Ravens Win An Eyesore Of A Football Game In Buffalo 24-17
What a disgusting football game. I had very little fun. Is this what football used to feel like? When we used to grind out games and play field position and have it come down to one possession? I forgot what it was like to not blow the doors off of teams. Two weeks in a row we’ve had to sweat it out to the very end.
I try to shy away from hammering officials. I generally find it tacky and whiny. But they were far too much of a factor to ignore today. They gift wrapped the Bills a couple of field goals and essentially served as the Bills’ offense on the final drive. They “drove” 56 yards down to the Ravens’ 16 threatening to tie before finally succumbing to a turnover on downs. They gained 7 yards of offense on the drive. SEVEN. The referees provided the other 49 net yards on the drive. First it was an unnecessary roughness penalty on Michael Pierce for “slamming” Devin Singletary to the turf when Singletary refused to go down. Then we had a 15 yarder for something involving Jaylon Ferguson behind the play. We still don’t know what that was for. And then we had the flop of the century on a 4th and 16 from Cole Beasley.
Nevermind the fact that this ball landed in the very back of the end zone. You just can’t make that call in that spot. You can’t reward a team on a prayer on 4th and 16 like that. It’s a joke and it gave the Bills life that they didn’t deserve.
The rest of the game was ugly in itself. Each team struggled to move the football. I have to give Buffalo some credit here, they slowed the run game of the Ravens down a bit, at least enough for Greg Roman to start overthinking his attack plan. He’s been the best assistant coach in the league this season, but he lost his way today. I think having Mark Andrews go down early threw some of that off as well, but some credit has to be given to Buffalo for holding the Ravens to only 257 yards. We were still able to break through with the home run to Hayden Hurst, and that proved to be the difference in the game.
Of course the flip side is that Buffalo’s offense was horrific, mostly because Wink Martindale brought the HEAT. Pass-rush was as good as we’ve seen it all season, and it made Josh Allen look like a rookie again. Matt Judon played out of his mind. We constantly brought heat from the secondary and mixed up our blitzes. And of course, the DB’s were fantastic in man coverage, as they have been since this win streak started.
Win actually clinches a playoff spot for the Ravens. Which we all knew was coming, but it’s still satisfying to know you’re in the tournament. There’s still work to be done, both in the regular season and beyond. Love that the players know that and are acting accordingly.
Ugly win but we got the job done. Short week with the Jets coming to town, which should be an absolute rout. Mission is to get the #1 seed and have the AFC road to Miami go through Baltimore. Let’s keep it rolling boys. Big Truss.
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