field position. Along with the offense the unit was a big reason for the loss.

Defensively the Browns did what they wanted to do, stop the running game and force QB Anthony Wright to beat them. Wright stepped up and did just that completing 74% of his passes and throwing for the games only TD.

DE Alvin McKinley followed a strong performance against the Bears with another Sunday recording 8 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. LB Andra Davis led all players with 13 tackles on Sunday.

The Browns will now return home next week to take on a Detroit Lions team that is as Jekyll and Hyde as they are. After winning a big game against the Ravens at home last week, the Lions lost late to the Carolina Panthers 21-20 on Sunday. Both team are 2-3 and will be looking to get back to .500. The Browns are 2-0 against the NFC North in 2005

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