When the Baltimore Ravens extended their lead over the Cleveland Browns to 10 points on Justin Tucker’s third field goal with just under 11 and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, victory still seemed far from a sure thing. Given the proclivity of this year’s team to blow double-digit leads that they showed in the first six weeks of the season, that uneasy feeling was completely understandable.
Their inability to consistently finish and close out games cost them a chance to claim victories in all three of their losses and when running back Justice Hill fumbled inside the Browns’ 20-yard line, it felt like history was on the verge of repeating itself.
However, this time around, they found a way to finish by stepping in the other two phases of the game with a blocked field goal and forced fumble to secure a decisive 23-20 victory. With the win, Ravens improved to 4-3, remained undefeated within, and maintained sole possession of first place in the AFC North.
“The guys were able to go out there in that situation and pick each other up,” head coach John Harbaugh said in his postgame press conference. “The offense was on the way to winning us the game, and we turned the ball over, unfortunately, but it wasn’t the end of it. It didn’t start something negative. We stepped up, defense stepped up, special teams stepped up.”
A common theme in the postgame comments from many of the players was about how a gritty win like this in which they overcame some late adversity caused by their own mistakes and exercised their “finishing” demons was momentum.
“I’d rather it not be close, so we’re not around here biting our nails at the end of the game. But I feel like it just builds momentum, especially [because] we’ve got this quick turnaround Thursday Night, playing against a tough team. We’ve just got to keep stacking, though – keep stacking. Hopefully, these games aren’t so close; [they’re] coming down to nail-biters.” – quarterback Lamar Jackson
“It was a must-win situation, big divisional game, a rivalry game. We have momentum now, and we just have to keep building it up. We’re going to find out about ourselves in the weeks to come.” – running back Gus Edwards
“I think it helps. It just helps build momentum, and I think what we’ve been going through is just growing pains. I prefer to go through it at the beginning of the season than the end. We all know, you’ve just got to get hot at the right time. I love our team. I think we’ve got everything we need to win it. We’ve just got to continue to build and grow. That’s what we’ve been doing, and it showed today. We had guys step up on special teams, defense, and offense to make plays and get us this victory.” – outside linebacker Justin Houston
The ‘Best Has Yet To Come’ for Ravens Pass Rush
A key factor to the Ravens’ bounce-back victory over their division foes was the defense’s ability to generate consistent pressure on Browns’ quarterback Jacoby Brissett. It’s not a coincidence that the unit recorded a single-game season high in sacks with five in Justin Houston’s first game back.
After missing the past three games with a groin injury, the veteran outside linebacker led the charge for the pass rush with team-leading two sacks, came close to notching a couple more, and finished with two solo tackles including one for a loss and a forced fumble. Six-time Pro Bowl defensive Calais Campbell also recorded a strip sack and they got a pair of sacks on linebacker and safety blitzes as well.
“If you can put pressure on the quarterback and make the quarterback uncomfortable, that creates a lot of turnovers,” Houston said. “Any time you can get turnovers and change the momentum of the game, that’s big.”
As ferocious as the Ravens’ pass rush was in this game, Houston still believes there is plenty of room for growth and improvement.
“I think we’re just building and growing in the right direction,” he said. “I always knew what we had in the locker room; it was just a matter of time [before] we showed the world what we’ve got – and I think the best is yet to come.”
They also have a handful of new players that are still getting used to playing together and will only get better with more live reps in games.
“(Jason Pierre-Paul) is new; we’re figuring out how he likes to rush. It’s more than just a one-man show up front,” Houston said. “Everybody has got to be on the same page, and the communication has to be big when you’re rushing upfront. I think that’s what we’re learning how to do with one another and learning each other’s style of rush.”
The Ravens are still without veteran Tyus Bower and rookie David Ojabo who both returned to practice in recent weeks and will be contributing to the pass rush off the edge down the stretch. Bowser led the team in sacks last year with seven before suffering a torn Achilles in the regular season finale and Ojabo was projected to be a top 15 pick in this year’s draft after recording 11 sacks in his last collegiate season before suffering the same injury at his pro day back in March.
Ravens’ 2020 Draft Class Comes Up Clutch
The Ravens got huge plays in pivotal moments from several third-year players against the Browns. Inside linebacker Patrick Queen and safety Geno Stone were the team’s first and final selections in the 2020 NFL Draft and were instrumental in the defensive effort that was stout for most of the game outside of two drives.
They tied for the team lead in solo tackles with seven apiece, Queen had another monster game with 11 total tackles including three for loss and sack, and Stone came up with the game-sealing forced fumble and recovery as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Geno Stone takes it away and this game is over! #RavensFlock
Queen was a consistently disruptive force at, near, and behind the scrimmage with the way he blitzed and tackled in the open field. He almost single-handedly killed the Browns’ third drive of the game when he knifed into the backfield to tackle Kareem Hunt for a loss on back-to-back plays.
Patrick Queen continues his strong play 😈
“I feel like I’ve had better games,” Queen said in his post-game press conference. “My confidence is definitely building, obviously, but it’s just a point of stacking and being consistent while doing that. I feel like in the past it was I’d have a game like that, and then it would go down, then I would have another game like that, then it would go down. So, it’s just the point of being consistent with it now.”
Former third-round wide receiver Devin Duvernay picked up first downs on both of his receptions and tied for the most receiving yards on the team with 42. He also made the most of his lone punt return opportunity by returning it 46 yards to set up the offense with a short field.
DEVIN DUVERNAY ALERT
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While he only finished with one assisted tackle on defense, Malik Harrison made his biggest impact on special teams by blocking a game-tying 61-yard field goal attempt by Browns’ rookie kicker Cade York.
DEFLECTED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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“I just do whatever the team needs me to do,” Harrison said in postgame comments. “If I need to go out there and make a play on special teams or make a play on defense – anything at all – that’s what I’ll do.”
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John Harbaugh Speaks Out After Ravens Avoid Another Late Collapse