When I hear the term walk off it immediately conjures thoughts of a towering home run that sends the hometown fans into a frenzy.
The hitter pumps his fist around the bases and is met with a Gatorade shower by his teammates as they celebrate a victory. The walk off is not a usual occurrence in football, that is if you don’t count a Field Goal attempt at the end of a game. It is rare that a touchdown would complete a win and even more so that a Kick return produces the score.
That’s only one of the reasons that Tylan Wallace’s 76-yard Punt Return was so special last Sunday. First it gave the Ravens a thrilling Overtime victory to push their record to 10-3 to keep them atop the AFC North and to be able to continue to hold the number one seed in the conference. Secondly, Wallace was able to atone for an earlier mistake, a brutal one where he lined up offsides to give the Rams a free first down that they later turned into a touchdown. One of the great storylines in sports is how players can go from goat to hero in single play and vice versa. It shows how one play can change the fortunes of a team, a coach, and the players involved. There’s always a chance to prove yourself. Lastly, it was just an incredible moment for the former fourth round pick. He’s been buried at the bottom of the depth chart as a result of Baltimore’s off season commitment to the receiver room so he’s made a living on Special Teams. Wallace was the back-up punt returner to All-Pro Devin Duvernay whose back injury led to his promotion in Overtime. He had never returned kicks in his professional career and now it looks like it’s his job for the remainder of the season now that Duvernay has been placed on IR.
Hopefully he’s has more heroics planned over the last few months.
1) Stop the Run! – I think it was Brian Billick who once said that “Winning hides all flaws while losing reveals them all.” Mike MacDonald’s defense has been having a tremendous season and they are one of the league’s best units but there have been cracks showing and they need to get patched quickly.
The Ravens defense has allowed over 125 rushing yards three times in the last four games. They gave up 178 to the Browns (without Nick Chubb), 136 to the Bengals, 86 to the Chargers and 128 to the Rams. Do the math and that 528 total for an average of 132 a game. That’s terrible for a team that is making a push to secure a Division title and Home Field throughout the playoffs.
MacDonald was asked this week if it thought the run defense was a concern and he shrugged it off and said he’d classify it as it needs improvement. I think he’s totally underselling it there. The Defensive line has done fantastic job getting pressure on the quarterback but has had lapses against the run and have been bullied on occasion.
2) Wounded Jags – A few weeks ago the Jaguars looked like a contender for number one seed, but injuries and a poor defense have them scrambling to right the ship as they welcome the purple and black for Sunday Night Football.
The defense has been rough and not in an aggressive way. Over the course of the last three weeks, they’ve given up 352 yards, 491 and 389 to the Texans, Bengals and Browns, respectively. That’s an average of 410.7 yards per game during that stretch. The league’s worst defense on the season (Cincinnati) has given up 388.2 yards per game by comparison. This feels like a group that will not be ready for the Ravens deep wide receiver corps.
Trevor Lawrence suffered what was reported as a high ankle sprain two weeks ago. Lawrence surprisingly played against Cleveland last week and had as many touchdowns (3) as interceptions (also 3). In general, he threw the ball well but his mobility was definitely hampered. The Ravens should be able to pressure the young quarterback and take advantage in this prime time matchup.
3) Who to Watch? – Kyle Hamilton suffered what we found out to be an MCL injury. He’s come into his own as a unique weapon on the defense and can not only blitz and tackle in space but also cover. He has nine tackles for a loss this season which is a franchise record for a defensive back. He did practice this week with a brace but I’ll be interested to see if he plays this Sunday, as it may be wise to give him more time to heal.
I’ll also be watching John Harbaugh closely. On Sunday it was the tenth time in his sixteen year head coaching career that his Ravens have won at least ten games or more. That’s an impressive feat. Equally less impressive has been his ability to manage the clock on game day. He had two major gaffes by my watch in the Rams game, one was before halftime where he should have called time out to get one chance at a touchdown before settling for a field goal instead. The other was a mighty heave of the challenge flag to protest a Rams touchdown, even though all scores are automatically reviewed. I heard the explanation during the post game and I’m not buying it. He claimed that the defense needed extra time to pre for the two point conversion and that was the only thing he could do. I mean, I guess you could just a call the time out that you lost anyway.
Happy Football everyone! Enjoy Week Fifteen and Go Ravens!
Matt has lived in Maryland his entire life and is a graduate of Calvert Hall and Towson University. has always been an avid Baltimore sports fan. Since 2007, he has been writing and talking about Baltimore sports, especially the Ravens. His work has appeared on Ravens Gab, Russell Street Report, and he currently co-hosts a podcast “The Blitz- A Ravens podcast” with Brent Harris.