Rows of reporters and a line of cameras separated John Harbaugh from the small TV taking part in behind the Ravens’ information convention room inside M&T Bank Stadium, and at one level early in his presser Saturday, the coach jokingly held a hand as much as his face, as if to cowl himself from the pictures being transmitted from Gillette Stadium.
The Ravens had overwhelmed the Atlanta Falcons, 17-9, and now there was a slight delay in figuring out simply how important their tenth win of the season can be. Harbaugh may keep it up for less than so lengthy.
“It’s players who win games …” he stated to a roomful of distracted watchers, casting his gaze over to the TV. “You guys all want to watch the end of this, huh?” A final-gasp cross from New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones had fallen incomplete. The Cincinnati Bengals have been going to carry on in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Ravens have been going again to the playoffs.
“Oh, OK,” Harbaugh stated when he was assured that that was the case. “It feels great. Congratulations to our guys.”
Afterward, the temper within the locker room was subdued, matter-of-fact. Maybe it was as a result of the Ravens (10-5) knew they have been lengthy photographs to overlook the playoffs. Maybe it was as a result of a couple of didn’t even know they’d clinched a playoff berth. (“Oh, really?” inside linebacker Roquan Smith stated when requested in regards to the feat.) Maybe it was as a result of the Ravens have been lacking a handful of potential postseason difference-makers. Whatever the explanations, this Christmas Eve triumph lacked the holly-jolly cheer of earlier postseason-clinching victories.
In 2018, the Ravens had earned a division title and a playoff berth on a last-second interception in a Week 17 win over the Cleveland Browns. A yr later, they’d secured a postseason journey with their ninth straight victory and one other late cease, this time in opposition to the Buffalo Bills. In 2020, after they final prolonged their season, they’d wanted a Week 17 win to clinch a playoff berth — and obtained it with a 38-3 rout in Cincinnati, rumbling over the Bengals for a franchise-record 404 operating yards.
On Saturday, the Ravens punched their ticket with a method befitting of their circumstances. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was sidelined for a 3rd straight recreation, in order that they requested backup Tyler Huntley to cross simply 17 instances. The climate was the coldest ever for a Ravens house recreation (17 levels at kickoff), in order that they turned operating again Gus Edwards right into a battering ram (11 carries for 99 yards). The Falcons have been beginning rookie Desmond Ridder at quarterback, so the protection geared as much as cease Atlanta’s highly effective floor recreation (3.5 yards per carry allowed).
“These games are all playoff football from here on out,” Harbaugh stated. “This is a really valuable game. This is something that we talked to our guys about; when you win games in September and October and into November, then you put yourself in position to win meaningful games in December. Meaningful games in December are just hugely valuable, as you can see, as you know. Then you have an opportunity — when you win them, they really count for something.”
It was not a fairly win, however the Ravens have largely eschewed aesthetics within the 15 quarters since Jackson suffered a knee damage, and nonetheless they’ve received three of 4 video games. For all the stats Saturday suggesting they have been in bother — their 1-for-4 mark within the crimson zone, Huntley’s 115 passing yards, a decisive loss within the time-of-possession battle — the Ravens wrestled away management of the sport elsewhere.
Ridder completed 22-for-33 for 218 yards, however the third-round choose watched a fourth-down completion to rookie huge receiver Drake London punched out by cornerback Marlon Humphrey and recovered by inside linebacker Patrick Queen in Ravens territory. An intentional-grounding penalty on Ridder later torpedoed one Falcons drive on the Ravens’ 1-yard line simply earlier than halftime. Midway by means of the fourth quarter, a stumble and a cease in one other goal-line stand stored the Ravens in management as time ticked away.
For some time, they’d appeared headed for the type of late-game failing that has epitomized their shortcomings this season — settling for a area purpose when a landing may’ve been had, giving up a rating when the sport’s momentum had swung elsewhere. With about 9 minutes left, the Ravens’ scuffling offense (5 second-half first downs) watched from the sideline as Atlanta (5-10) marched to the 4-yard line, then the two.
But success broke their method. Rookie operating again Tyler Allgeier (18 carries for 74 yards) appeared to journey himself on a second-down handoff, scuttling a potential landing with a run that went for nothing. On third-and-goal, Ridder scrambled for a yard. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, defensive sort out Isaiah Mack and Queen helped drop Allgeier for a 1-yard loss.
“On defense, it was just the fact that we needed to play a complete game,” Queen stated after the Ravens held Atlanta to 327 yards of complete offense (4.8 per play) and three area objectives. “I think we haven’t done that yet, and I think we still didn’t do it today. So our main focus was playing a complete game. Start the game with the kill, end the game with a kill. So as long as we keep going on the path that we’re going, we’re going to be straight.”
The Ravens’ recipe for playoff success will approximate what they managed to whip up Saturday, what they’ve managed to do over the previous few weeks. Since their fourth-quarter collapse in a Week 12 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Ravens have allowed simply three touchdowns over the previous 4 weeks. Even with out injured defensive lineman Calais Campbell (knee) and cornerback Marcus Peters (calf), the Ravens held sturdy in opposition to a gifted however inexperienced Atlanta offense.
That gave their offense the license to run the ball, again and again. Excluding kneel-downs, the Ravens rushed 31 instances for 187 yards (6.0 per carry), their third straight recreation with greater than 180 speeding yards. Every week after abandoning the run within the fourth quarter of a 13-3 loss to the Cleveland Browns, offensive coordinator Greg Roman tended to not overthink issues. He largely simply tried to get the ball to Edwards and operating again J.Ok. Dobbins (12 carries for 59 yards).
The Ravens’ first landing in eight quarters got here on the finish of a 13-play, 70-yard, second-quarter drive throughout which Huntley tried simply two passes. One of them, a leaping 6-yard completion by huge receiver Demarcus Robinson on third-and-goal, ended the Ravens’ touchdown-less streak at 135 minutes, 8 seconds. It was additionally the primary landing catch by a Ravens huge receiver since Week 3. Huntley barged his method into the tip zone for the 2-point conversion and a 14-0 lead with simply over two minutes left.
“It felt great,” Huntley stated. “Just scoring touchdowns, period, is like tears of joy. It meant a lot to our defense, how much they are working hard to not let other teams score and then we punch it in the end zone. It plays a great role in that.”
Added tight finish Mark Andrews, who had a team-high three catches for 45 yards: “Offensively, obviously, scoring felt incredible and just trying to build off that. There was a lot of good things that we did today and I’m excited to build on it.”
Even with the Ravens’ place within the postseason secured, they may head into the ultimate two weeks of their common season with damage questions that might form not solely their roster administration but in addition their hopes of knocking off the Bengals for the AFC North crown.
Harbaugh stated Jackson is “working very hard to get back” from his knee damage, however that he hadn’t thought of whether or not Saturday’s outcomes would possibly alter his return timetable. Campbell’s absence was notable Saturday, particularly in pass-rush conditions. Peters might be wanted in opposition to the spread-passing assaults powering a number of the AFC’s greatest groups.
But first, the Ravens will fear in regards to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then they’ll fear in regards to the Cincinnati Bengals. Then the postseason will arrive, and so they’ll should show themselves yet again.
“That’s what we play the game for, to be one of those teams that make it to the playoffs,” Smith stated. “That’s where the chase to the Super Bowl starts, getting to the playoffs. Just one game at a time. That’s great — happy to be in there. Just got to keep chopping away.”
Week 17
Steelers at Ravens
Sunday, Jan. 1, 1 p.m.
TV: Ch. 13
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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Source: www.bostonherald.com