Last night the Ravens returned to the national stage in hopes of snapping a five-game losing streak on Monday night and keeping pace with the Wild Card race in the AFC.

Things looked ugly between the two division rival for the first thirty minutes. The Ravens offense bumbled its way through the first half with miscommunication, and an inability to move the football. However, it took just two plays within the span of 17 seconds in the third quarter for everything to change.

Ray Rice scored on a 13 yard run and Safety Dawan Landry caught a tipped pass and returned it 48 yards for the touchdown.

That was all Baltimore needed to move to (5-4) to get past an inept Cleveland (1-8) squad as they head into an important home game next week against the undefeated Indianapolis Colts.

Aside from the sloppy play on a rainy night in Cleveland injuries were perhaps the biggest concern of the night. Haruki Nakamura was carted off the field in an air-cast after the opening kickoff. But the biggest potential loss might be Terrell Suggs.

Suggs was hit low by Quarterback Brady Quinn as Baltimore attempted to set up an interception return by Chris Carr. Suggs has been diagnosed with a sprained knee and did not return though is availability for this Sunday is certainly in doubt.

If there were any positives to draw from this miserable Monday contest, the Ravens defense did shut out the Browns, their first since 2006 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The defense also has held opponents scoreless for the last six quarters. But the shut out feels hollow because the Browns were so horrid on offense. Brady Quinn rarely went downfield and any attempt to use burner Joshua Cribbs in the Wildcat formation came up empty. The Brown rarely threatened which helped mask the Ravens own offensive issues.

But division wins on the road are hard to come by and Baltimore will take it as they look ahead to three crucial games on their schedule.

Coach John Harbaugh said it best, “This three-game stretch coming up is everything to our season.”

Points to Ponder

What does this offense need to do to score?

Clearly the book is out on how to defend Baltimore. Drop both safeties to guard against the deep ball. Take away the slants and comeback routes. Stay home to protect against Ray Rice screens and middle dump offs.

Now it’s time to adjust and re-scheme and this is where Cameron must adjust his game plan and mode of thinking. I totally understand what he’s trying to do in becoming a more pass oriented team but it’s even come to a point where I can predict what plays they are running and that’s never a good thing. They need some level of unpredictability and having Ray Rice throw a lefty halfback option on third down isn’t it.

This offense NEEDS to go No Huddle to start their first drive next Sunday. They need to establish a rhythm and tempo among the whole unit. Flacco needs to lead this group. He has regressed the past few games to where his calmness is seen as complacency. Where’s the urgency?

The first half last night gave me flashbacks to the days when Baltimore was an expansion team. They burned all three time outs due to disorganization and sloppy execution. How do you come out of a time-out and get a delay of game penalty? False starts. Missed assignments. Simply bad football.

There seems to be little cohesiveness or unity among these guys. Let’s not forget that the third down conversion rate was atrocious (4-14) again. What saved them was an ability to run the football. Something that the staff seems to want to get away from.

Has the defense improved?

Not really. Sure they have held the opposition scoreless in the past six quarters. But that’s more to the Bengals wanting the run the ball and control clock and a terrible game plan and execution by the Browns.

But I should give them credit. The pass rush was better and therefore so was the coverage. They could press up since Quinn only threw the deep ball late and even then he couldn’t keep it in bounds. If anything it could be helpful for their confidence as they held the punchless Brownies to 86 rushing yards and even fewer passing yards (74).

They also turned Cleveland over and made them pay as a result. That’s another element that’s been missing over the past several games. Winning the turnover battle is crucial to wining games.

Is Hauschka finished?

YES. In fact I wouldn’t be shocked if he were cut already. He may have the physical tools to be a pro kicker but mentally he’s as soft as tissue. His follow through was poor on that little chippy he missed early and even though the snap was bad on the extra point his kick was still low. He just hasn’t recovered from the Vikings miss.

Now just imagine the mood at M & T in just six days when Matt Stover returns to kick for the hated Colts. Stover will probably be available in a few weeks but imagine the PR nightmare if the Ravens were to re-sign him. I can’t see it happening.

What about the new MNF broadcast team?

Let me start by saying I have always enjoyed Ron Jaworski and John Gruden has been a pleasant addition as well. I was really excited that the higher ups at MNF decided to go for analysis over comedy. For the most part I think they work well with Mike Tirico and they put on a good show.

However, I grew tired of the Cleveland lovefest quickly. Gruden is from Ohio and Jaws played at Youngstown State so it shouldn’t surprise me that they waxed nostalgic about everything Browns. Even to go so far as to show a Gruden letter written in crayon to his favorite team.

How sweet.

But his comment about Baltimore throwbacks being old Cleveland Brown jerseys had me reaching for the mute button and wanting to put a size eleven into the television screen.

The theme this season is about the tradition of MNF yet there was NO mention of the Baltimore Colts. No mention of how they were taken from the city. No mention of the proud tradition that was interrupted due to a drunk owner’s whims. Instead we got a three second blip of Johnny Unitas in the opening credits? For some reason the nation still views the Ravens as some sort of expansion team on par with the Panthers, and Jaguars. Which for me only reopens the idea of why the Colts are still the Colts and why the records, history, and colors weren’t left behind just as Modell did?

Yet the nation is still supposed to mourn the fact that current Brown team is an inept franchise led by a moronic owner that was in danger of having last night’s game blacked out. It’s a double standard that I have trouble digesting.

Was Quinn’s hit illegal or just dirty?

Yes it was since he got flagged for it. Did he mean to do it as a way to hurt another player? Hard to say. Quinn couldn’t do much right yesterday so it’s hard to figure that he’d be able to complete this task if he really wanted to hurt someone.

Either way Suggs may be out a few games and it couldn’t happen at a worse time.

Who was the offensive player of the game?

Ray Rice rushed for 89 yards on 20 touches and provided the only offensive score of the game (AGAIN). Derrick Mason and Todd Heap pitched in with a few catches but I’m really concerned with the receiver situation.

Are they not getting open because they can’t get separation or is it the patterns they are running? I feel like I’ve asked this question before.

Who was the defensive player of the game?

I think you could give a few votes here. Ray Lewis was very solid anchoring the middle. Lardarius Webb has transitioned well with more reps and Dawan Landry looked the best he has all year.

The next few games will show if this group has improved or was just helped by facing a putrid opponent.