On a night when the Ravens scuffled on offense and Justin Tucker missed a field goal from inside 50 yards for the first time all year, the defense stepped to the fore, leading the visiting Ravens to a 20-10 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 26.
The Ravens forced four turnovers and cornerback Arthur Maulet came up with a critical fourth-down stop in the closing minutes as they held the Chargers (4-7) to one touchdown.
Wide receiver Zay Flowers scored both touchdowns for the Ravens (9-3), who head into their bye week with the best record in the AFC despite demonstrating a concerning number of flaws.
The offense failed to generate much rhythm against a Chargers defense that entered the game ranked dead last against the pass and 31st overall. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was under duress much of the night and, after an impressive first-half touchdown drive, he appeared to be sorely missing All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews.
The Ravens turned the ball over on downs twice, including once after John Harbaugh opted against using a challenge on a spot that might have netted a first down.
Yet for all that went wrong, the Ravens managed to hold on to a fourth-quarter lead — something they haven’t always done recently — and maintain their footing atop the AFC.
The Ravens took a 10-3 halftime lead on the strength of a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Flowers and a 42-yard field goal by Tucker.
With the Ravens nursing a 13-10 lead late in the fourth quarter, Flowers essentially sealed the game when he took a jet sweep 37 yards for a touchdown with 1:36 left.
Flowers finished with a team-high five catches for 25 yards, and the rookie’s two touchdowns doubled his previous season total.
Jackson finished 18-for-32 for 177 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He ran 11 times for 39 yards.
The Chargers found a spark in the second half as quarterback Justin Herbert leaned on his two offensive workhorses, receiver Keenan Allen and Austin Ekeler, but their longest drive of the game came up empty when Ravens linebacker Jadeveon Clowney knocked the ball loose from Herbert and recovered it at the Ravens’ 23-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
The Chargers got their lone touchdown on their next drive when Herbert hit Gerald Everett for a 3-yard touchdown that cut the Ravens’ lead to 13-10 with 8:32 left.
After Tucker missed a 44-yard field goal — he had been 20-for-20 this year inside of 50 yards — the Chargers took over with 2:57 left needing only a field goal to tie. But with the Chargers facing fourth-and-6 from the Ravens’ 46-yard line, Maulet fired in untouched on a blitz from the slot, and Herbert’s desperation heave was flagged for intentional grounding.
The Ravens took over, and Flowers’ touchdown run three plays later sealed the win.
Here are five quick impressions of the win, the Ravens’ sixth in their past seven games:
1. The Ravens’ linebackers set the tone.
On a night when the Ravens’ offense struggled to find any rhythm, the Chargers couldn’t either, because the Ravens’ linebackers were thwarting them at every turn. Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen forced fumbles after completions on back-to-back possessions late in the first half, but the Ravens converted those turnovers into just three points.
Smith and Jadeveon Clowney hit Keenan Allen after he caught a pass over the middle, and Smith ripped the ball loose. The fumble was recovered by defensive end Brent Urban, the first fumble recovery of his 10-year career. That led to a 42-yard field goal by Justin Tucker.
On the Chargers’ next drive, Queen forced a fumble after Austin Ekeler caught a pass, and the loose ball was recovered by Michael Pierce. That chance dissolved into nothing, though, after Lamar Jackson was sacked on third down and threw an incompletion on fourth down with three seconds left in the half.
In the second half, the Chargers compiled a 19-play drive, but it ended abruptly with a strip-sack and fumble recovery by Clowney at the Ravens’ 23-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
As they have done all season, the Ravens got contributions from every level of the defense, including yet another half-sack from Justin Madubuike, who now has 10 this season. But on a night when the Ravens’ offense struggled to get anything going, the Ravens’ linebackers made sure the Chargers didn’t, either.
2. Kyle Hamilton is playing at a Pro Bowl level.
Early in the game, the Chargers handed the ball to speedy receiver Deruis Davis, who tried to run around left end. Kyle Hamilton, lined up in the slot, fought off a block from Keenan Allen and used his 6-foot-4 frame to wrap up Davis at the ankles for a 2-yard loss. Later in the game, Hamilton did much the same, fighting off a block at the line of scrimmage to make a decisive open-field tackle for a loss.
Hamilton was expected to move into a full-time safety role this year after Chuck Clark departed, but last year, he showed that he can have an impact in the slot. Then this year, he recorded three sacks rushing from the slot against the Indianapolis Colts, and his ability to affect the game at the line of scrimmage became impossible to ignore.
Is Hamilton a true safety? Is he an oversized slot corner? Is he some hybrid of the two? It’s hard to peg Hamilton with a specific label given how defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald uses him, but the team’s top draft pick of a year ago might be its best defensive player not named Roquan Smith.
The emergence of Geno Stone as a ball-hawking center-fielder type, with a league-high six interceptions, has allowed Macdonald to maximize Hamilton’s versatility.
Through 10 games, Hamilton ranks third on the team in tackles with 62, he has three sacks — all against the Colts — two interceptions and a team-high nine passes defensed. He returned one of his interceptions for a touchdown against Cleveland.
Those kinds of splash plays are usually what leads to Pro Bowl recognition, but Hamilton’s consistency, his range, his physicality and his sure-handed tackling stand out even more on a play-by-play basis.
3. Lamar Jackson misses Mark Andrews.
Last week, John Harbaugh said, “To replace a player like Mark Andrews, it’s going to take everybody.” Early in this game, it seemed that offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Jackson showed how they intended to replace the All-Pro tight end, who was placed on injured reserve on Saturday with an ankle injury sustained against Cincinnati last week.
Jackson spread the ball among receivers Odell Beckham Jr., Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers in the first half, relying on a lot of quick slants to negate the Chargers’ pass rush. Tight end Isaiah Likely, who took over for Andrews as the starting tight end, had a team-high six targets in the first half, with four catches for 40 yards.
In the second half, though, Likely didn’t have a catch. Neither did Beckham. Neither did Bateman. Jackson in the second half went 6-for-14 for 62 yards.
The Ravens finished 4-for-13 on third-down conversions, and it’s not hard to see that’s a spot where Jackson sorely misses his favorite target. Ever since they came into the league together, Jackson and Andrews have had a kind of telepathy.
When all else fails, when the pocket collapses and Jackson has to freelance, Andrews has shown the uncanny ability to freelance along with him, and countless times the duo has produced something out of nothing in a style that Jackson has dubbed “streetball.”
Maybe Jackson can develop something similar with Flowers, or Beckham, or Likely. But when the offense is scuffling and failing to move the chains, Andrews’ absence is felt most.
4. John Harbaugh had a curious relationship with his challenge flag.
Every NFL coach carries a red challenge flag in his pocket and has staffers who help, in the heat of the moment, determine whether he should challenge a ruling. Against the Chargers, John Harbaugh kept the challenge flag in his pocket on two plays of significant consequence and then lost a challenge when he did opt to use the red flag.
On the first play, quarterback Lamar Jackson eluded a rush and ran toward the first-down marker along the right sideline. He appeared to reach the ball beyond the line to gain before being shoved out of bounds, but the officials marked Jackson short by inches, leaving the Ravens with fourth down at the Chargers’ 27-yard line. Harbaugh opted not to challenge the spot. Rather than send Justin Tucker out for a field-goal try, the Ravens kept the offense on the field. Running back Gus Edwards took a direct snap and was hammered for no gain.
Later, Nelson Agholor caught a pass across the middle and was finally knocked out of bounds near the first-down marker. He appeared to gain enough for a first down, but again, the officials ruled that he was short. The Ravens didn’t challenge the spot and decided to go up-tempo, but Jackson’s quick wide receiver screen to Zay Flowers fell incomplete — and was nearly intercepted. After that quick sequence, that probably should have netted a first down, the Ravens were left with fourth-and-1.
Gus Edwards did gain a first down with a 2-yard run, but that drive soon sputtered and the Ravens punted.
In the second half, the Chargers opted for some razzle-dazzle when Keenan Allen caught a pass over the middle, then fired a lateral pass to Austin Ekeler along the right sideline. The play went for 17 yards and a first down. This time, Harbaugh did challenge whether Allen’s pass had gone forward, which would have been illegal, but the ruling on the field stood.
Harbaugh thus lost a timeout, which ultimately wasn’t needed. But overall, it was not a good night for Harbaugh and his braintrust behind the red flag.
5. The Ravens have earned this bye week, and they need it.
The Ravens enter their bye week with a 1 1/2-game lead in the AFC North over Pittsburgh (7-4) and Cleveland (7-4), and counting a Thursday night win against Cincinnati last week, they are in the midst of a stretch in which they play one game in 23 days. That is a much-needed break after the grind of 12 games in as many weeks.
They can use the rest, too, because the Ravens face a grueling stretch run. After hosting the Los Angeles Rams (5-6) on Dec. 10, the Ravens visit Jacksonville (8-3), then go to San Francisco (8-3) for a Christmas night showdown before hosting Miami (8-3) and the archrival Steelers in the regular-season finale. That game could very well decide the AFC North, especially given the Steelers’ more forgiving schedule.
The Steelers have already beaten the Ravens once, so if the Steelers win that game at M&T Bank Stadium, they would gain any division tiebreaker edge based on the season sweep.
First things first: The Ravens can hope to get rested and ready for that final month. Injured players such as cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who missed this game, and tackle Ronnie Stanley, who played but appeared to reaggravate his knee injury, can mend. And after 12 games in 12 weeks, including a trip to London and two to the West Coast, pretty much everyone on the team is dealing with some ailment.
This time off is well timed, and with six wins in the past seven weeks, well deserved.
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