CLEVELAND – Roquan Smith was excited to play in Cleveland Browns Stadium because he felt like he belongs there.
“They call it the Dawg Pound,” Smith said Wednesday. “I consider myself a dawg.”
Sunday, in the Ravens’ dominant 28-3 win over the Browns, Smith proved himself the big dawg. He tore around the field, knocking off helmets and getting in players’ faces, helping the Ravens outshine the defense that led the league through the first three weeks.
While the Browns gave up 296 yards and an average of 5.4 yards per play, the Ravens held the Browns to 166 yards and 2.6 yards per play. The Browns finished with three sacks and one forced turnover. The Ravens finished with three sacks and three forced turnovers.
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It was the first time since Oct. 14, 2018, that the Ravens held an opponent to fewer than 2.7 yards per play, a feat they’ve accomplished only 12 times in organization history. That’s why the defense earned the “spike,” a symbolic gesture from coach John Harbaugh for when people on the team “chase the lion.” The defense led the way, Harbaugh said, and Smith led the defense.
Smith finished with a game-best 10 tackles, one for loss. He also had two pass defenses and one quarterback hurry. Even so, Patrick Queen thought he could have done better.
“He definitely established himself [as the big dawg],” Queen said with a laugh. “I think he could have REALLY established himself if he had those two picks.”
The team graciously overlooked those drops as it celebrated Smith in the locker room. Chants of “Rohan, Rohan, Rohan” (a nickname born from a slip Harbaugh made when mentioning Smith in a team meeting) escaped through the closed locker room doors, with Queen’s voice the loudest. Quarterback Lamar Jackson continued the cheers quietly from beside the podium as Smith addressed the media after the game.
Smith’s performance came despite the fact the Browns may have had it out for him after comments he made during the week. Smith was asked about how he approaches the intense atmosphere of a rivalry game on the road and responded:
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“You go in there as the enemy to go take over, and that’s our plan to actually go take over. I think they call it the Dawg Pound, [and] I consider myself a dawg, so I’m right at home in that place. So I’m excited to get back in there. I know they’re a physical football team, but so are we. At the end of the day, it’s going to be the most physical football team that comes out of there, and whoever is the most physical football team in that game, that’s who is going to come out victorious. And your question about the division, my opinion is that it’s the best division in football, without a doubt, if you look at it from top to bottom.”
When the Browns were asked about his comments (they may have been presented them out of context), they took offense to parts of his response and said it would provide new bulletin board material. That didn’t bother Smith.
“I don’t really care how people take things out of context,” Smith said after the game. “I know what I meant, and the people who are close to me know exactly what I meant by those comments. It was just the way I felt about going to war with my brothers. Honestly, if you need bulletin board material in this game to go play the game a different way, you’re playing the game for the wrong reasons.”
Queen knew exactly what Smith meant and said he and his teammates would back Smith up. The stats and the final score also backed Smith up. But the stats are just the quantitative examples of the very qualitative impact Smith has had on the defense, the locker room and the entire Ravens organization.
“Roquan sets the tone only on days that end in y,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “He gets me going and gets everybody going, offense, defense. If you’re just working in the cafeteria, he’ll get you going. He’s a great guy, knows everybody’s name in the facility. It’s kind of infectious the way that he carries himself. Makes us all better football players as well as better people.”
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There’s no avoiding the “Roquan effect” — especially if you’re Hamilton and sit right next to him in the locker room.
“He’s hard not to hear,” Hamilton said.
But it’s worked out for Hamilton, who exploded last week against the Indianapolis Colts and then followed with his first career interception and the second-most tackles on the team against the Browns. His interception ended the Browns’ chances of scoring a touchdown. Hamilton picked it off in the end zone and then ran out the clock.
While Hamilton’s interception closed the game, Brandon Stephens’ first career interception started the game. The Ravens’ offense initially struggled with the Browns’ formidable defense, gaining 6 yards and 4 yards on its first two possessions, but Stephens’ interception and 52-yard return gave the offense a kick-start. With the exception of the drive that ended in a fumble, the offense got going, scoring on three of the next four possessions after Stephens’ interception.
It was a complete defensive effort, which is why Harbaugh awarded the spike to the entire defense rather than one person.
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“They pretty much closed the game out, the whole game,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what they did, every single series, led by Ro and all of the rest of the guys.”
Harbaugh shouted out the cornerbacks for stepping up — they are missing starter Marlon Humphrey and also lost Daryl Worley, Jalyn Armour-Davis and Arthur Maulet to injury. Maulet returned, but the others seamlessly filled in in the meantime. Harbaugh also commended the safeties for playing well. Together, the secondary held the Browns to 73 passing yards.
The Ravens’ defense had the advantage over the Browns’ passing game, which was headed by rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who threw wide and made poor decisions under pressure. But the running offense still had experienced players despite the loss of Nick Chubb, Harbaugh said. While the Browns picked up some yardage on the ground, Harbaugh said, the defensive line adjusted well, and it set the edge.
Harbaugh said the team played about as well as a team can play, but there were still things the players said they’d like back. Smith didn’t like how they let up on their rush defense at the end. Queen said it would have been nice to record a shutout. And it definitely would have been nice if he and Smith could have come down with interceptions on the multiple chances they were afforded.
“Little butter fingers here and there,” Queen said.
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But there’s no doubt the Ravens’ defense, which answered questions all week about the Browns’ shutdown defense, stole the show on the Browns’ own turf. It was “satisfying,” Stephens said.
“I think Roquan pretty much explained that statement before the game just coming out here, try to take over,” Queen said. “That’s what every team does, try to go into another person’s stadium and try to take over, and that’s what we did today.”
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