Missed opportunities spoil Hoyer's showing

CLEVELAND-- Brian Hoyer had his coming out party with the Browns.

Unfortunately, it went for naught as the Browns' missed opportunities cost them a chance to improve to 2-1 heading into the bye with a 23-21 loss to the Ravens in front of 67,407 fans at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Despite, just making his seventh career starter--six with the Browns-- Hoyer had his best game of his NFL career, statistically, as he was 19-of-25 for 290 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He was sacked once and rushed two times for four yards.

Hoyer is 4-2 as a starter with the Browns.

Hoyer's quarterback rating was 127.1. He started 10-of-11 for 127 yards in the first half.

Hoyer completed 14 consecutive passes during the game and he has now thrown 156 passes without an interception spanning six games.

"It's tough," Hoyer said. "It's heartbreaking. We were on the other side this week and it doesn't feel good. Really, when it comes down to it, we made a lot of plays, but we didn't make them when we really needed to.

"In this league, you have to do it when it's on the line," he said. "We did it last weekend. We didn't do it this week. As good as we felt the whole game, when it comes down to critical moments, we just have to make more plays."

Hoyer led the Browns on three, 80-yard touchdown drives, including back-to-back drives to start the second half.

However, the missed opportunities will haunt he and the Browns in the loss into the bye week.

-- In the second quarter Ravens leading 10-7, Hoyer threw a deep pass to fellow quarterback Johnny Manziel for a 39-yard gain to the Ravens' 23, but the play was called back for an illegal shift on Terrance West. Hoyer said he needed to wait another split second for West to get set.

Result: Browns punt.

-- In the fourth quarter Browns leading 21-17, Tashaun Gipson intercepted Joe Flacco and returned the ball to the Ravens' 32. However, a miscommunication on a handoff to Isaiah Crowell cost the Browns eight yards.

Result: Cundiff missed 50-yard field goal

-- In the fourth quarter Browns leading 21-17, Browns have a first down and goal at the Ravens nine after a 70-yard pass to Taylor Gabriel. However, Hoyer was sacked for a six-yard loss and then penalized for crossing the line of scrimmage on a touchdown pass to Miles Austin.

Result: Cundiff 36-yard field goal blocked.

"I knew it was close," Hoyer said of the penalty. "I think I remember kind of trying to slow my body up a little bit and thinking I wasn't fully over. But, you've got to be smart there and make it an easier field goal, so try to get as much as you can and get down."

-- In the fourth quarter Browns leading 21-20, the Browns last two possessions were three an outs, including the possession that lasted just 14 seconds and allowed the Ravens to get the ball back at the 50 with 1:58 to play.

Result: Justin Tucker kicks game-winning 32-yard field goal as time expires.

On third down, Hoyer tried to hit Andrew Hawkins, but threw behind him. The Ravens were out of timeouts and wouldn't have been able to stop the clock again after the two-minute warning if the Browns would've converted the first down.

"It was a little bit behind him," Hoyer said. "I think I got to him a little quicker than we usually do it because of the progression. If I could put it in front of him, Hawk's just turning. That's on me. I have got to put it in front of him."

EXTRA POINTS

Bad Rush Defense: The Browns gave up 160 yards on 33 attempts for a 4.8 average a carry. With starting RB Bernard Pierce inactive, RB Justin Forsett started and had 63 yards on 11 carries. Forsett also had four receptions for just two yards.

However, it was rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro who did much of the damage as he rushed for 91 yards on 18 carries in his first NFL action. He had a touchdown and a 31-yard run in the game.

Nothing Special: K Billy Cundiff had a 36-yard field goal blocked with 7:46 to play in the game with the Browns leading 21-20. Earlier, Cundiff missed a 50-yard field goal.

PR Travis Benjamin did not fair catch a punt near the 20, but instead let it roll to the 7 where the Ravens downed it with 2:19 to play in the game.

Short of Century Mark: In the first two games, the Browns rushed for over 100 yards as a team. In the loss to the Ravens, the Browns finished with 91 yards on 29 carries (3.1 avg.). Rookie RB Isaiah Crowell led the team with 55 yards on 11 carries (5.0 avg.), including a touchdown run of 14 yards. He also had the Browns longest run of the game for 22 yards. Fellow rookie RB Terrance West had 12 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Hawk Leads: WR Andrew Hawkins led the Browns with seven catches for 87 yards, including a 29- yard catch. WR Miles Austin was second with six receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown.

Hawkins leads the Browns with 21 catches for 244 yards for an 11.6 average.

WR Taylor Gabriel had two receptions for 81 yards, including a 70 -yard play that he fell down after catching the ball. Gabriel was untouched and got up and ran to the nine-yard line. However, the Browns were unable to score as K Billy Cundiff had a 36-yard field goal blocked.

"Yeah, I'm a little upset (about not scoring)," Gabriel said. "But at the same time, it just felt good getting my hands on the ball."

Gabriel was asked if he thinks the Browns would've won had he scored.

"I wouldn't think that," he said. "There are many more factors that go into the game than just one play."

WR Travis Benjamin caught one pass for 43 yards to the four-yard line to set up a one-yard touchdown by RB Terrance West.

Cameron Back: TE Jordan Cameron returned to the lineup after missing last week's game with a shoulder injury. Cameron had one reception for 23 yards on three targets.

Trickery Almost Works: QB Johnny Manziel came out in the second quarter and handed off to RB Isaiah Crowell for a one-yard loss. QB Brian Hoyer ran onto the field and Manziel appeared disgusted and as he got near the sideline, but stayed on the field. Hoyer took the snap and lofted a pass to Manziel who was uncovered for 39 yards to the Ravens' 23, but RB Terrance West was not set and a penalty nullified the play.

"It was a form of trickery," Hoyer said. "I kept looking out the corner of my eye to see if they were covering him."

Manziel gave his description of what happened.

"It was one play," he said. "Our two set play list in there, so I ran the first one on one play and then came back out and tried to get them a little confused as were subbing in. We really got the look that we wanted and we took off.

"Unfortunately, we got a penalty on it," he said. "I played receiver in high school, so it really wasn't a big deal. Just one play in the game. I wish we could have not had the penalty, but that's how it goes."

Gipson Picks: DB Tashaun Gipson intercepted QB Joe Flacco and returned it 17 yards to the Ravens' 30 to start the fourth quarter.  The Browns were leading 21-17 at the time, but they were unable to capitalize as K Billy Cundiff hit the left upright on a 50-yard field goal attempt.

Gipson had five interceptions last season to lead the team and leads the team this season with two.

Positive Turnover Ratio: For the third-straight game the Browns finished ahead in the turnover ratio with a plus one. DB Tashaun Gipson's interception was the lone turnover in the game. The Browns are now plus four through three games.

Sackless: The Browns had no sacks for the first time this season. DB Donte Whitner led the Browns with 7 tackles, followed by DB Joe Haden with six. DB Tashaun Gipson, LB Karlos Dansby, LB Craig Robertson, DL Jabaal Sheard and LB Chris Kirksey each had five tackles.

LB Barkevious Mingo, in his return to the lineup had four tackles.

Local Kid Scores: Former Medina Cloverleaf high school player Kyle Juszczyk scored the Ravens first touchdown on a nine-yard pass from QB Joe Flacco in the second quarter to give the Ravens a 10-7 lead.  All totaled, he caught three passes for 54 yards, including a 33 yard play. Juszczyk played his college football at Harvard.

"It definitely meant a lot to me," Juszczyk said "Having gone the first two games without any touches, I kind of thought to myself, maybe it was meant to be that my first catch and my first touchdown would be in front of my hometown."

Captains: Captains for the game were former Raven and current Browns LB Paul Kruger, DL Ahtyba Rubin, WR Miles Austin and DB Johnson Bademosi.

So Long: WR Charles Johnson was signed to the Vikings active roster off of the Browns practice squad on Saturday.

Champions Honored: The Browns honored the 50th and 60th anniversary of the 1954 and 1964 NFL Championship teams.

Five members of the 1954 team were in attendance: DL Bob Gain, DB Ken Gorgal, RB Chet Hanulak, HB/WR Dub Jones and RB Fred Morrision.

There were 25 players from the 1964 team including RB Jim Brown, WR Paul Warfield, QB Frank Ryan, OL Dick Schafrath and OL John Wooten.

Legends: Former Browns OL Robert E. Jackson (1975-85) and TE Milt Morin (1966-75) were inducted into the Cleveland Browns Legends program.