“You get the stop, you get the win”: In the Browns defense’s final stand in the win over the Ravens

“I was so tired I crawled off the field, but it felt great to be here, celebrating and jumping around,” said edge rusher Ogbo Okoronkwo. “I think (defensive tackle) Shelby (Harris) knocked my helmet off. We had a good time.”

Entering Sunday, the Browns and Ravens found themselves on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Baltimore had won its last five games and Cleveland had lost its last five. Baltimore came into the game averaging 461.4 yards per game and a league-best 210.9 rushing yards per game. The Browns defense allowed a total of 317.9 yards per game and 126.1 rushing yards.

So when Baltimore had the ball with 59 seconds left, it was hard for Browns supporters not to fear the worst, considering the defensive unit that ranked first in the NFL in the regular season last year was down to one More modest midline has fallen behind -Pack stats.

But to hear the Browns defenders say it? This is exactly where they wanted to be.

“It was electric,” star edge rusher Myles Garrett said. “I like being in games where it makes your heart beat faster, makes my heart beat faster, things like that. “When the competition arises, you have to rise to the challenge and things like that get me going.”

Jackson started the drive at its own 30-yard line and made three big plays to get Baltimore to the Browns' 24-yard mark: a quick 11-yard shot to receiver Nelson Agholar; a 21-yarder to receiver Zay Flowers, who mismatched with Browns safety Grant Delpit on the outside; and finally a short dump-off to running back Justice Hill for a 14-yard gain, with most of those yards coming after the catch.

On first-and-10, Jackson hit the ball to stop the clock with just 22 seconds left.

Then the real fun began.

On second-and-10, Jackson quickly moved to his left with Browns edge rusher Za'Darius Smith and rookie DT Michael Hall Jr. hot on his heels. When Okoronkwo hit him near the left sideline and cut him off, Jackson threw the ball out of bounds.

“Man, it was like a cat chasing a mouse out there,” Hall said. “And Lamar is a damn good quarterback, just fast, fast. You have to lock the bag, you have to keep him in that bag. You have to contain it. So that was the big focus this week.”

On third-and-10 with 14 seconds left, Jackson again escaped a sack by Smith and scrambled to his right as Hall chased him. Jackson was able to sit down, throw across his body and carry the ball down the field toward Flowers near the back left portion of the end zone.

However, Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. used his length with the score at 6-2 and flicked the ball away with both hands.

“I was hoping it would be over, I looked up, I have three seconds, so finish the game,” Emerson said. “Find a way to get the ball on the ground and secure the W. … (Jackson) is a special player who uses his feet and a lot of casts where the receivers are just scrambling around to find open spaces.” And yes, it was a physical, tough game. But it was a lot of fun.”

On fourth-and-10, Jackson really pulled out all the stops.

Assessing the play, Jackson ended up back near the Cleveland 40. With Smith on his heels, he was pushed back to the 45. Smith actually got a hand on his arm but couldn't take Jackson down.

As Jackson moved toward the Ravens sideline and extended the play, Okoronkwo had enough time to approach him from the other side of the field, hit him and cut him off. While Okoronkwo got two hands in his face, Jackson got the Browns' edge rusher to bite and leave his feet with a pump fake.

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Jackson took a step up and threw deep to his left, again looking for Flowers. However, the second-year receiver failed to get out far enough, tripped in the end zone and fell forward as the ball was thrown.

However, Delpit was there and insists he should have had a pick when the ball hit him in the hands.

“I dropped it,” Delpit said. “I got the hell out of there. This is bad.”

But the game was still over.

And that ending represented an excellent rebound for a unit that had been unable to finish games this season.

It's even more impressive when you consider that before that stop, the defense gave up a 2-yard touchdown run to Derrick Henry – a score that gave the Ravens a 24-23 lead with just 2:36 left in the game game were.

“We learned from it, came back, of course we ran more drop-back deep zone on the last drive,” Delpit said. “Obviously they had a few chunk plays, but we kept them out of the end zone.”

It helped that the pass rush applied so much pressure, even as the Ravens continued to chip, help and hold Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Two blockers, including veteran left tackle Ronnie Stanley, tripped him on the final play.

“Keep going,” Okoronkwo said of his attitude on the final ride. “Keep hurrying up, keep going. Lamar is a fantastic player. He is one of the best players in the league. We knew that if we didn't give it our all, he would make a difference. So we just emptied the tank on the last trip.”

In the end, the Browns defense limited the Ravens offense on a fairly tame afternoon.

Jackson finished the game completing 23 of 38 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns with a rating of 101.8 and was sacked three times. He ran for another 46 yards on eight carries.

Henry didn't ruin the game either. He finished the game with 73 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, but 39 of those yards came on a run in the second quarter.

“I told y’all I was going to put (Brown left tackle) Dawand (Jones) at running back on the scout team, and y’all are going to see how many yards Derrick Henry had,” Delpit quipped. “He had a long run, but I told y’all it would work.”

In the end, the Browns and defense defeated Jackson – no easy task.

And in the process, they ended their own five-game losing streak and regained some much-needed confidence.

“I forgot what winning felt like, man,” Delpit said. “It’s a great feeling.”