Baltimore vs. Tampa Bay
Baltimore Ravens Get Back on Winning Track Behind New Starting Quarterback Lamar Jackson in 20-12 Win over Tampa Bay
The Baltimore Ravens, in the midst of a historic run of running the football, have officially turned their season around and are in the thick of the playoff hunt after a 20-12 win at home over Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Baltimore (8-6) had its third rainy home game of the season, but that didn’t stop the sold-out crowd of 70,031 from bringing the noise and urging on their beloved Ravens.
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After the only blemish on Lamar Jackson’s record was an overtime loss at AFC-leading Kansas City last week, head coach John Harbaugh anointed him the starting quarterback over Joe Flacco, who is seemingly healed from a hip injury.
In Sunday’s win over the Bucs (5-9), the Ravens became the first team since the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers to rush for at least 190 yards in five-straight games. Baltimore accounted for 242 yards on the ground—104 from rookie Gus Edwards, who has also benefited from Jackson’s presence in the lineup, 95 from Jackson, and 48 from Kenneth Dixon. Jackson also went 14-23 and 131 from the air, throwing one touchdown and avoiding an interception.
One by product of rushing the ball successfully is wearing down the defense by winning the time-of-possession battle. Baltimore did that very effectively, as Jackson engineered two drives that lasted more than seven minutes; the final tally was 37 minutes on offense for Baltimore and just 23 for Tampa Bay.
“You’ve got to stay on the field on offense,” Harbaugh said after the game. “If you do that, you have a chance to generate some points.”
A big part of being able to stay on the field is Jackson’s ability to frustrate the defense by being able to take off for a run if a passing play breaks down.
“You’ve got everybody covered, but the play gets extended,” Harbaugh explained. “Lamar can throw on the run, or he can run. I just think that’s a very valuable [talent] to have.”
One issue that the Ravens haven’t been able to shake is to start the game from behind the eight ball. For the fifth-straight game, Baltimore fell behind early. After Cyrus Jones touched a live ball on a Bucs punt early in the second quarter, Tampa Bay regained possession. A Mike Evans catch was the key play of the drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Peyton Barber to hand Tampa Bay a 6-0 lead (the extra-point attempt was muffed due to a slick ball in the rain).
The Ravens, as they have also done in the past five weeks, responded nicely, as Jackson found Chris Moore for what was technically a pass but was really a forward underhand toss on a jet sweep for a five-yard touchdown reception.
After the teams traded field goals, Baltimore entered the locker room with a 10-9 lead at the half.
The Ravens pounded the ball in the second half, running the ball 32 times in 39 snaps, which also limited Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston’s chances for a comeback. Tampa Bay entered the game with 318.9 passing yards per game, which led the NFL, but Baltimore held the Bucs to 156 yards through the air, which was a major accomplishment for the second-ranked defense in the league.
The defense, which seems to have a different standout player each week, was keyed on Sunday by Marlon Humphrey. The cornerback not only intercepted Winston in the fourth quarter, but he also broke up a pass attempt on fourth down at the Baltimore 33-yard line that ended Tampa Bay’s chance to try to tie the game in the final moments.
Humphrey, who was the Ravens’ first-round draft pick in 2017, only practiced twice in the past two weeks due to a nagging groin injury.
“Marlon Humphrey played at the level we expected him to play at, which is at the highest level,” Harbaugh said.
For his part, Humphrey said he enjoys having that kind of pressure placed on him.
“I feel like the difference between a good corner and a great corner is making plays—interceptions, pick-sixes, things like that,” Humphrey said in the locker room following the game. “You played well, but you get an interception, you take good to great. I want to be a great [player].”
Edwards continues to by a by-product of this new running mentality that Jackson’s talents have brought to the Ravens. After not playing the first five games of the season and then amassing 64 yards over the next five games, the rookie has rushed for 100 yards in three of the last five contests and hasn’t been tackled for a loss yet in his career (104 attempts). The more weapons Baltimore has on the ground, the more it can open up the passing game, which is also stocked with plenty of weapons.
While the Ravens are enjoying a resurgence this season behind Jackson, it’s safe to wonder if we’ve seen the last of Joe Flacco in purple and black. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported prior to the game that Baltimore is expected to move the veteran quarterback this offseason, drawing comparisons to what happened to former New England franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe after he was replaced by Tom Brady due to an injury in 2001. If Jackson can have just a fraction of the success that Brady has enjoyed, the move will be a win for the Ravens.
Baltimore is now a half-game behind Pittsburgh (8-5-1) for the AFC North lead and currently hold the No. 6 spot over Indianapolis and Tennessee via a tiebreaker. The Ravens, however, are at the 11-3 Los Angeles Chargers next week, while the Colts play the 5-9 New York Giants and the Titans deal with 7-7 Washington in Week 16. The other teams alive in the wild card race are Miami (7-7), and Cleveland (6-7-1). The Browns come to M&T Bank Stadium for a Week 17 matchup with the Ravens to close the regular season.
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