Week 4: Order Has Returned- Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens

Welcome to Week 4! Can you believe we are already 25% through the NFL football season?! Well, the regular season...then there are the playoffs...and then the Super Bowl...who am I kidding, there is still a LONG way to go and believe it or not, I am actually glad! Full Disclosure: I HAD to watch the season premier of Grey's Anatomy last night, just HAD to! The last time I saw my favorite doctors they were dying in the woods after a plane crash, there was no way I could wait another day to see who made it and what state they were in. I hope you will all understand. That being said, I did dutifully flip back to the Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens game between commercial breaks and watched the second half....I could never let my loyal readers down, and make no mistake I am so grateful for all 30 of you. Now on to the game!

- For maybe the first time in their careers as NFL referees the men in stripes received a standing ovation when they took to the field in Baltimore. As predicted, Monday Night's debacle sparked so much controversy that both sides were able to reach some kind of agreement and get the regular officials on the field. Almost immediately you could tell that order had been restored and the shenanigans of the past weeks were just that...in the past.

Thumbs high to you too, Mr. Regular Ref! (Photo Credit: Soraspy.com)

-  The Baltimore Ravens have had a rough few weeks. In fact, last night was the first home game of the season where the Ravens did not have a moment of silence at the beginning of the game. The first was for their former owner, Art Modell who passed away 4 days before the season started, and then last week for Torrey Smith's younger brother who was killed in a motorcycle accident last Sunday. Through all of this, the Ravens have played 4 games in just 17 days and managed to come out with a 3-1 record, including their 23-16 win over the win-less Cleveland Browns last night. The Ravens are proving week after week that they have both the physical and the mental toughness that it takes to be a great NFL team. "Impress Him" Fact: The Ravens became just the second team in NFL history to win a game on Sunday night and then turnaround and win again the next Thursday.

- Joe Flacco proved his own resilience for the Baltimore Ravens. He shook off an early interception in the red zone and put together a 87 yard drive which included a 18 yard touchdown pass to none other than Torrey Smith. "Impress Him" Fact: Joe Flacco's red zon interception last night broke a streak of 125 passes in the red zone without an interception. Flacco also pulled a fast one on Cleveland Brown's linebacker, Scott Fujita, and rushed for a 1 yard touchdown....and a less-than-cool touchdown spike. Anquan Boldin also did his part for the Ravens in the second half with 125 receiving yards.

I know Sam is an Eagle and not a Raven, but still pretty uncanny, no? (see the full QB to Muppet comparison  @gridiron4girls on Twitter) (Photo Credit: Buzzfeed.com)

- The Browns rookie QB, Brandon Weeden, actually had an okay game with 25 completions for 320 yards and just when the announcers were about to praise his performance he threw an interception to Cary Williams who returned it 63 yards for a Ravens touchdown.

- Much like Monday night, the game came down to the final seconds and not one, but 2 Hail Mary attempts (the Browns got another chance after a penalty was called against the Ravens). But unlike Monday night, there were not hundreds of replays and endless analyzing...mostly because Weeden way overthrew the last pass so no one had a chance to catch it.

- The Ravens extend their home winning streak to 13 games, the most in the NFL and won 10 straight division games, also the most in the NFL and the Browns are 0-4 for the third time since 1998.

So we are underway in Week 4 and with the return of the tenured officials  it promises to be a little less cray cray and a little more focused on the actual X's and O's. I wonder if it will be as entertaining for me to watch without all the drama, but one thing you can count on is that I will keep you posted. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!