BALTIMORE _ The formula should have looked quite familiar. For the second straight week, the Ravens relied on a turnover-forcing defense and an opportunistic offense.
Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes, Terrance West ran for one and the defensive forced five turnovers for a second straight week in beating the Cleveland Browns, 24-10, in front of an announced 70,605 in the home opener.
The victory, though, came at a significant cost as the Ravens lost Pro Bowl right guard Marshal Yanda for the season with an ankle fracture. In addition, their best lineman on the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Brandon Williams, went down with a foot injury. The Ravens also lost reserve linebacker and special teams standout Bam Bradley for the season with a leg injury.
Fourth-quarter interceptions by Lardarius Webb, who picked off rookie DeShone Kizer in the end zone, and Brandon Carr sealed the victory for the Ravens who improved to 2-0 for the second straight season. Rookie strong-side linebacker Tyus Bowser and safety Eric Weddle also picked off Cleveland quarterbacks while Terrell Suggs forced a fumble that Matthew Judon recovered.
Kizer, a rookie, had a miserable afternoon, going 15-for-31 for 182 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions and a lost fumble. Rookie quarterbacks are 0-11 at M&T Bank Stadium since 2008.
The five turnovers give the Ravens 10 on the season, four short of their total all of last season. It also marked the first time in franchise history they've caused five turnovers in back-to-back games.
The Ravens' offensive stars included Flacco, who completed 25 of 34 passes for 217 yards, two touchdowns and an interception; running back Buck Allen who led the team in rushing and caught a first-half touchdown pass; and tight end Benjamin Watson; who had eight catches for 91 yards.
The Ravens defense again took control of the game early. On the Browns' second possession, Suggs strip-sacked rookie DeShone Kizer on third-and-long and Judon recovered on Cleveland's 33-yard line.
It took the Ravens seven plays and one costly Browns penalty to get into the end zone. Flacco's 9-yard pass to tight end Nick Boyle set up a first-and-goal, and a foolish unnecessary roughness penalty on Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey, who took a late shot at Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley, pushed the ball to the Browns' 4.
Sprung by a nice block by Boyle, West cut back for a 4-yard touchdown and an early 7-0 lead. West's score against his old team was his second in as many weeks.
Weddle picked off Kizer on the ensuing position, but the offense couldn't capitalize on the defense's seventh forced turnover in the first five quarters of the season.
The Ravens, however, did score on their next drive. With the Browns leaving the middle of the field open, Flacco hit Watson for 20 and 23 yards to get deep into Cleveland territory. Flacco finished the drive by rolling to his right and hitting running back Buck Allen for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
That gave the Ravens a 14-0 lead and when the Browns got the ball back, it was second-year quarterback Kevin Hogan under center and not Kizer. The rookie from Notre Dame was kept on the sideline with a migraine.
Hogan, however, took the Browns right down the field, finding tight end Seth DeValve wide open behind the defense for a 49-yard gain. Hogan then found another tight end, rookie David Njoku, in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown catch. Njoku made a nice adjustment to make the catch in between defensive backs Brandon Carr and Tony Jefferson.
The touchdown cut the Ravens' lead to 14-7 and halted the Ravens defense's scoreless streak to start at the season at 85 minutes, 4 seconds.
That remained the score until late in the second quarter. Justin Tucker sent a 58-yard field-goal attempt wide right, giving the Browns the ball at their own 48 with two timeouts and 57 seconds remaining before halftime.
However, rookie Tyus Bowser, who had his first NFL sack on the previous drive, made his first NFL interception, picking off a wayward pass from Hogan and returning it to the to the Browns' 40 with 19 seconds remaining.
It appeared that the Ravens were just trying to get into field-goal range before the half, but Allen broke off a 37-yard run down to the Cleveland 2-yard line. With five seconds left, Ravens coach John Harbaugh chose to take one shot at the end zone rather than settling for a field goal. Flacco took a couple of steps to the right and hit Jeremy Maclin for a touchdown with one second on the clock.
Maclin's second touchdown in as many games allowed the Ravens to take a 21-7 lead into halftime. Flacco was 16-of-21 for 153 yards, two touchdowns and one interception at halftime.
