Getty Ravens WR Demarcus Robinson goes up to make a touchdown catch in a regular season game on December 24, 2022.
The Baltimore Ravens got back in the win column in Week 16 with a commanding 17-9 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on December 24. Games are often won and lost as a result of a handful of key plays that turned the tide in one team’s favor over the other.
This interconference matchup featured several pivotal plays that were impressive and incredibly clutch, and some that could’ve made the game much closer but players stepped up and closed the door time and time again. Here are the best, worst, and most clutch plays from the Ravens this past Sunday:
Best Plays
The Ravens leaned heavily on their dominant rushing attack to lead the way to victory. While they ripped off several chunk runs, some of their biggest plays came via the passing game.
The longest play by either team on the day came on the Ravens’ first drive of the game when backup quarterback Tyler Huntley scrambled to his right and hit veteran Sammy Watkins in stride downfield and he proceeded to pick up additional yards after the catch for a 40-yard gain.
WELCOME BACK SAMMY❗️
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It was Watkin’s only target and receptions of the game but it was just one of several impressive contributions he made in his first game back with the team after being claimed off waivers last Tuesday, December 20.
“I thought he played really well,” head coach John Harbaugh said in his Monday press conference. “He had the big play early; him and Tyler kind of made it happen on the scramble play. That was great to see; [it was] a really important play for us. Then, [there were] not too many chances in the passing game after that, though he ran his routes really well, but [he had] a lot of really good blocks. We ran the ball a lot, and he blocked really well. He was physical, and you could tell he was excited to be out there.”
Huntley wasn’t done pushing the ball down the field after that huge play as he continued to take deep shots both down the seams over the middle of the field as well as the boundary. His second long gain through the air was perhaps his best throw of the game if not the season during his time filling in for injured starter Lamar Jackson.
On the second play of the second quarter, the third-year pro and Pro Bowl alternate perfectly placed a ball in the hands of All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews who was isolated out wide and gained separation against Falcons top cornerback AJ Terrell. He was able to hit yet another target in stride, this time for a 36-yard gain before the safety could come over the top to make a play on the ball.
Mark Andrews beat AJ Terrell’s soft shoe press on 3rd and 5 with a gather speed release *chef’s kiss*
Uses his inside arm to keep Terrell from getting into his frame as he stacks.
Baltimore has been gradually isolating Andrews against corners more over the last month.
The Ravens’ defense played a great game as well and was just as instrumental to the team’s success as the running game. Leading the charge on that side of the ball was Pro Bowl inside linebacker Roquan Smith who was in “predator” mode all game long and finished with a team-leading 15 total tackles and notched a sack for no gain.
One of his best plays came on the Falcons’ first drive of the third quarter where he made a potentially touchdown-saving tackle on wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus. With Atlanta’s offense facing a thrid-and-long from the Baltimore 16-yard line, they called a screen, and while rookie safety Kyle Hamilton made first contact and slowed down Zaccheaus initially, it was the tremendous hustle from Smith that kept him from picking up any yards and force a short field goal attempt.
This probably goes for a touchdown if Roquan Smith doesn’t have a non-stop motor.
The Ravens’ biggest offensive play on the ground came from their bell cow of the game, running back Gus ‘The Bus’ Edwards, who picked up 41 yards on the last two plays of the third quarter, the first of which included a season-high 37-yard gain.
The wheels on the Gus Bus go round and round 🚌🚌🚌
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It got the offense just inside the Falcons’ 10-yard line and even though the promising drive eventually stalled out, the big play was their second-longest of the game and set up their final scoring drive of the game.
Worst Plays
There weren’t too many bad plays from the Ravens in this game outside of a fumble by Huntley on a designed run that left guard Ben Powers made a clutch play by pouncing on it to avoid disaster. Aside from that, their worst plays were simply missed opportunities and questionable coaching decisions that prevented them from putting the game away sooner.
Their worst play came on special teams and resulted in future Hall of Fame kicker Justin Tucker’s second blocked field goal of the season and in back-to-back weeks. After the Ravens’ third offensive drive of the game stalled out at the Atlanta 37-yard, they opted to trot out Tucker to attempt a 55-yard field goal instead of trying to pin back the Falcons’ offense deep inside their enemy territory.
Ordinarily, Tucker is automatic from just about any distance but given the flow of the game and weather conditions, they probably would’ve been better off trying to make a rookie quarterback in Desmond Ridder start a drive backed up against his own goal line.
As impressive as some of Huntley’s completions down the field were in this game, he missed on a few prime opportunities to pick up even more and score more points.
On the same drive where he connected with Andrews for the long gain, he could’ve done so again for a 15-yard touchdown but he didn’t see the three-time Pro Bowler uncover late in the play and completed a 6-yard pass to fourth-year tight end Josh Oliver instead. After an incompletion on the next play, they settled for a 27-yard field goal.
Snoop misses an opportunity for a touchdown to Mark Andrews, who breaks wide open in the red zone.
Part of Snoop’s effectiveness is he gets rid of the ball quickly. But sometimes that means missing shots that open up a hair later like this.
Most Clutch Plays
The Ravens made several pivotal plays on both sides of the ball that helped them ultimately prevail. The first most clutch play by the defense came on the Falcons’ first offensive drive of the second quarter when they went for it on fourth-and-short from the Baltimore 46-yard line.
After rookie wide receiver Drake London reeled in a 20-yard catch, All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey dislodged the ball from his grasp with his signature ‘Fruit Punch’ for his first forced fumble of the season.
FRUIT PUNCH IS BACK❗️
@marlon_humphrey forces the fumble and @Patrickqueen_ recovers!
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The Ravens’ best offensive drive was capped off by their first touchdown since Week 14 and the first touchdown catch by a wide receiver since Week 3. Facing third down from the Atlanta 6-yard line after keeping the ball on the ground for 11 straight plays, Huntley connected with veteran wideout Demarcus Robinson who made a great leaping grab over a defender.
Instead of trotting out Tucker for the point after attempt, they kept the offense on the field and Huntley made it 14-0 by punching the ball across the goal line on a quarterback power run play.
The most clutch play by the defense came on a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter where they denied the Falcons’ offense from punching the ball across the goal line at the 1-yard line. Third-year defensive tackle Justin Madubuike made the initial penetration that allowed inside linebacker Patrick Queen to shoot the gap and stifle rookie running back Tyler Allgeier in the backfield.
While he wasn’t the one to bring him down, fourth-year defensive tackle Isaiah Mack who was playing in just his second game of the season did by throwing him down for a loss of a yard, forcing a turnover on downs for the second and final time.
Justin Madubuike creates the lane and Patrick Queen zooms by Falcons LT Jake Matthews to make this goal-line stop on fourth down.
Just in their Week 14 win over their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens’ most clutch play of the game was the one on offense that put it on ice and sealed the victory. Facing a second-and-long from their own 31-yard line needing just seven yards to pick up a first down, they handed the ball off to Edwards who followed great blocks from rookie center Tyler Linerbaum and veteran right guard Kevin Zeitler for an 8-yard gain.
And they didn’t put Kevin Zeitler and Tyler Linderbaum in the Pro Bowl. Tsk tsk.
Sidenote: the Ravens have become very good at icing games on the ground.
The excellent execution on the play by the two Pro Bowl snubs made it so that Edwards wasn’t touched until he had already picked up the necessary yardage to win the game.
The Ravens’ rushing attack and elite defense will need to continue to come up clutch if they are to make a run this year and neither is showing signs of slowing down. If anything, they’re both beginning to peak at the right time.