Mistake-prone Ravens suffer first loss of ’23.
M&T BANK STADIUM, BALTIMORE, Sunday, September 24, 2023,. One team is nicknamed after a horse. The other represents an equine-loving city and state. In other words, both fan bases emotionally invested in Sunday’s Week Three Charm City clash are well aware of the time-honored bromide that there are “horses for courses.” Both teams had to be mudders of sorts on this day, as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia threatened to pound the East Coast.
However, not even using its gritty, blue-collar reputation to outlast its visitors and overcome its own growing injury list would be enough for the Baltimore Ravens. The visiting Indianapolis Colts emerged smelling like a rose, pulling out a 22-19 overtime win before 70,038 soaked and disappointed fans.
The Ravens not only fell to 2-1 with their first loss of the year but ended up on the losing end for the ninth time in their last 13 overtime games. They are now 15-17-1 lifetime (including postseason) in games that go to a fifth period. The Ravens were also going for the team’s first 3-0 start since 2016, one game short of the Ravens’ best start in their 28 seasons, a 4-0 out-of-the-gate jolt in 2006. The Ravens went 13-3 that season and took the No. 2 AFC seed. They got ironically eliminated in the Divisional round by the eventual Super Bowl 41 champion Colts.
Both teams missed their initial chances in the ten-minute extra session. After backup corner Brandon Stephens stopped a Colts fourth-down run near midfield, the Ravens failed on their own go-for-it play when a pass to Zay Flowers fell incomplete. Colts kicker Matt Gay then made NFL history with his fourth 50-plus field goal of the day, winning the game with a 53-yarder with 1:09 to go.
Besides the weather, Sunday’s other major storyline was yet another return of the franchise that called Baltimore home for 32 NFL seasons (1950, 1953-83). The Colts are currently playing their 40th season in Indianapolis. To the delight of their fans, the Ravens had held the upper hand in these quasi-homecoming games, winning six of ten, including a Monday-night overtime win in 2021 and a split of two postseason matchups.
But neither team wanted to think about the past, not while playing during an off-and-on, weekend-long bout of rain and wind that battered the entire East Coast megalopolis.
The Ravens had an even bigger issue, that being a growing injury list that included two offensive linemen, two defensive backs, and standouts such as wideout Odell Beckham, Jr., pass rusher Odafe Oweh, nickel back Ar’Darius Washington and running back J.K. Dobbins.
The Colts’ biggest problem was the absence of its athletic rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson (concussion). But, since rookie quarterbacks have only won three times in Baltimore during the Ravens’ history, the visitors could feel relatively good about sending out veteran Gardner Minshew. In his only road start against the Ravens three years ago, Minshew performed well in a losing cause for Jacksonville. However, in this game, he was held to a rather middling 82.3 passer rating, completing 27 of 44 passes.
A day after his 61st birthday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh also had to be heartened to see his team commit just one accepted penalty and gain 364 total yards. However, the Ravens put the ball on the ground numerous times and couldn’t handle the Colts’ varied-tempo offenses.
The visitors were the ones who seemed more comfortable with the weather and the grass field. Ironically, the Ravens tried to cut down on injuries by switching from synthetic turf back to natural grass in 2016, which it had previously used from 1996-2002. That would give the Ravens the edge in the running game, which makes up the bulk of their identity, even with this year’s appointment of new multi-faceted offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
But while the Ravens outran the Colts 186-139, that’s a little deceiving when you factor in quarterback Lamar Jackson’s 101 yards on 14 attempts. Flowers, whose 13 catches over the first two weeks set a Ravens rookie record, was largely held in check (averaging just six yards per catch), as was tight end Mark Andrews. The anomalies in the Ravens’ game showed up early.
Surprisingly, a Raven defense that had not allowed a first-quarter first down all season allowed the Colts’ Zack Moss (122 yards, 30 carries) to scoot for 24 yards on the game’s first play. But a Kyle Hamilton sack of Minshew killed the opening drive and the Colts’ second possession. Hamilton would get a third takedown of Minshew just before halftime in his best half of the year. It also tied an NFL record for sacks by a defensive back in a half.
Jackson had completed nearly 75 percent of his passes through two weeks, second-best in the league only to Buffalo’s Josh Allen. On his first series Sunday, he was back in form, not letting the weather slow him down. A seven-run, five-pass, 80-yard work of art in which six different players carried the ball against the Colts’ fourth-worst pass defense ended with Jackson’s eight-yard scamper around right end — his first rushing score of the year — to complete the six-minute possession with a 7-0 lead. Jackson completed a career-best ten straight completions to start his day.
Journeyman running back Kenyan Drake, who played with Baltimore last year and has been called upon again due to injuries, took a Jackson pass 24 yards to the Colts’ 20 before fumbling it away, but the visitors didn’t get the ball past the Ravens’ 46. In the fourth quarter, Baltimore would incur another running back injury when Gus Edwards left with a possible concussion.
Midway through the second quarter, Minshew switched to a no-huddle approach against the aggressive Ravens’ rush, and he went on to complete ten straight passes and direct a 73-yard drive that culminated with Moss’ 17-yard game-tying scoring catch over a leaping Patrick Queen. It was only the third touchdown Baltimore had allowed in three games.
The Ravens could have gotten out to a big lead early, but three first-half fumbles slowed them. The last of those, by Jackson in the pocket, was fallen upon by Colts’ linebacker Kwity Paye at the Baltimore 19. It translated into a second quarter that saw the Colts outgain the Ravens 88-2. Jackson didn’t even get to attempt a pass in the period.
Gay’s 31-yard field goal put the Colts in front, 10-7, with just over three minutes to go before the half. He added a 54-yarder midway through the third quarter, marking the first time the Ravens trailed in a game this season.
As the third quarter wound down, the Ravens finally held on to the ball and got back into the same kind of rhythm they had on their opening possession. It touched off a flurry of second-half lead changes that belied the conditions. Jackson directed an 81-yard, ten-play jaunt that he capped off with a ten-yard quarterback draw. Veteran back Melvin Gordon contributed with a direct-snap run that led to a first down. The Ravens led 14-13 as the final stanza began.
Gay answered with a 53-yard field goal at the 11-minute mark, the Colts’ first fourth-quarter points of the season. Justin Tucker’s 50-yarder — his 58th career kick of 50-plus yards, tied for second all-time — put Baltimore back in front, 17-16, with 7:33 to go.
A spectacular Jordan Stout punt that was downed at the Colts’ 2 led to a Ravens safety when Minshew inadvertently stepped beyond the end-zone end line under pressure. The Ravens had the ball and a 19-16 lead at the two-minute warning. But they couldn’t move the ball, and Gay connected from 53 with just under a minute remaining to tie the game. He became the first-ever Colts kicker — in Indianapolis or Baltimore — to hit three 50-plus yarders in a game.
Tucker had his chance to win the game with a 61-yarder that fell just short, leading to overtime and a loss that left the fans as gloomy as the weather.
Apparently, the sun was never destined to come out, literally or figuratively. Their hitched-up horses had slogged through the mud and ended up getting stuck.
Baltimore can rebound next week when it plays its second AFC North Division road game (and the first of two straight) at Cleveland against the Browns (Sunday, October 1, 1 p.m.). Games at Cleveland and Pittsburgh precede a London trip. The Ravens will be going there for a second time (the first since 2017) to play Tennessee and not return home–where they have the league’s third-best record since 1996–until October 22, when they entertain the Detroit Lions.
