Ravens Week 13 Recap: Ravens Take Down Yet Another NFL Power
Yesterday’s win was as much of a team win as there is. When the weather becomes a factor and you’ve got two battering rams going head to head, the margin between winning and losing becomes razor thin. You need all 53 of your men pulling the rope in the same direction. You need all 3 facets of the game pulling their weight. And you need to be the ones making the big plays in big moments.
The Ravens did all of those things yesterday. They didn’t make all the 3rd down and 4th down stops, but they made the ones that counted. Same goes for the offense. They didn’t move the ball with ease the way they have the past two months, but they dug deep in a tie game and moved the chains in big spots. And of course, Justin Tucker came through at the buzzer as we’ve become so accustomed to over the years.
It’s the type of win that builds character. The locker room was as satisfied as I’ve seen after a regular season win.
This is a group of guys who are selfless and are really playing for each other. Everyone is doing their part and taking none of the credit. They’re all focused on the bigger goal that is the Super Bowl, but are taking joy in the journey to get there. It’s so much damn fun, I can’t get enough of it.
More thoughts on yesterday’s win:
Offense
– Yesterday was far from Lamar’s best game. In fact, it was probably his worst since the OT win in Pittsburgh. He was 14/23 with only 105 passing yards and 1 TD. You have to give the 49ers a ton of credit. They have the best pass defense in the game by a good margin. They made it difficult for Lamar to find passing lanes, and there was essentially nothing to be had deep downfield. He definitely struggled with the conditions, as anyone would. It’s worth nothing that he didn’t throw the ball very well in Seattle in wet conditions either, going 9 for 20 in that game. Your best shot at beating Lamar Jackson may not have anything to do with schematic designs. Your best bet may be to pray for rain.
He was still plenty effective on the ground, although he did seem limited there as well. He was fantastic making plays out of nothing as per usual, but he didn’t seem to get around the edge and pick up those last couple of extra yards like he so often does. He seemed a bit apprehensive to turn the speed up to 100 in the conditions. I think that has a lot to do with the 49ers playing the angles extraordinarily well and swarming to the football. Credit where credit is due there. Lamar was smart enough not to force the issue on a few plays and even then, he probably took a couple more direct hits than I’d like to see.
And of course, he finally lost a fumble. It took until Week 13, but the one they call Fumbles McGee finally lost a fumble. From the opposite corner of the stadium, I honestly thought the play had a chance to be a touchdown if he went to the outside of Mark Andrews’ fantastic block on the outside. Looking back at the telecast, it DEFINITELY looks like six, the entire front 7 bit on the fake handoff inside and got sealed off to the right
But of course, Lamar cut in and Harris made a hell of a play to tear the ball away. Credit to him. Lamar went with his instincts and his instincts proved to be wrong. That’s going to happen like 1 out of 1,000 times. I hope he learns nothing from this play other than to tuck that ball a little higher and tighter. Don’t want him to think twice whatsoever as it relates to following his instincts. Just a big what-if because if he scores, it’s 24-14 Ravens and the game is virtually over.
Ultimately it was the plays where he moved the chains that made the difference. He converted a 4th and 1 and a 3rd and 1 where it was pretty damn clear he was going to be running it on QB power and they had no answer for it. He’s special.
– The tight ends continue to be the straws that stir the drink in this offense. They’re the ones that constantly move the sticks on passing 3rd downs. They’re the ones that shift in motion and throw devastating wham blocks to open holes for Ingram and Edwards inside.
Mark Andrews had the best game of the group. He caught the big touchdown early to even up the score and get us back in the game. It was a fantastic catch and he then he went ahead and dunked on Nick Bosa while he was at it.
Later he made the biggest play of the final drive with a great sliding catch for a 12 yard gain and a first down. He caught a lot of shit for dropping passes in Seattle in similar conditions but he came up huge yesterday.
Hayden Hurst also made a big 10 yard catch on 1st and 15 to get them back into a manageable set of downs and into FG range. He also made a big sideline catch earlier on a 4th down to move the chains earlier in the game too. Big moments. Big plays. Big blocks from beginning to end. That’s why he was rewarded a game ball.
– The offensive line as a whole was fantastic. But kudos needs to again be given to the rookie UDFA Patrick Mekari. He was making his first career start at center, in wet conditions that no center would be excited to play in. The Ravens run nearly exclusively out of the shotgun/pistol, so he had plenty on his plate besides blocking one of the game’s best front 7’s. But I don’t think there was a single snap that affected the play, and the entire unit blocked admirably as well. Kudos all around.
– I wanted to separate this from the tight end note, but holy hell what a brutal no call on the PI on Mark Andrews. It was a HUGE 4th down in the middle of the field and he got absolutely clobbered. What’s worse is that the Ravens challenged it and New York somehow came back with the conclusion that this STILL wasn’t pass interference.
Look, I know it isn’t news that the PI review has been a joke all season. But I don’t know what more needed to be seen on that play for it not to have been overturned. I know the DB was trying to play the football but that’s irrelevant. He completely took away Mark’s opportunity to compete for the catch. It’s the same exact thing as a corner coming behind a receiver on a comeback route and hitting him in the back in an attempt to pick off the pass. It’s pass interference by every measure of the rule. It’s already horrible enough that it wasn’t called on the field. The review thing is fucked but that’s about as fucked as I’ve seen it so far.
Defense
– Overall the defense did a satisfactory job, although far from impressive. The majority of the game they failed miserably to stop the run. There was a point late in the 3rd quarter where I looked up at the scoreboard and they were allowing 9.6 yards per carry. That figure was driven by the long 40-yard TD given up to Mostert, but they were running it pretty consistently well into the 2nd half too. Some of it can be attributed to poor tackling in slippery conditions and some of it is just damn good run-blocking by the 49ers. They’re OL is next level, and they’ve got our good ol friend Juice clearing bodies too. But the tackling needs to improve either way.
– Marcus Peters had a pretty poor game. He obviously misplayed the ball on the opening drive that resulted in a touchdown on 4th down. He looked like he was caught between finding the ball and just playing the man, which is the worst move you can make. He clearly couldn’t find the ball and he paid the price. It’s tough to ask for OPI the way that he did when you appear to be clueless as to where the football is. It was a weird play and I’m glad it ultimately didn’t come back to bite us. He was also the one who missed the key tackle on Mostert’s TD run. It easily could’ve been kept to a gain of 8 or so but he pussyfooted his way into lowering his hips to make the tackle and Mostert stiff-armed his candy ass to the turf. Tough look. You take the good with the bad with Peters and there’s definitely more good than bad. We were just due for some bad and we certainly got it yesterday.
– How about Chuck Clark with the big strip-sack to reverse the course of the 1st half? That guy has been a godsend in the wake of losing Tony Jefferson and DeShon Elliott for the year. Love that Wink Martindale is willing to send ANYBODY on defense after the QB. The Ravens found themselves in extremely unfamiliar territory being down a touchdown early and the 49ers having the opportunity to pad the lead. That strip sack put Lamar in position to quickly punch one in and reset the game.
– Shoutout to Chris Wormley for the big batdown to give the Ravens the final possession. It was a bit bizarre how much the 49ers were throwing on 3rd and 4th and short. They were mostly having their way with us on the ground. Maybe by finding success early on that 4th down TD to Samuel they thought that was the way to go, but in hindsight they were probably overthinking it. We needed a big play to get off the field and we got it from Wormley. Shame Jaylon Ferguson couldn’t haul in the pick, but it turned out to be for the best with Lamar running off the final 6 and a half minutes.
SPECIAL TEAMS
– What more needs to be said? JT is the GOAT. It’s not even close. Most accurate kicker of all-time at 90.7% and the rest of the pack isn’t even close. He called the conditions yesterday some of the toughest he’s even kicked in. I assure you. It was absolutely pissing out there, and the wind was blowing hard from right to left on that kick. And of course, the guy absolutely pured it. Dead straight. You’d never know watching the way that ball flew whether it was kicked indoors or not. What a majestic fucking beauty.
You wanna hear something crazy? Justin Tucker hasn’t missed a field goal in the 4th quarter/OT in 36 straight attempts. That’s INSANE. Guy hasn’t missed a kick late since 2015. He’s complete nails. He’s 87/93 in his career in the 4Q/OT. And you know what’s even wilder? This was the last 4th quarter FG he’s missed inside 50 yards:
That’s right, only an act of God can stop Justin Tucker. Guy is that good.
I thought he gave a fantastic interview postgame too, giving credit to the rest of the guys. Perfect example of these guys being selfless and giving credit to their teammates.
There ya have it for the recap. And while I was writing this, the Pats were falling apart at the seams and the Texans did their job. The Ravens are now squarely in position for the 1 seed. The road to Miami goes through Baltimore. Ball is in our court. Gotta take care of business up in Buffalo against a hungry Bills team. If the Ravens play anything like they have the past 8 weeks, they’ll take care of them with no issue.
God I love this team. BIG TRUSS.