Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald ran along the sideline and gave a huge high-five to defensive line coach Anthony Weaver. The usually cool, calm, and reserved Macdonald looked as excited as a kid on Christmas morning, and with good reason.
Safety Marcus Williams had just recorded the Ravens’ fifth interception of the night as the Ravens polished off a dominant 33-19 win against San Francisco in a Christmas night, nationally televised showdown billed as a potential Super Bowl preview between two of the NFL’s best teams.
The Ravens had made no secret of the disrespect they felt being a nearly one-touchdown underdog, and for 60 minutes, they proved to be better, stronger and tougher as they bullied the 49ers (11-4), who had won six straight games.
With their fifth straight win, the Ravens (12-3) retained their position atop the AFC and inched closer to earning the AFC North title and No. 1 seeding in the AFC.
The Ravens overcame a ragged start in which they fell behind 5-0, including an early safety when quarterback Lamar Jackson was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone. But they never trailed after Gus Edwards barreled in for a 1-yard touchdown and a 10-5 lead midway through the second quarter.
By the midway point of the fourth quarter, the Ravens had extended their lead to 33-12 thanks to a pair of touchdown passes by Jackson, who easily outdueled 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy in what was viewed by some as a referendum on the race for the NFL Most Valuable Player Award.
Jackson’s second touchdown pass, a 9-yard throw to Zay Flowers, came one play after Patrick Queen picked off Purdy. That was the fourth interception of the game for Purdy, who had thrown just seven in 384 passes coming into the game.
Purdy left the game with a stinger injury, and backup Sam Darnold led the 49ers in a late rally. He threw one touchdown pass, but their final drive ended when Williams picked off Darnold at the goal line with about a minute left, setting off the yuletide celebration by Macdonald and others on the Ravens sideline.
Here are five quick impressions of the game, which improved Jackson’s record to 20-1 against the NFC:
1. The Ravens killed Brock Purdy’s MVP candidacy. …
This game was billed as a duel between two of the front-runners for the league MVP award in San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. That was a logical narrative; the quarterbacks of the league’s best teams always will rise to the top of that discussion.
But during 50 minutes filled with misery for Purdy, the Ravens ran him right out of the MVP picture. Purdy threw interceptions on three of his team’s first four possessions, and for most of the night, he looked rattled and frustrated by the Ravens’ defense.
Kyle Hamilton picked off Purdy in the Ravens end zone to thwart the 49ers’ first drive, and Marlon Humphrey and Hamilton added second-quarter interceptions as the Ravens opened a 16-12 halftime lead.
Purdy finished 18-for-32 for 255 yards, and the four interceptions mark the most of his remarkable two-year career. Purdy finished with a passer rating of 42.6, easily his worst in 20 career starts. By the end of the game, Purdy was on the sideline, dealing with a stinger injury after he was sacked by Jadeveon Clowney.
In the days leading up to the game, analysts billed this as a showdown of potential MVP candidates who would have a rapt, egg-nog-filled audience to appraise their performance. No one watching Purdy in this one would view him as the league’s most valuable player. The Ravens ran him right out of that discussion.
2. … and Lamar Jackson burnished his own credentials.
Early in the first quarter, Lamar Jackson made a panicked, desperation throw from his own end zone to avoid a sack. It was ruled intentional grounding and a safety, and for the first 10 minutes or so, Lamar Jackson looked nothing like an MVP candidate.
In the next three quarters, though, Jackson did what he almost always does, especially against NFC teams: He juked, dodged, ran and threw his way down the field to another victory. It isn’t always pretty. The throws are sometimes unorthodox. The arm angles aren’t consistent. But here’s what is consistent: winning.
Jackson improved to a remarkable 20-1 against the NFC and, more important in the near term, to 12-3 as a starter in 2023. Despite losing All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews, and ascending running back Keaton Mitchell — after losing top running back J.K. Dobbins in Week 1 — Jackson has the Ravens in position to earn the top seeding in the AFC for the second time in five years as the full-time starter.
In this game, Jackson finished 23-for-35 for 252 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions — five fewer than his 49ers counterparts. He also ran seven times for 45 yards.
Jackson doesn’t have the most passing yards in the league; in fact, with 3,357, he’s not even in the top 10. He doesn’t have the most touchdown passes. With 19, he’s not in the top 10. Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa (4,214) and Dallas’ Dak Prescott (30) lead those categories.
Are they more worthy of the league’s MVP award? That’s up to debate, but in a game that was viewed as a duel between two of the league’s best quarterbacks, only one of the quarterbacks on the field Christmas night made a convincing case to be in that discussion.
In fact, only one player from the 49ers still belongs in the conversation, and that’s all-everything back Christian McCaffery, who finished with 14 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown and also caught six passes for 28 yards.
Absolutely there are other worthy MVP candidates. But as long as Lamar Jackson is on the field, the Ravens’ chance to win is exceedingly high. In NFL terms, that would seem to be the definition of “valuable.”
3. Once again, the Ravens have to hope that Kyle Hamilton is OK.
Here we go again: Two weeks ago, Kyle Hamilton left against the Rams with a knee injury that looked serious, but the second-year safety from Notre Dame didn’t so much as miss a practice, channeling his inner toughness and a drive to compete.
Hamilton, the Ravens’ do-everything, line-up-anywhere safety, has played at an All-Pro level this season and furthered his credentials with a pair of interceptions of Brock Purdy on national television. Yet he left the game in the second half with another left knee injury.
Given how big a factor Hamilton has been, that injury has to be a major concern with the high-octane offense of the Miami Dolphins coming to M&T Bank Stadium this week with the AFC’s No. 1 seed in play.
To be sure, the Ravens have impact defenders at every level of their defense. They pride themselves on mixing and matching, disguising and stunting their way to frustrating the opposition at every turn, and for the most part it has worked. Brent Urban recorded a career-best two of the Ravens’ four sacks against the 49ers.
Other than Roquan Smith, though, Hamilton has been perhaps the biggest key to their success. His instincts, length and physicality break the mold for the safety position, and it has become increasingly clear that teams game-plan against him; the TV broadcast from Jacksonville caught Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence pointing and yelling, “Watch 14!”
More and more, it seems the Ravens’ defense goes as Hamilton goes. As the Ravens try to lock up the divisional title and No. 1 seed in the AFC, they need him on the field.
4. The Ravens bullied the best team in the NFC.
Isaiah Likely caught a short pass in the left flat and turned upfield. San Francisco safety Ji’Ayir Brown closed the distance and moved in for the tackle. Likely put a stiff-arm to Brown’s face and pushed him to the turf, than ran over him and gained another 10 yards.
As much as anything, that modest play summed up the Ravens’ win against San Francisco. The Ravens, seemingly with a chip on their collective shoulder as a 5- to 6-point underdog, just pushed around the 49ers at every turn. Likely sent Brown sprawling and flailing at air, and on other occasions, it looked as if the NFC front-runners wanted no part of the physicality of AFC North football.
No, it wasn’t always pretty for the Ravens, and all-world running back Christian McCaffrey finished 104 rushing yards, averaging 7.4 yards a carry. Tight end George Kittle finished with 126 receiving yards, though most of that was in the first half.
On both sides of the ball, the Ravens imposed their will. Their pressure flustered 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, and a few of the interceptions came off deflections in which the Ravens simply kept playing. Kyle Hamilton was driven to the turf, got up, pursued the play and was in position to corral a deflected pass for his second interception.
Brent Urban, Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy just overmatched a 49ers offensive line that lost All-Pro tackle Trent Williams to a groin injury, and those veterans collectively tallied four sacks.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh deals in the currency of toughness, and he has plenty to smile about after this win. They went 3,000 miles across the country and kicked the NFC’s best team in the teeth. He might run Likely’s stiff-arm on a continuous loop at the Ravens facility all next week.
5. The stakes at home on New Year’s Eve just got bigger.
With the win against the 49ers, the Ravens remain a game ahead of the Miami Dolphins (11-4) for the top seed in the AFC, and the teams meet at M&T Bank Stadium on New Year’s Eve in what now shapes up to be the most important game of the year.
With a win against the Dolphins, the Ravens would clinch the AFC North title and the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed. Yet the Joe Flacco-led Cleveland Browns (10-5) aren’t going away, and a loss to Miami — coupled with a Browns win over the New York Jets this week — puts the division title still up for grabs entering the final week of the season.
For all the Ravens’ success, if they drop their last two to the Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers, to finish at 12-5, and the Browns beat the Jets and Cincinnati Bengals to finish 12-5, the Browns and Flacco would win the division title based on the second tiebreaker of divisional record; in that scenario, the Ravens would finish 3-3 in the division and the Browns would be 4-2.
First things first. The Ravens always like to say they want to control what they can control, and they absolutely control the AFC playoff picture for now. If they can slow down Miami next weekend, and if Mike Macdonald can thwart yet another divisional leader, as he has done multiple times this year, the Ravens will be AFC champs. That would be quite a way to ring in the new year.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox