Cleveland (AP) — Even after Baltimore had punished Brady Quinn, Ravens
linebacker Ray Lewis got in one more vicious hit on Cleveland's
quarterback.
Angered over Quinn's questionable chop block on
Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs following an interception, Lewis
accused Quinn of a dirty play.
"Heck yeah it was a cheap shot,"
Lewis snapped after Baltimore rocked Cleveland 16-0. "When you're
running down and you're looking at the quarterback going at somebody's
knees who doesn't even have the ball. I want to see if he gets the same
fine I got or even higher. Now this man is out four or five weeks
because of some baloney like that."
For 30 minutes, the Ravens were inefficient, unproductive and disorganized.
In 17 seconds, they changed all that.
Ray
Rice scored on a 13-yard run on Baltimore's first possession of the
third quarter and safety Dawan Landry returned an interception of Quinn
48 yards for a touchdown on Cleveland's next play as the Ravens
overcame a horrendous start and routed the hapless Browns.
The
game also included two plays that could force the league to hand out
fines, and it ended with Browns wide receiver Josh Cribbs being carried
from the field on a stretcher following another nasty hit. He was taken
to a hospital for tests. Cleveland coach Eric Mangini said Cribbs was
transported as a precaution.
"He's got feeling and movement in all parts of his body," Mangini said.
The
Ravens (5-4) didn't score in the opening half, when they used up their
three timeouts in the first 6:15, committed silly penalties, converted
just one third down and actually made the Browns (1-8) look respectable.
"I
guess I agree it wasn't pretty," quarterback Joe Flacco said. "It was
an ugly win, but that's the way some wins are in the NFL."
Following
his second interception, Quinn dropped and rolled into Suggs' right
knee, drawing a 15-yard penalty and incensing the Ravens.
Suggs limped to the locker room. It's not known how long he'll be out.
"That's an illegal blow," Lewis said. "I don't care how you want to look at it."
Quinn said he didn't hit Suggs intentionally.
"I
was trying to go for the ball carrier," he said. "Suggs came across at
the last second in my vision. I would never wish that upon anyone. I
was upset about it on the field. We worked out in Arizona together. I
couldn't be any more sorry about that. That was never the intent. I'm
sorry to Terrell and the rest of their team."
Despite being down
by 16, the Browns, who never crossed Baltimore's 45, were fighting for
yards on the final play. Quinn threw short to Cribbs, who then
lateralled to tight end Robert Royal. After he got rid of the ball,
Cribbs got drilled in the chin by defensive end Dwan Edwards as the
clock expired.
As Cribbs laid motionless in the middle of the
field, players from both teams knelt in prayer. Royal said Cribbs was
making jokes and moving his arms and legs.
Ravens defensive end Trevor Pryce questioned Mangini's motive in running a dangerous play.
"I
didn't see it, but I heard it," he said of Edwards' hit on Cribbs.
"With five seconds left in the game, and you're down 16-0, to throw a
hook-and-lateral, what's the point of that? I'm not trying to question
their coaching, it's none of my business. But you see what the result
was.
"You do a hook-and-lateral play with a whole bunch of guys
that are big and run fast, people are running around crazy and someone
is going to get hurt."
The first time Baltimore got the ball in
the second half, Flacco connected on a 41-yard pass to Derrick Mason,
who spun out of cornerback Brandon McDonald's tackle and raced down the
sideline to the Cleveland 13. Rice took it in from there to make it 7-0.
On
the next snap, Quinn, making his first start since being pulled 10
quarters into the season by Mangini, threw high and wide to Royal and
the ball bounced to Landry, who scampered in untouched to make it 13-0.
The
Ravens missed the extra point, but that hardly mattered against a
Cleveland offense that has scored only five offensive TDs in its past
15 games.
It was Baltimore's first shutout since Nov. 26, 2006,
and it came at the perfect time for the Ravens, who had dropped four of
five and were in danger of falling too far behind Cincinnati and
Pittsburgh in the AFC North.
Pryce said the Ravens adjusted to Cleveland's no-huddle at halftime.
"You
have to weather the storm when you're playing a team like Cleveland
that has nothing to lose," Pryce said. "What they were doing was smart.
They were running a no-huddle, quick substitution game plan. And that
stuff messes with you badly. You waste more energy running on and off
the field than you do in the game itself. That was the big thing we had
to address in the second half."
NOTES: Before the game, Browns
backup QB Derek Anderson played catch — left-handed — with Hall of Fame
quarterback Steve Young, a lefty who returned the throws right-handed.
Anderson threw some impressive spirals with his opposite hand. ...
Browns P Dave Zastudil was inactive because of a sore knee. Reggie
Hodges, signed Sunday, averaged 38.6 on nine kicks. ... Ravens S Haruki
Nakamura, a Cleveland native, broke his right ankle on the opening
kickoff. ... Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Suggs would have an MRI on
Tuesday.