The Ravens defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 37-31, in Week 14, thanks to a Tylan Wallace punt return touchdown in overtime. RSR staff react to the win here.
Derek Arnold
This game had shades of that 2013 Minnesota snow game all week, didn’t it? If only the rain had been snow, of course. And it ended up having a crazy finish of its own. Tylan Wallace with a walk-off punt return, only back there because Devin Duvernay had gotten hurt earlier in the game, and completely redeeming himself for lining up in the neutral zone on an earlier LA punt, leading directly to a Rams touchdown.
Lamar Jackson was great for large parts of the day, but also maddeningly inconsistent. He led the team down the field then made that great throw to Zay Flowers for the go-ahead touchdown on 3rd-and-17. He danced and found Zay again for the two-point conversion. But on the team’s only offensive possession of overtime, he made two awful throws. One of those throws was yet another deep shot, of which there were many today, for some reason, most unsuccessful. The ones that were successful involved incredible adjustments on the ball by Odell Beckham Jr. The offense looked disjointed coming out of the bye, distressingly so if I am being honest.
On defense, the story of the day is the injury to Kyle Hamilton. He came back in for a bit, but then left for good. Fingers crossed, because the difference in that side of the ball with vs. without him is glaring. Marlon Humphrey had a game to forget. Jadeveon Clowney, Odafe Oweh, and the pass rush in general where nowhere to be found far too often. Arthur Maulet, a pleasant surprise this season, was bad.
Not the statement win we’d hoped for after the bye, but 10-3 still feels pretty darn good. Please be OK, 14.
(P.S. Nobody in John Harbaugh’s ear knows that all touchdowns are automatically reviewed?
P.P.S. WTF is with this team and the bad snaps at the worst times??
P.P.P.S. Do we REALLY want this team to have a playoff bye?)
Brennan Stewart
An extremely sloppy but extremely competitive game today having gone into overtime. A win is a win nonetheless, though.
Tylan Wallace is Baltimore’s new unlikely hero, making the most of his opportunity while Devin Duvernay was out with injury. Player of the game.
Plenty of avoidable mistakes on the offensive side of the ball, prompting several broadcasted f-bombs from Lamar Jackson (my count was three). Most deep balls were underthrown or sent out of bounds, but at least Odell Beckham Jr. made the difficult catches when they mattered. As did Zay Flowers for the most part.
To no surprise, the fourth quarter was easily Baltimore’s worst, and that includes coaching too. John Harbaugh throwing the challenge flag after the touchdown was the icing on the cake for me, but Baltimore’s secondary completely fell apart against Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua leading up to that and thereafter.
Hard to point the blame at just one person with mistakes on all sides of the ball, but the weather did nothing to help, either.
The climb only gets steeper from here, so buckle up.
Darin McCann
This is one of those games that will live on in Ravens lore for a long time, even if it’s, “Hey, remember that wild overtime game against the Rams in the rain…”
Many players had redemption moments, from Lamar Jackson rising up from a somewhat spotty performance to orchestrate a huge late-game drive, to Zay Flowers making the biggest catch of his career after some earlier drops to Tylan Wallace winning the game in overtime after an earlier flag continued a Rams’ touchdown drive.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a big, big win.
Kevin McNelis
Talk about a razor-thin margin, holy cow. No one tell my cardiologist I sat through this game.
This was as back-and-forth a game as you’re ever going to see. Baltimore looked rusty out of the gate, and it was a slugfest throughout. When the Rams drove the ball downfield to tie it and sent it to OT, I thought that dropped ball by Marlon Humphrey in the end zone would be image that haunted us all. A three and out to begin overtime looked like it would be a killer, but of ALL the personnel units to ice this one, who would’ve called Special Teams??
Tons of credit to the Rams. They came in on a massive hot streak and it showed. They’re a much better team than their record showed, and they pushed it to the brink.
Rust won’t be an excuse next week. If that game isn’t going to get the blood pumping, nothing will.
Rob Shields
When we did our weekly projections this week, I said I was worried about the team being rusty, having only played one game in 23 days and I pointed out how bad the Rams ST had been this year, ranking dead last by DVOA.
Well, both of things seemed to factor in today.
I thought the team looked rusty and flat early on and looked much better in the second half.
And while the FG kicking was better for the Rams today, obviously the way the game ended didn’t look good for that ST.
For the Ravens, it was an up and down effort. You gotta love the drive Lamar led the team to take the lead. He has rarely done that but then he saw the Ravens D give it up. The deep throwing was atrocious though.
The biggest thing going forward is the health of Kyle Hamilton. He hurt his knee and we need to see how bad it is. I would expect him to miss some time but the question is, how much?
The Ravens go to Jacksonville next week, a team that has looked bad two straight weeks against backup QBs but the Ravens struggle in Jacksonville historically, so we will see how things play out.
Oh and btw, the NFL officials continue to be total garbage.
Chad Racine
Wow that was stressful. So many mistakes and redemption moments later in the game. It really felt like the Ravens would blow it late in the fourth quarter. Not to be a downer but that’s been the case this season. It appears the bye week made them a little rusty. Next week will be a tough game in hopefully much better weather since I’ll be at the game.
Jared Pinder
What to say about this game man? If you think that team that beat the Seahawks and Lions is going to show up any more times this year you are sorely mistaken. Let’s get this out of the way my faith in John Harbaugh is dwindling by the game. Last game I took away his elite head coaching badge and now he needs his good head coaching badge taken away as well. He just isn’t a good decision-maker anymore. It is hard to say but it is time to wake up and smell the coffee with Harbaugh, this needs to be his last year. Monken isn’t blameless either with his questionable play calling in the red zone and the first drive of overtime. The defense was getting cooked until the third quarter happened, and then they looked awesome. However, they turned the script on its head again with two awful drives in the fourth quarter. Arthur Mallet was playing for a hurt Hamilton (who seems fine) and looked like Barbeque chicken. The biggest disappointment was Marlon Humphrey who gave up two huge catches that allowed the Rams to tie it.
It just seems so weird to complain about a team that is 10-3 but this team has so many issues right now. It feels like a blessing that the AFC is wide open because if it wasn’t this team would be in some deep trouble.
Chris Schisler
That…that… THAT HAPPENED..The Ravens won, they are 10-3. If the Ravens win the Superbowl Tylan Wallace’s return will be remembered like 4th & 29 in 2012. That was an incredible finish. The Ravens game was the good, bad and the ugly article personified – it was everything.
Lamar Jackson had an incredible drive for a touchdown and a two point conversion. The defense played much better in the second half. The Ravens took a punch from a red hot NFC team that is already in playoff mode. The Ravens survived. That’s all that matters. It was a game they couldn’t lose and the win allows everything to stay right in front of them.
There’s plenty to be mad about. John Harbaugh doesn’t know what he can and can’t challenge (he’s been doing this since 2008). The defensive front got bulldozed off the line of scrimmage too much. Marlon Humphrey could have ended it with a pick that would prevented overtime. It was a mess. There’s a lot to fume about. They won. Take it. Take it and run.
Nick Polinsky
Did that just happen? That just happened. What an end to a game that was a rollercoaster ride the whole way.
After the opening drive, the front seven played well in the run game. The secondary was where the problems lied for the defense, with Marlon Humphrey and Arthur Maulet both having rough coverage games. A potential Kyle Hamilton absence could hurt this defense as a whole, and his status should be closely monitored throughout the week.
Lamar Jackson attempted a season high in passes today, and he had his ups and downs. A few deep balls seemed to just be thrown without intention, but Jackson looked mostly solid intermediately and in the short passing game. A more established run game would be nice to complement the passing attack, but once again the offense looked good.
This was a wild one, and it’ll be remembered for a long time headlined by Tylan Wallace’s heroics. 10-3 feels very, very nice.
Tanner George
That might just be the game of the year.
The Ravens had every chance to lose this game… but they didn’t. Lamar marched the offense down the field for a clutch TD—on 3rd and 17, no less—while the defense held the Rams to a field goal.
Oh, and Tylan Wallace had an electric game-winning punt return in overtime.
Things looked a little rusty coming off of the bye, but that’s to be expected. The defense tightened up in the second half but still allowed too many gashing plays on third down, something to clean up heading into next week. Not quite sure what was with all the deep balls on offense, but that area of the game clearly isn’t Lamar’s strength. Todd Monken, for the good of everyone, please limit those throws to once or twice a game. And, with all the chatter surrounding the special teams, that unit found a way to take us home.
Talk about winning with all three phases.
Next up is a Sunday night trip to Duvall to take on an ice-cold Jaguars team, and it’s starting to look like time to pounce…
17 Responses
Pinder is a clown, can we trade him to Pittsburgh? This website continues to circle the drain sadly. Need some professional writers not knee jerk fanatic goofs that don’t understand what the NFL is. Parity parity parody. Harbaugh has forgotten more about football than any jabronis in the stands will know. Horrible time out decision but come on, bad coach? Again watch the league and give me 5 coaches better.
Yup, Pinder is what you said.
Pinder is the only one who is right, what the hell are you talking about? Not going for it on fourth and one when the defence was a swiss cheese? Challenging a touchdown that was reviewed seconds before? Lamar is the only reason he still has his seat.
You have to give up that Icarus harbaugh and his Sunday sermons are a little much. I rejoice in his unfiltered emotions to an extent. He would have been a complete pissant if this had gone the other way. He is getting old but he still has the passion – this one was all players and off and def coaches and he was just on for the ride. His explanation of the red flag to take a timeout does not add up. Good for all of us that they won and I am really happy we have more than just harbaugh on this team and yes to your point – he is probably in the top 5 people we can stand. Good job all. Jared you can stay man – good to get some harbaugh beating every now and then. It will be good for his soul and ours
This team needs to avoid the first seed like the plague. They get lax easily and they somehow still think theor opponents won’t step up to play. Lamar better sort out his timing with his receivers. Overthrowing so often in his fifth year in the league is beyond inexcusable.
Jeez, you would think we lost the game, what is with these so called analyst. We won. Stop looking for what we did wrong. BE HAPPY!
Did you even watch the game? We didn’t win, we got by the skin of our teeth.
Two teams good enough to beat anyone including themselves! Fortunately for the Ravens, the Rams found a way to lose……
Did they? Seems to me the Ravens won. All of you silly writers and posters expect to win 50-0 every game. It’s hilarious and sad. The team is 10-3 yet the clowns here can’t even enjoy the ride. Last time I visit this site. Tony – keep up being the mature guy name calling JLC. little children everywhere
The Pinder comment (i.e…….. my faith in John continues to dwindle – (not an exact quote) is the only ‘quotable’ comment of all the RSR writer comments. We squeaked by a team that wasn’t 3-8 (or similar). DC McDonald continues his streak of being overrated.
Sounds like someone is a Harbs fan. 😂. I’ve defended Harbs nonstop. But that challenge today? That was pure AMATEUR HOUR! He’s been the coach for FIFTEEN YEARS! He doesn’t have a solid challenge operation in place yet? That is INEXCUSABLE! And then to challenge a play that’s NOT ELIGIBLE to be challenged? Again, I’ve been a Harbs defender. That cannot happen. He should be out on a Performance Improvement Plan. 😂
Stephanie and Pinder, I completely agree with you. Harbs is pretty much destroying my nerves last 10 years with his trade mark (silly calls with somewhat strange confidence face expression). We need to revolutionise the game and add “game management” coordinator to have Veto over Harbs crucial decision (usually terrible).
Great win, but there is still work to do, Marlon and Ronnie need to regain form, Hamilton hopefully is not injured, Duv should be replaced with Tylian etc. Winning division is more important than chasing first seed and playing rusty again (as mentioned above).
Resigning Madubuike would be greatest team priority after extending …Roquan.
Please go back and watch the film regarding our lack of pass rush. Their linemen were tackling our pass rushers. Oweh beat his man inside and the lineman tackled him. I don’t think a hold was called on either team today.
Someone needs to protect Harbaugh from himself. How many years has there been the rule that you can’t challenge a TD because all TDs are automatically reviewed. They have 15 coaches and a bunch upstairs. Isn’t he on the rules committee??
Wallace could be this years version of mile high miracle
Correct harbargh actually was giving his team a breather of course he knew he couldn’t challenge it
This is the NFL and all these players and coaches are paid. No game is a cakewalk.
I said this several times it’s more important to be lucky than good.
There are variables beyond our control such as injuries and officiating.
Look back 2 weeks ago and now. What has happened with the Eagles, Chiefs, and Jags.
On any given day one team can beat another team. They’re professionals.
It was ugly but it was a W. Let’s enjoy this ride.
Did we lose the game? I can’t really tell by the comments and reactions from the writers and some of these fans. I would rather this team win a game that they should have lost then lose a game they should have won. The game showed growth with this team.. Despite going back and forth this team found a way to win the game. How did this team do in 2019 when they blew everyone out only to fold like a stack of cards when it got tough in the playoffs. The Ravens are a team made up of an offensive ,defensive, special teams units and coaching staff. A championship caliber team realizes that they have each other’s back and bails them out when they have a bad play . This was done yesterday, let’s hope it continues.