Baltimore wins a league-high sixth straight game. Rams are next.
M&T BANK STADIUM, BALTIMORE, Sunday, November 17 – Most procrastinators probably can’t stand folks like Eric DeCosta. The Ravens’ first-year general manager probably has his Christmas shopping done already.
It’s reasonable to make that assumption because DeCosta got right to work in January when he took over the GM position from Ozzie Newsome. DeCosta fired OC Marty Mornhinweg on his first day on the job, and a series of deft offseason trades–including the Joe Flacco deal with the Denver Broncos–quickly gave the Baltimore roster a new look.
But it’s DeCosta’s in-season touch that has helped keep the Ravens atop the AFC North. There it will remain, too, after Sunday’s 41-7 romp over the visiting Houston Texans.
Before 70,731 delirious fans, Baltimore (8-2) won its league-high sixth straight game and solidified its hold on the No. 2 playoff seed in the AFC. Houston, which held the third seed coming into the game, fell to 6-4.
The Ravens’ defense, the very fingerprint of the franchise, has undergone substantial and uncharacteristic turnover this year. Just three players–cornerback Brandon Carr, pass-rushing linebacker Matt Judon, and safety Earl Thomas–have started every game. By contrast, seven offensive players, including the entire offensive line, have answered the bell for every 2019 contest.
As a result of the turnover, and the on-field inconsistency that came with it early in the season, DeCosta has been forced to add ten new players since the regular season began. Usually, in-season moves are rare for a team that values continuity. But with four new defensive linemen, two linebackers and four defensive backs joining the active roster since Labor Day, DeCosta has tried his best to see if the defense, for once, can keep up with what has become one of the league’s most exciting and potent offenses.
On Sunday, that offense got 308 total yards and four touchdown passes from three-time AFC Offensive Player of the Week, Lamar Jackson. And it’s in good shape heading into Baltimore’s only Monday-night game of the year–in it’s first-ever trip to the venerable Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum–to play slumping defending NFC champion Rams.
The Ravens will go into that game after dispatching the Texans in a game that wasn’t supposed to be one-sided. After all, this is a Houston team that features the same kind of run-oriented, ball-control scheme as the Ravens, and it has the same sort of dual-threat athleticism at quarterback in Deshaun Watson, the AFC’s October Offensive Player of the Month.
The Ravens’ run-stuffing prowess was compromised, too, by the absence of Michael Piere, whose ankle problem sidelined him against Houston. And that was a concern. When inside mate Brandon Williams missed the Cleveland game, the Browns ran wild for 193 yards–a lot of it between the tackles–as the Ravens incurred their only home loss of the year to that point.
But it didn’t matter what Houston did on this day. The Ravens accumulated seven sacks and held Houston to 232 total yards and two-of-ten third-down conversions. By contrast, the Ravens gained 263 yards on the ground alone.
The game started slowly for both teams. Justin Tucker missed an early field-goal try, ending his streak at 22 in-a-row going back to last year. Houston thought it had scored a touchdown, but no pass interference was called on Marlon Humphrey as he covered DeAndre Hopkins in the end zone.
Watson found his options limited with Will Fuller out, and Hopkins was covered more and more closely as the game went on. But Jackson, after hitting only one of his first six passes, connected on 13 straight attempts as the Ravens found their offensive rhythm before the Texans could.
A ten-play, 90-yard drive early in the second quarter culminated in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to free-agent pickup Seth Roberts, who leaped high over backup corner Gareon Conley, who was subbing for the injured Bradley Roby.
A seven-play, 70-yard drive followed, with Jackson zipping an 18-yard pass to tight end Mark Andrews, who’s part of the league’s most productive tight end group. The Ravens led by 14-0 at the half.
Andrews was one of nine different receivers Jackson would find on the day. Jackson also rushed for over 60 yards for a league-record seventh straight game. He finished with 86 yards on nine carries.
Early in the third quarter, Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a 43-yard field-goal try, and it looked as if the Ravens would get their league-high 15th shutout since 1996, and fifth in the last three years. But Carlos Hyde stopped that thinking with a 41-yard touchdown run in garbage time.
By then, Hyde’s counterpart, Ravens’ running back Mark Ingram, had notched his first two receiving touchdowns of the year. And backfield mate Gus Edwards rumbled home with a 63-yard scoring run to cap the scoring. Edwards ended the day with 112 yards on eight carries.
The Ravens’ 14-0 halftime lead was Baltimore’s only first-half shutout of the year so far. But it helped the team rest Jackson after three quarters as Robert Griffin III mopped up.
The Ravens’ seven sacks equaled the total Houston’s offensive line had allowed over the past five weeks before Sunday. But two sacks each from Matt Judon and Tyus Bowser–with one each from Brandon Wiliams, Jaylon Ferguson, and Patrick Onwuasor–slowed Watson’s own ability to produce electrifying runs.
As a result, Watson and the Texans lost by more than two scores for the first time since he assumed the starting reins two years ago. Watson could only muster a 63.2 passer rating, while Jackson posed a 139.2. Also, Houston’s 102 first-half yards were the fewest the team has had under Watson.
On top of everything else, Ferguson’s fumble recovery and a Bowser interception marked the fourth straight game the defense created two turnovers.
As the holidays loom, it’s clear that DeCosta’s 2019 shopping spree has netted plenty of bargains. He has an explosive offense and a playmaking, interchangeable defense. In football, that combo makes for many happy returns.
