NFL hands down fines from Browns-Ravens game

The Cleveland Browns played bully ball last week in defeating the Baltimore Ravens.

Not only do the Ravens have to ponder blowing several double-digit leads in losing to the Browns, three of their players, and one member of the Browns, were hit with fines on Saturday.

At the top of the list is Baltimore left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who was fined $21,855 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Cleveland cornerback Denzel Ward that knocked Ward out of the game with a neck injury as well as being evaluated for a concussion.

When asked about it on Thursday, Ward called it a cheap shot but also chalked it up as part of the game (quote via a team-provided transcript):

“Yeah, I kind of felt it was a little cheap shot. He got me. I felt it was an unnecessary hit and probably could have been a penalty on the play, but it’s football, stuff happens, so it’s all good. I wish no bad on nobody, but yeah, I got, got, you know. So, it’s all good.”

The NFL also dinged Cleveland wide receiver Cedric Tillman for what looked like a clean, aggressive block on Baltimore linebacker Kyle Van Noy. The league office felt differently, however, and docked Tillman $5,667 for unnecessary roughness.

In addition to getting embarrassed on national television by a player 35 pounds lighter than him, Van Noy was also fined $8,889 for delivering a headbutt on Tillman after picking himself up off the turf.

Finally, Baltimore wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was fined $10,927 for showboating, or in the more formal language of the NFL, unsportsmanlike conduct on his touchdown reception in the third quarter.