In what might have been a possible preview of Super Bowl LIV, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 20-17. With the win, the Ravens to rise to 10-2 and keep up with the New England Patriots in the race for the conference crown.
This was quite possibly the hardest opponent the Ravens have faced all season. So of course, there’s going to be a few things we can learn from this win and carry into future games.
1. The Ravens can beat anyone
In the last six weeks, the Ravens have faced the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers. Four of the teams on that list — the Seahawks, Patriots, Texans and 49ers — appear to be postseason bound and two of them –the Patriots and 49ers –are popular picks to win the Super Bowl.
Baltimore is 5-1 against teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today, with their one loss coming against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3 when this was a much different team. After struggling to defeat playoff-caliber teams in previous seasons, the Ravens have figured out how to do it now in 2019 and that makes them the most dangerous team in the league with the postseason approaching.
2. Lamar Jackson is the MVP
Jackson is the league favorite to win the MVP award already. He’s been doing things that no player has ever done while leading an offensively dominant Ravens team to a 10-2 record, including against top defenses.
He’s gone up against the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers, two teams whose defenses have shut down almost everyone they’ve played. In those two games, Jackson has put up 470 combined passing and rushing yards, scored five total touchdowns, has led an offense that put up 50 points, and his only turnover was a lost fumble. He’s led an offensive juggernaut that has run over the entire league, including two teams that looked like they could shut down any offense.
It’s easy to amass yards in this league against terrible teams. It’s another to do it weekly against even the best competition. And as Jackson continues to put the team on his back and pick up wins, he should continue to pick up steam in the MVP race.
3. Embracing analytics has been the Ravens’ biggest friend
The Ravens have become every analysts’ favorite team in 2019, as they’ve created an analytics branch of their front office to help them better play the odds. This season, it has worked out for Baltimore as they continue to do things previously thought to be gutsy calls. Except, with the analytics team, it’s turned out to be the correct call most of the time.
One such gutsy call has been being aggressive on offense. The Ravens have chosen to keep the offense on the field and go for it almost every time they run into a fourth-down situation, instead of going for the more conventional option of trusting Sam Koch to pin the opponent back, or that Justin Tucker can kick a field goal so long as the Ravens get to the opponent’s 35-yard line.
Admittedly, it’s easy to maintain this aggressive attitude when Jackson and Mark Ingram are almost effortlessly running over opponents in blowouts. However, it’s a far tougher call when they’re in close games and facing top defenses. Against San Francisco — who made Baltimore fight for every yard they got — coach Harbaugh showed a lot of faith in his offense and quarterback to get the job done.
On a 4th-and-1 on the Ravens’ own 44-yard line with 4:39 left in a tied game, Harbaugh kept his offense on the field and trusted the analytics. His faith was rewarded when Jackson was able to run for the first down and that drive ended with a game-winning field goal.
4. Justin Tucker is still money
The Ravens haven’t had to call on Tucker too much in 2019. With coach Harbaugh’s newfound aggressiveness on fourth down, the team hasn’t settled for field goals as much this season. And with Jackson leading an offense that routinely blows out opponents, Baltimore hasn’t needed him to make a game-winning field goal since his overtime winner in Week 4.
Tucker has only attempted 21 field goals, with 20 successes. He’s on pace to kick 30 field goals with 29 successes, which would be a career low in both for the kicker.
But Tucker proved against the 49ers that he can still get the job done when he nailing a 49-yard field goal in poor conditions to win the game. It’s a kick that’s not a guarantee by any means, but for the best kicker in the game, it’s not a problem. There aren’t too many weaknesses on the Ravens roster and you can bet that Tucker isn’t going to be one of them.
