BALTIMORE (AP) — They played well enough to win. Again.
And yet, for the fourth week in a row, the struggling Browns found themselves reflecting upon the little things that went wrong following a very distasteful defeat.
Playing on the road against the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland bolted to an early lead.
The Browns bottled up versatile quarterback Lamar Jackson throughout the afternoon and had a very good chance to move in front during the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.
And then, an offensive pass interference call on an apparent touchdown started a miserable chain of events that included a pivotal false start and a blocked 60-yard field goal attempt.
The result: A gut-wrenching 23-20 loss on Sunday.
The Browns (2-5) have dropped four straight, with three of those defeats coming by a total of seven points.