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The Baltimore Ravens made a statement in their Week 16, 33-19 blowout victory against the San Francisco 49ers on Christmas night. Yet, the Ravens do not seem to be letting go of the fact that many did not foresee them even having a chance of winning tonight.
According to “The 33rd Team’s” Ari Meirov, quarterback Lamar Jackson after the victory walked through the tunnel with teammates appearing to say, “What’s his name? Mike Flores?”
Jackson is referring to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who picked against the Ravens, calling for “The 49ers to kick the (expletive) out of the Ravens.”
Jackson addressed it further in his press conference, telling media, “He can have his opinion…. That’s very disrespectful.” Lamar gave the 49ers credit for being a good football team but felt Florio’s comments were not “respectful.”
Head coach John Harbaugh was asked about his team feeling disrespected and responded by saying, “There’s one way to be respected, and that’s to go out and earn it.”
Jackson responded to the critics by again going out there and playing one of his best games of the season against one of the best teams in the league. Harbaugh described the performance as, “Lamar had an MVP performance tonight.”
Jackson may have launched himself into the lead for the MVP race with 252 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 45 rushing yards against one of the league’s best defenses. Jackson also improved to 20-1 against NFC teams with the win.
Ravens’ Defense Gives 49ers QB Brock Purdy Troubles
49ers QB Brock Purdy may have been leading MVP odds according to VegasInsider (this could be changing soon), but the Ravens’ defense made him look like anything but that tonight.
On the 49ers’ first drive of the game, it looked like the 49ers’ offense may run rampant over the Ravens. They were driving quickly down the field before an interception by safety Kyle Hamilton seemed to change the entire course of the game.
Hamilton picked off the second year QB twice sapping any momentum out of the 49ers’ crowd.
Purdy would end up throwing four interceptions in total, including a pick in the 49ers’ second drive of the second half. The 49ers were piling on the yards (although a good chunk came once down 30-12) but the Ravens responded with a key play almost every time.
Purdy was removed for Sam Darnold due to what appeared to be an injury in the fourth quarter after a sack.
Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen, who had an interception, also referenced the fact that most of the pundits were picking the 49ers. He told media, “Everybody writing us off before we even got a chance to play. We knew what we were capable of.”
Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was fired up towards the end of the game. His defense was facing its toughest test of the season and responded with 5 interceptions, 4.0 sacks and limited the 49ers high-octane offense to 17 points.
Rookie Zay Flowers Comes Up Big vs. 49ers
While Jackson was the maestro, the rookie Zay Flowers was a key cog for the Ravens offense tonight. In the first half alone, Jackson targeted Flowers 11 times to the tune of 7 catches for 53 yards, including drawing a key penalty to keep their two-minute drive alive.
Flowers tied a season high in catches and set a season high in targets.
The Ravens offense appeared to be struggling in the first half other than Flowers, something not uncommon against the tough 49ers’ defense.
Other than a brilliant 31-yard run by Jackson at the end of the half, most of the offense felt reliant on Flowers to move the chains.
While Baltimore was able to force three turnovers in the first half, they were only able capitalize to the tune of ten points.
However, that changed in the second half when the offense scored two-touchdowns on their first two drives, 18 seconds apart.
After the Ravens forced the fourth interception of the night, Jackson found Flowers for the touchdown to take a 30-12 lead. The touchdown by Flowers felt like the nail in the coffin, though it was still early in the third quarter.
It was the rookie’s fourth touchdown of the season, including his third in his last 4 games. Flowers finished the game with 9 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
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