ExtremeRavens Posted 21 hours ago Posted 21 hours ago The Ravens won the war Sunday in Cleveland, rallying and then hanging on to defeat the Browns, 23-16. But along the way they lost the battle — at least when it came to their offensive line. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was sacked five times and pressured on 23 occasions, per Pro Football Focus. Some of it was to be expected. The Browns entered the critical AFC North showdown with the NFL’s second-ranked defense and led by league sack leader and All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett, who now has 15 sacks in 10 games after racking up four more against Baltimore. Yet, it doesn’t sound like coach John Harbaugh is ready to make any changes to the offensive line. Asked on Monday if he is seeing the necessary progress with the group, he said he is. “You put the best five players out there, the five guys that are playing the best,” he continued. “That’s what you do. It’s not even a hard answer. “So the question is pretty much yeah, put the best five players out there and they’re playing pretty darn good. Can they play better? Sure.” Against the Browns, though, they were often exposed. Right guard Daniel Faalele, in particular, struggled. He had a 23.2 pass blocking grade, per PFF, and allowed three pressures. On one play near the end of the second quarter, rookie defensive tackle Mason Graham charged in, smacked Faalele so hard that he spun him completely around and raced in on Jackson before Garrett chased the quarterback down from behind for a sack. Later, on a third-and-1 from Cleveland’s 35-yard line with 3:17 remaining in the game and the score tied at 16, Faalele was slow off the snap and then shoved back a yard, helping lead to Derrick Henry getting stuffed on the play. Tight end Mark Andrews then saved the day with a spectacular 35-yard touchdown one play later. Faalele also wasn’t the lone Ravens lineman to struggle. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who was a Pro Bowl selection last season but has not been as sharp this year along with dealing with an ankle injury, allowed a team-high four pressures and got a season-low PFF pass blocking grade of 33.9. Right tackle Roger Rosengarten, whom Garrett at one point tossed to the ground with one hand, a 57.5 and two pressures. It wasn’t all bad, of course. Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum and left guard Andrew Vorhees, who has often been the weakest link among the group this season, both graded out respectably. Faalele was also one of the players who helped spring Derrick Henry’s 59-yard run. But nearly every week, the offensive line has been a topic of discussion. Lions edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad sacks Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson earlier this season. Baltimore's star quarterback has been sacked 23 times this season, despite missing a few games with an injury. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Already, Jackson has been sacked 23 times this season, which is many times as he was all of last season. Some of those have come as a result of him either hanging onto the ball looking for a receiver to get open or finish a route or by turning back into the rush as he tries to buy time in the pocket, as was the case at least a couple of times on Sunday. Other times, though, the men charged with blocking for him have labored to do so, especially in the passing game, with Baltimore ranked 24th in pass block win rate, per ESPN analytics, before the Browns game. In a Week 3 loss at home to the Lions, Detroit pressured Jackson a whopping 30 times. That led to him getting sacked seven times, tying a career high, in the 38-30 defeat. On two other occasions this season, he has been sacked at least three times in a game. Jackson was also knocked out in the third quarter of a Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs with a hamstring injury after being sacked by George Karlaftis and missed the next three games. But if there is a better option up front — specifically at either guard spot — clearly Harbaugh doesn’t see one. Among the options on the 53-man roster for either are veteran and former third-round draft pick Ben Cleveland, second-year former Maryland standout Corey Bullock and third-round rookie Emery Jones Jr. But Cleveland has failed to emerge from multiple opportunities in recent years, Bullock perhaps lacks experience among other traits while Jones missed all of the spring and summer because of shoulder surgery and was only activated late last month. The only other offensive linemen on the roster are veteran Joseph Noteboom and sixth-round rookie Carson Vinson, both of whom are tackles. The Ravens did sign former first-round pick Kenyon Green to join 25-year-old Jared Penning on the practice squad last month. But clearly coaches don’t view either one as an option. So for now, the Ravens will carry on with the same offensive line they’ve had all season, with Harbaugh adding that continuity plays a role in that decision as well. What will it take for a change to be made? “You evaluate play by play,” he said. “Every single position you evaluate play for play for play for play. And some plays are great, some plays are good, some plays need to be better and you need to try to improve on them. So that’s how it goes with every position. There’s always going to be areas from one game to the next [we] can play better. “You put your team out there and you compete. All of our guys, including our offensive line fight and compete and get after it. None of our positions are perfect.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. 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