Ravens Win OT Thriller 31-25

The Ravens overcame a huge 22-9 deficit in the final quarter on Monday Night Football, rallying to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 31-25. RSR staff react to the victory here…

Derek Arnold

I’m having a hard time processing what I just watched. The Ravens got their skulls cracked for three-plus quarters on defense, while the offense was snake bitten, with a fumble on the one-yard line.

Lamar Jackson put the team on his back and willed them to victory after a slow start.

My heart is still beating out of my chest. It doesn’t make any sense.

Shout out Calais Campbell & Rodrigo Blankenship.

Taylor Lyons

How do they keep doing this? Is every week gonna be like this? I don’t think I can do this for 18 weeks. All it took to come back from down 22-3 was the best games of Lamar’s, Hollywood’s and Andrews’ careers. That’s all I got. My brain is in a pretzel trying to process this. 

Ben Dackiw

I’m gonna be real with y’all:

I’m at a loss.

There’s a lot to be said for this game. In the last 5 minutes I was off the wall, and for the first 55 minutes I wanted to die.

There’s a lot of analysis to be done, but that can wait for tomorrow. Enjoy the night and enjoy the win.

On to San Diego…I mean Los Angeles

Darin McCann

Those of us who didn’t punch holes in our television screens were treated to an emotional rollercoaster of an ending that saw the Ravens grab one of their most memorable wins in their history… you know, like the Lions and Chiefs games earlier this season. Lamar Jackson shook off a missed opportunity and fumbling points away with perhaps his greatest performance yet as a passer. Remember when Jackson couldn’t lead his team to a win with his arm? Or come from behind? Or (fill in the blank). That stuff’s over. This team can win any game because they have the kind of quarterback who can now pull them there. Oh, and Calais Campbell was an absolute terror to the Colts. You know what? Go ahead and throw Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown on the marquee, too.

Chad Racine

My heart is pounding but thankfully for a good reason. Early on I admit I didn’t have much faith. Five games into the season and Lamar has been the most dangerous as a passer. I do believe the running game will still be a major factor as the season rolls on. 

Remember when Lamar answered the question about the league figuring him out? His reply was ” I doubt it, I seriously doubt it.” So far this season maybe that question should be asked of Patrick Mahomes. Lamar is doing just fine. Not bad for a running back. 

Nikhil Mehta

Lamar’s stats are eye-popping and they’ll get a lot of discussion this week, rightfully so. But let’s talk about character. Let’s talk about grit. And let’s talk about heart. In a game the Ravens had NO business winning, they summoned every bit of will and luck they could to come out with a W. Sometimes, in the NFL, that’s about all you can do. 

The Colts definitely took the Ravens D by surprise, and even the offense appeared stumped in the first half, but credit the coaches, especially Greg Roman, for keeping this team in the game both strategically and emotionally. And at the end of it all, the Ravens are 4-1 with sole possession of first place in the AFC North. 

Rob Shields

The Ravens won on Monday night simply because they had Lamar Jackson and the Colts didn’t.  That’s no disrespect to Carson Wentz, who was very good last night as well but Lamar Jackson, who accounted for about 95% of the Ravens yardage, was absolutely brilliant (outside of that key fumble of course).

The Ravens looked completely unprepared last night. I am not sure if they were looking ahead to the Chargers game or not but it’s rare to see a Harbaugh coached team look that bad, especially at home.  

The Colts offense, which has been struggling and was without their best player, Quenton Nelson, did whatever they wanted.  They obviously saw something on tape with respect to Anthony Averett because they attacked him all night.  He came into the game as the best corner in the league in terms of passer rating allowed when you throw at him. Well, I can tell you that after last night, he won’t be #1 anymore. The run defense wasn’t good either. When you give up over 500 yards of total offense, there are obviously a lot of problems but, to give credit to the defense: they did make a few stops late when it mattered, although Tavon Young did everything he could to lose the game at the end.

Offensively, the run game struggled. The Ravens came out with an immediate three and out on three straight passes and you just figured that Roman would be calling a lot of passes. There was some balance early on but some of those runs were scrambles, so nothing by design. I’m pretty worried about the run game right now. Outside of Lamar, there is no burst, no one is breaking tackles, no one is making anyone miss and it’s really in a funk. We are starting to see the loss of Dobbins and Gus really come into play. The passing game is great right now though. Lamar is making all the throws. Mark Andrews had a great game last night and Marquise Brown continued to show that he should be mentioned amongst the league’s best WR. We will see about the Sammy Watkins’ injury and the reports are that Rashod Bateman should play this week, so the passing game may actually get better and more dynamic.

All of that being said, the Chargers can stake a claim as being the best team in the AFC and Herbert is in the MVP conversation, and perhaps the front runner, right now. If the Ravens play like this next week, they are going to get run off the field. Averett and the rest of the defense has to figure out why they were gashed so much last night and the offense has to figure out how to get the run game back on track.