Winners and losers of the Browns’ 29-24 win over the Ravens

Winner: Paying tribute to a legend

The Browns went out and won it for legendary Browns play-by-play radio announcer Jim Donovan, who died on Saturday at the age of 68 after his battle with cancer.

Donovan earned the gig when the franchise returned in 1999, introducing himself to a generation of Browns fans who will keep his legacy alive. Fans brought signs to Sunday’s game in memory of Donovan, and of Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry personally delivered the match ball to Donovan’s family after the win.

Although the “Voice of the Browns” is no longer with us, his spirit will live on forever.

Loser: Discipline

Numerous penalties were taken on both sides of the ball.

Both teams had seven penalties: the Browns lost 74 yards, the Ravens lost 53.

The Browns currently lead the league in penalties (67) and rank fourth in yards lost (511), while the Ravens rank second in penalties (63) and rank second in lost yards (549).

It’s not a good look from either side.

Winner: Aggressiveness

Yes, Baltimore entered Sunday with the worst pass defense in the league (287.1 per game).

However, it must be taken advantage of.

Instead of a conservative offense with shorter routes and checkdowns, Cleveland came up with an aggressive game plan with deeper passes.

And perhaps there was no one better to take advantage of this than James Winstonwho has earned a reputation for letting it fly and worrying about the consequences later.

The first offensive series alone set the tone for Watson’s day, as he completed four traveling passes 10 or more meters further in the fieldand three of them were at least 50 feet long. But what really led to his 334 passing yards and three touchdowns was his ability to get the entire receiving corps involved.

For example, Elijah Moore was targeted 12 times for 85 yards (10.6 per reception) on Sunday. He was charged the same amount during weeks 4 through 7.

Jerry Jeudy has caught three of his 12 goals in the last three games. Winston caught him early and kept going, leading to Jeudy catching five of his eight targets for 79 yards (15.8 per reception).

Winner: dance moves

It takes some work to get a defensive stop, especially on a player like Lamar Jackson.

That’s why Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz encourages his players to celebrate after a play.

Edge rusher Za’Darius Smith took that into account after stopping Jackson from scrambling, instead tackling him for a 9-and-5 loss in the fourth quarter.

Smith celebrated the play with the Ray Lewis dance, a tribute to the Ravens great who would perform his signature dance in the pregame.

Although Smith was drafted by Baltimore and played for them for four seasons, the dance could also be interpreted as a mockery of the Ravens, as Smith did the dance for a division rival.

But then again, that’s just AFC North football for you.

Loser: Here comes the sun

Would anything member of the Beatles Did you catch the catch on Sunday? We’ll never know.

But what we do know is that Baltimore’s Rashod Bateman couldn’t do that on Sunday.

After that defensive stop by Za’Darius Smith, the Ravens closed in on a third-and-14 from their own 15. Jackson somehow escaped multiple sack attempts and bought enough time to find an open target.

Jackson found Bateman running deep on the ‘Brownie the Elf’ logo in midfield, but it bounced back off Bateman.

“I saw the ball until the last minute, and then the ball went straight into the sun. There’s nothing I can do about that, so God just put me there, I guess. That’s all I can say,” Bateman said.

As for Bateman and his receiving corps, Jackson says none of them said the sun was causing any problems, but he would confirm it.

“No, they didn’t tell me. If they did, I would believe it, because the sun was shining brightly today. (It was) shining,” Jackson said.

Winner: Carlo Tillman

Before Tillman came up with the game-winning 38-yard touchdown catch, he had to endure mistakes to get ready for the moment.

The second-year wide receiver was expected to play a bigger role prior to the season, but he was targeted just five times in Week 3 and caught three of them.

His first drop of the season came on a crucial fourth-and-4 in the Week 3 loss to the Giants, resulting in a turnover on downs. Tillman had the ball in his hands, but couldn’t hold on to the catch on its way to the ground.

“I just didn’t make the play. I let the team down. I usually play that game, but unfortunately I didn’t make it today,” Tillman said after the loss in September.

After that game, Tillman appeared in 50 offensive snaps between Weeks 4 and 6, per Pro Football Focus. None of those games had a single goal.

Tillman’s place on the offense was unknown until Week 7, the first game after the Browns traded Amari Cooper to Buffalo. Tillman rose to the occasion with a team-high 81 receiving yards on eight catches (10.1 per reception).

That continued into Sunday against Baltimore, where he caught seven of his nine targets for 99 yards (14.1 per reception) and two touchdowns.

The first score was off in the third period, creating separation from Baltimore’s Jalyn Armour-Davis before having to pass Eddie Jackson at the goal line to give Tillman his first career touchdown.

The second score came on a gutsy call by Ken Dorsey, in which Watson dropped back and threw deep to Tillman, who caught the game winner from 38 yards.

“My teammates and coaches were there for me. They said they trust me. They know I’m going to make that play. I got the chance again today and I didn’t plan on that,” Tillman said on Sunday. “I knew I had to get through it and I just tried.”