Ravens Must Address One Issue Before Winning AFC North

Despite winning their fourth straight game and hanging in the AFC North division, no one from Baltimore is feeling particularly good about the Ravens escaping with a 23-16 win over the Cleveland Browns.

The Ravens struggled with three turnovers, and quarterback Lamar Jackson was sacked five times in the win. Bleacher Report writer Brent Sobleski had one takeaway from that performance from Baltimore, and that's if they want to be serious contenders in the AFC North, they better clean up the mistakes.

"The Baltimore Ravens have won four straight and are back in the AFC North race behind the 6-4 Steelers. Pittsburgh isn't simply going to fade away, though, and Baltimore must play a cleaner brand of ball if it's going to catch up."

"The Ravens allowed five sacks and turned it over three times while falling into a 10-point hole but still escaped with a win, largely because the Cleveland Browns couldn't move the ball at all in the second half."

"Of Cleveland's 187 yards, 123 came before intermission—and before Dillon Gabriel's concussion forced the Browns to turn to Shedeur Sanders. The Ravens aren't going to face many more teams as offensively inept as Cleveland as they chase the postseason."

Ravens have a lot to clean up entering the second half of the NFL season

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

A lot of the mistakes came from the lack of protection from the offensive line. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett had four sacks and five quarterback hits as he manhandled the Ravens' tackles throughout the game. It was borderline embarassing for a line that had been playing better over the last few weeks.

Part of the blame has to be attributed to Jackson, who seemed rattled by Garrett throughout the game. After addressing all his accuracy issues from his rookie season, Jackson reverted to his old bad habits and continued to make the same mistakes and poor reads.

What saved the Ravens in the game was the running game, thanks to Henry's 59-yard run and Mark Andrews' 35-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to set up scores for Baltimore. Henry finished with 103 yards and one touchdown in the win.

It's concerning that the Ravens struggled so much against a team that has only won two games this season, while the Pittsburgh Steelers got a blowout win over the Cincinnati Bengals despite losing their starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers stay in control of the AFC North with a 6-4 record, and the Ravens are one game behind them with a 5-5 record.

Baltimore has the time to win this division if they want to, but their offense must stop making the mistakes they are creating if they want to take the AFC North.

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