The Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots 37-20 in Week 9. It’s a huge win for Baltimore, who is now on a roll with their second consecutive statement win over a quality opponent.
The Ravens move to 6-2 on the season and now eye up their postseason seeding with the tiebreaker over the Patriots. But they can walk into this upcoming week with a few quality takeaways for the games to come.
Ravens are the best of the best right now
Baltimore didn’t just squeak by New England in this one, they punched them in the gut and stole their lunch money. The Ravens beat up and bullied what had been a dominant Patriots defense while battering quarterback Tom Brady and picking up two turnovers on defense.
Any win on Sunday night would have been a statement win, but to beat New England by this wide of a margin is sure to turn quite a few heads. For now, Baltimore is the best team in the league.
Lamar Jackson outplayed Tom Brady
A large portion of why the Ravens were able to beat the Patriots was Jackson outplaying Brady across the board.
Jackson stayed calm, cool and collected both when throwing the football and when running. He ended the game with a 73.9% completion rate for 163 yards and a touchdown while adding another 63 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Jackson and Baltimore used a lot of what Brady and New England’s offense typically does, especially with short throws to receivers in open space.
On the other side of the ball, Brady was hit often even though he showed good pocket presence and movement to avoid some of the rush. He connected on 65% of his passes (30 of 46), but big mistakes (an interception and a fumble) were killers. The Patriots also failed to punch the ball into the end zone several times in spite of finishing drives at Baltimore’s 1- and 4-yard lines.
Jackson might not have put up the craziest stats but he did everything asked of him and everything necessary to win this game.
Pass rush got consistent pressure
Baltimore’s pass rush had been a real concern all season. It got even worse when outside linebacker Pernell McPhee headed to injured reserve last week. But against the top-scoring offense in the league, the Ravens routinely got in Brady’s face and forced him to move around the pocket and make quick reads.
Brady was sacked twice but was hit 10 times officially. He also picked up an intentional grounding penalty and was intercepted once.
The Patriots’ offensive line is far from the best one in the league, but Brady had been sacked just 13 times (24th in the NFL) through eight games this season. That bodes well for Baltimore’s pass rush considering they face the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills over the next five weeks.
A clean game
The Ravens haven’t exactly been known as the most disciplined team this season, committing awful penalties at the worst times. In previous games, penalties kept the defense on the field and killed drives for the offense. Coming into this game, that’s something Baltimore could not do and expect to win. Sure enough, they patched up their issues and were actually the better team in that regard as well.
Where the Patriots had seven penalties for 48 yards and gave up four first downs, the Ravens had just four penalties for 34 yards and gave up just one first down. Baltimore sustained several drives thanks to New England doing silly things like jumping offside on a field goal attempt, a mistake the Ravens turned into seven points.
Red zone offense got the job done
Baltimore had been in the middle of the pack in red zone efficiency. Typically, the offense has shrunk as the field in front of them shrunk, and they settled for field goals all too often. In this game, field goals weren’t going to cut it, but credit offensive coordinator Greg Roman and the players for getting the job done.
In five trips to the red zone, the Ravens scored all five times, notching touchdowns in four of them. Had Baltimore managed to just kick field goals all game, this would have been a different game.
Ravens weathered the storm
The Ravens started the game off with a bang, quickly getting out to a 17-0 lead before disaster struck. Baltimore gave New England the ball twice on turnovers deep in Ravens territory. With the lead trimmed to 17-13 at halftime, it would have been easy to panic in the second half.
But the Ravens handled things well by staying calm and continuing to do what they had done well earlier and making adjustments where needed. Marlon Humphrey’s 70-yard fumble return was the spark Baltimore needed. The defense weathered the Patriots’ no-huddle offense for a few drives until the Ravens offense could milk the clock and put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter.
Baltimore went into the championship rounds against a championship team and kept their composure. There’s nothing this team can’t handle when they’re at their best, and they have the makings of a squad that can go deep into the postseason.
