What A Difference A Week Makes

The long anticipated return of fans to The Bank certainly did not disappoint as they witnessed an instant classic. The Baltimore Ravens pulled off an unlikely, come from behind victory on Sunday night over the Kansas Chiefs by a score of 36-35. Granted, it only counts as 1 win in the standings and it only runs the Ravens record to 1-1. With that said, this win means a heck of a lot more. It can no longer be said that the Ravens haven’t beaten the Mahomes’ Chiefs, it can no longer be said that Lamar Jackson cannot overcome a double digit deficit; the beast was slain on Sunday night. Whether or not this is the springboard to bigger and better things remains to be seen but this win certainly has that kind of feeling.

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For all of the accolades that are being heaped on Lamar Jackson in the aftermath of this win (and well deserved at that) the never say die effort of Wink Martindale’s unit must not be overlooked. Despite the defense looking like the De’Ron “3rd and long” Jenkins version from 1996 for a good chunk of the night, along with losing safety DeSon Elliott to a concussion and defensive line anchor Brandon Williams, the Ravens defense was able to flip the script. Beginning late in the 3rd quarter, the defense did its best Michael Myers impersonation and seemingly rose from the dead. They stopped the Chiefs on their final 3 drives by forcing 2 turnovers and a punt. Both turnovers were courtesy of two outstanding individual plays by rookie edge rusher Odafe Oweh.

At the 2:09 mark of the 3rd quarter, Oweh chased down Mahomes on a 3rd and 12 to force an errant, ill-advised throw, which was intercepted by Tavon Young. Five plays later, Lamar Jackson scored on 2 yard run.

With 1:24 remaining in the 4th quarter and the Ravens clinging to a 1 point lead, the Chiefs were seemingly running clock to set up a potential game winning field goal. However, Odafe Oweh had other plans.

In spite of being held by Kansas City LG Joe Thuney, Oweh was able reach across with his right arm, punch the ball away from Clyde Edwards-Helaire and recover the fumble himself.

That turnover led to the game sealing, 4th and 1 conversion by quarterback Lamar Jackson. A couple of kneel downs later and the Ravens were celebrating one of the biggest and perhaps, most unlikely regular season wins in team history.

The other defensive stop of note in the 2nd half was courtesy of an outstanding play by cornerback Anthony Averett. On 3rd down and 9, trailing by a score of 35-30, Averett was lined up on the outside, opposite wide receiver Tyreek Hill. With no help over the top, Averett stayed stride for stride with Hill and knocked down a Mahomes pass to force a punt. It was flawless coverage and one of the biggest plays in a night that was chock full of them.

The game was not without some struggles and hand wringing on both sides of the ball.

Tackling issues galore for the defense. Quite frankly, it was difficult to watch a Ravens team tackle so poorly. Also, in the bad category was Lamar overthrowing Hollywood Brown on what would’ve been a long touchdown. Then, there was a bad end zone interception that saw Jackson inexplicably put the ball into heavy coverage. On the other hand, there was a great deal of good to take away from this one.

Lamar Jackson rebounded from his early struggles and put the offense on his back in the 2nd half. Whether it was a leaping, semi across his body throw to Hollywood Brown for a long TD or yet another 100 plus yard rushing effort (along with 2 rushing TDs); it was a virtuoso performance by the former MVP.

I would argue that the biggest takeaway from this game was that the Ravens FINALLY didn’t panic when facing a double digit deficit and they stuck with their strength; running the football.

Throughout the Lamar era, we’ve heard about how the Ravens cannot win when playing from behind and the statistics reinforced that assertion. With that in mind, a big part of that issue was the fact that as soon as the Ravens trailed, Roman seemingly abandoned the ground game. What ensued would be receivers not getting open and/or dropping passes, protection breaking down or Jackson forcing the issue and making mistakes. Perhaps, Roman and company saw the Tennessee Titans overcome a double digit deficit on the road by sticking their strength and giving the ball to Derrick Henry throughout the 2nd half of their victory over the Seahawks. Regardless, seeing Baltimore run the ball 41 times to the tune of 251 yards was a thing of beauty. The commitment to and success of their rushing attack allowed the Ravens to control the ball for a tick under 36 minutes of game clock; which is of course the most effective way to keep #15 from beating you.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give a tip of the hat to the offensive line. Particularly, Alejandro Villanueva who was rightfully eviscerated after woeful performance in Week 1. AV flipped back to his natural position on the left side and certainly looked much more at home. While we await the long term prognosis on Ronnie Stanley, it seems as if Villanueva will be solid at left tackle for however long he’s needed there. The other encouraging development along the offensive front was seeing rookie Ben Cleveland get his first action of the regular season. There is a good possibility that he laid claim to the starting left guard job going forward.

Much like the old baseball adage that momentum is only as good as your next day’s starting pitcher; the momentum of this win is only as good as what Baltimore does at Ford Field this coming Sunday at 1pm. Even though they’ll be going on the road, the Lions appear to be a beatable opponent with a relatively immobile, quasi turnover prone quarterback. Harbaugh and his staff will have to move on quickly from the emotional win and get the guys refocused for the next challenge.

With 2 games in the books, we’ve witnessed to back and forth, high scoring, memorable contests. Many people had the Ravens as 1-1 after two weeks, albeit not exactly in this fashion. All things considered, losing in Vegas and beating Kansas City may benefit the Ravens more in the long run than what the expected path to 1-1 was. Not to look too far ahead but by penetrating the perceived invulnerability of Mahomes and Chiefs, it makes a potential January rematch not nearly as daunting. Either way, what a difference a week makes.