CLEVELAND -- After a thrilling, last-second 23-21 win over the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Ravens remain far from being in the conversation of the NFL's top teams. It's just going to be difficult to find a team calmer under the most stressful situations.

The Ravens came to FirstEnergy Stadium with the Ray Rice scandal swirling around them. They scratched their starting running back (Bernard Pierce) before the start of the game. And they watched one of their best offensive weapons (tight end Dennis Pitta) get carted off in the middle of it.

So, how do the Ravens react when adversity is just as big of an opponent as the Browns? By not overreacting.

Down by a point with 88 seconds left in the game, quarterback Joe Flacco nonchalantly broke the huddle and saw the Browns line up with one safety deep. Flacco communicated to wide receiver Steve Smith that he wanted a slant-and-go, which is significant because the quarterback rarely says much in these situations.

Smith did a stutter step to get one step on Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden, and Flacco dropped in a pass to his primary target just before safety Donte Whitner converged. The 32-yard play put the Ravens in range for the winning field goal, which kept the Ravens (2-1) within one game of the AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals (3-0).

"When you’re in the moment, it’s tough not to be calm," Flacco said. "You’re just reacting, you’re playing, you’re getting the call, I’m giving it to everybody. There’s no real time to think about any negative things that might creep into your mind and cause you to not play very well. Everything happens so quick out there, you’re just kind of playing. That’s just my experience with it. It’s tough not to be calm and just play."

Flacco has plenty of experience. This marked his 20th game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, including his fifth in the past 15 games.

It didn't look like Flacco was going to notch another comeback judging by the way the fourth quarter was unfolding. The Ravens couldn't convert on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 at the Browns' 21-yard line. They failed to get in the end zone despite three chances from the Browns' 3.

Instead of getting frustrated, the Ravens were confident on the sideline. So confident that coach John Harbaugh didn't flinch about punting the ball away on fourth-and-16 with 2:35 left in the game. He knew the ball would be back in Flacco's hands soon enough.

"It was a pretty easy decision with two timeouts," Harbaugh said. "I felt like we could get the ball back at worst with 1:40. We got it back in front of the two-minute warning, which is big."

Taking over at midfield with two minutes left, the Ravens acted like it was another drill in training camp and not a pivotal early-season division game. They didn't go no huddle. They didn't show much urgency going to the line.

Flacco believed the Ravens had plenty of time, and he didn't even second-guess how offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak was orchestrating the two-minute drill. It worked out when the Ravens' 35-year-old wide receiver beat the Browns' $75 million cornerback.

"Honestly, it wasn’t that emotional," Smith said of a game that featured six lead changes. "One of the cool things with Joe is everybody calls him Joe Cool. As the game goes on, good or bad, Joe stays the same. He comes in and gives a play. He may say a few words prior or after, or if we make some adjustments like we did on the last play. That’s it."

Smith added, "That makes it so much easier. For a long time, when I grew up, I’ve always worked well through chaos. As I’ve gotten older, I prefer calm. It’s been refreshing to come in here and the quarterback in the huddle is calm. That makes it so much easier to concentrate and do your job.”

Three games into the season, the Ravens repeatedly drop passes and struggle too much in the red zone on offense. Their defense has too many lapses in coverage and miss countless tackles.

Still, as the distractions mount, the Ravens' determination increases as well.

"I think every single NFL team could go down a list of all the adversity they’ve been through," Flacco said. "It’s one of those things that as competitors that you like to talk about. It sounds good and all that, for having a good team, fighting through adversity. But I think all 32 teams say the same thing. I don’t want to act like we have it more than anybody else."

But it would be tough to find a team that has handled adversity better than the Ravens have this season.