Ravens Overcome Early Deficit, Win In LA; Will Host Philadelphia Sunday

After falling behind 10-0 in Los Angeles tonight, the Ravens outscored the Chargers 30-13 the rest of the way to get the victory.

With the win, Baltimore improved to 8-4, and John Harbaugh is now 3-0 vs. Jim Harbaugh.

The Bottomline

Coming off of the loss at Pittsburgh, the blood pressure was rising for Ravens fans when Baltimore got behind early tonight.

The Ravens responded, and controlled the last 30 minutes of action against a quality team.

LA had no answers for Derrick Henry, with Henry averaging 5.8 yards per carry on 24 attempts.

Down 10-7, with 2 minutes left in the 1st half, John Harbaugh elected to go for it on 4th and 1 at the Ravens own 16 yard line.
The direct snap to Mark Andrews was converted, and the Ravens would finish that drive with a TD, and a lead they would not relinquish.

In a 3 point game with another half to play, I would have lost my mind if the Ravens hadn’t picked up that 1st down.
It was an ultra-aggressive call.
In the moment, I was thinking the Ravens should punt, and not risk potentially giving the Chargers great field position to end the half.
Part of me wants to be consistent with my thinking, and say I still question the decision.
The other part of me feels that since John Harbaugh would have been crucified had it gone wrong, he at-least has to get some credit when the decision worked.

The Ravens trail the Steelers by a half game in the AFC North, and Pittsburgh has the head-to-head; but the Ravens are well positioned with 5 regular season games remaining.
This was a very important win.

What Happened Today? What Are The Takeaways?

Greg Roman didn’t have a lot of supporters by the end of his tenure in Baltimore as Offensive Coordinator; but Ravens fans certainly saw him have numerous strong starts to game with his scripts.
That was on display tonight as well, as the Chargers had a very strong initial drive, going 70 yards over 9 plays and 5 minutes for a 7-0 lead.

The Ravens faltered on both of their first two drives. The first drive impacted by a 15 yard Unnecessary Roughness call on Patrick Ricard.
The second drive being a quick 3 and out.

Down 10-0, the Ravens got going on their third offensive series.
Henry put up 33 yards on the first two plays of the drive, and it felt like that settled the Ravens down.
On a 3rd and 5, Lamar Jackson would find Andrews for 16 yards.
Henry had another big run to set-up 1st and Goal.
Jackson would finish the drive going 10 yards off the right end for the score.

Down 10-7, the Ravens took over on offense with 3:54 left in the half.
As mentioned above, the Ravens would elect to go for a 4th and 1 from their 16 with 2 minutes left.
Once that was converted, Baltimore was on the move.
Jackson and Zay Flowers connected for 22.
Jackson then dropped a perfect pass to Rashod Bateman for a score from 40 yards out.
Bateman did a good job coming down with the ball, while he was being interfered with.

Kicking off with 24 seconds left, the Ravens allowed the Chargers to go from their 34 to the Ravens 30 and kick a FG to end the half.

Baltimore would start the 3rd Quarter with a 45 yard Justin Tucker Field Goal, and a 17-13 lead.
The Ravens converted 3rd and 9 (11 yards to Andrews), and 3rd and 10 (25 yards to Flowers) on that series.

LA answered with a second straight FG of their own, pulling back within 1 at 17-16.

The Ravens began to get separation, with a 14 play, 70 yard drive, lasting 6:36.
That drive again featured a 4th and 1 in their own territory, and Henry ripped off a 27 yard gain.
On a 4th and 1 at the Chargers 25, Henry got 2 more, to again move the chains.
On 3rd and Goal from the 6, Jackson found Andrews in the back of the endzone for a 23-16 lead.
The Ravens went for 2, attempting to get a two score lead, but were not able to convert.

The Baltimore defense was able to force two more punts from LA, and in-between those punts, the Ravens offense scored again when Justice Hill scampered for a 51 yard score.
That gave the Ravens a two score lead at 30-16

Other Notes?

• 24 carries, 140 yards, and a TD for Henry.
• Jackson finished 16 of 22 for 177 yards, 2 TD’s. He also had the TD run.
• Flowers and Andrews both had 5 receptions.
• Andrews now has 6 TD’s on year, and Bateman now has 5.
• Just 1 sack for the Chargers Defense, with Joey Bosa, and Khalil Mack not getting to Jackson.
• The Ravens defense had 4 sacks, with Kyle Van Noy, Brandon Stephens, Josh Tupoa, and Odafe Oweh each having 1.
• With Roquan Smith sidelined, Malik Harrison had 13 tackles.
• Nate Wiggins made a couple of plays, causing one incomplete pass with a perfect stick.
• The Ravens defense was able to force 4 punts from the LA offense. They held LA to 285 yards.
• The Ravens finished 8 of 15 on 3rd down, and held LA to 5 of 14.
• Baltimore overcame the slow offensive start to finish with 389 total yards.
• 0 turnovers for the Ravens, but they did have 9 more penalties for 102 yards.
• I felt bad seeing JK Dobbins leave with an injury, but it was a reminder of the previous 3 seasons where he was limited to 9 total games. His absence did change things for the LA offense.
• It was good to see Tucker knock in his attempt. Would be great to not have to worry about him going forward.
• Kyle Hamilton roaming the field is more fun to watch, but him playing deep the last two weeks has improved the defense as a whole.

Next Up? The Ravens Face The Eagles At Home Sunday

Philadelphia is also coming off a win in LA, as they beat the Rams Sunday night.

Saquon Barkley rushed for 255 yards, as the Eagles won their 7th consecutive game.

Philadelphia leads the NFC East at 9-2, and seem to have entrenched themselves as the NFC’s 2nd best team.

Prior to the Week 12 action, Philadelphia was 7th overall in DVOA, with the 14th rated Offense, 5th rated Defense, and 13th ranked Special Teams.

The Ravens are a 56.8% favorite to win according to ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor.

Jalen Hurts, and Barkley.
Lamar Jackson, and Derrick Henry.

Should be a fun game.