Ravens vs. Falcons: Complete defensive dominance gives Baltimore hope
The Baltimore Ravens are at their best when they run the ball well and play good defense, and it looks like the latter is ready for a late-season push.
It seems like a distant memory of how impressive the Baltimore Ravens defense was to start off the 2018 NFL season. The Ravens were embarrassing opponents on a weekly basis and scoring on this defense wasn’t an option. A strong pass rush and a lock-down secondary completely limited anything that opposing teams could muster.
Then, the team hit a wall (putting it nicely). Three straight weeks saw the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, and Pittsburgh Steelers light up this defense to the point in which fans began questioning the integrity of the unit. The Ravens’ bye week came at a perfect time, however, as the players and staff got an extra week to stare at themselves in the mirror and try to recapture the identity they had to start the season.
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Since that bye week, it appears that this defense has recaptured some of their dominance, albeit against (mostly) underwhelming offenses. While the Cincinnati Bengals offense was OK and still had Andy Dalton under-center, the Oakland Raiders offense found a rare offensive spark vs. Baltimore in week 12 and carried it with them against the Kansas City Chiefs this past week.
But week 13 was a completely different story. This Ravens defense did something unthinkable against an elite Atlanta Falcons offense: they completely shut them down for 60-minutes. This included practically erasing Julio Jones, arguably the best wide receiver in the entire NFL, from the game.
You can see for yourself here just how dominant a performance this defense put on. It was an absolute treat to fans of good ‘ol fashioned defensive football. It had everything: sacks, turnovers, and big-time stops. It was exactly what Ravens Flock all hoped to see again.
Falcons had only 130 yards of total offense. They averaged 400 yards per game coming in. Skeptics of Ravens top-ranked defense have harped on it not forcing turnovers and not shutting down good QBs. They did both today.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) December 2, 2018
That’s about as dominant performance as you’ll find all year long. The Falcons had a late touchdown pass to their tight end Austin Hooper, but by that point in the game it was essentially what is known as “garbage time.” The defense placed this game largely out of reach for Atlanta to win, and deserves the most credit for the Ravens third-straight victory.
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This defense is littered with Pro Bowlers like C.J. Mosley, Terrell Suggs, and Marlon Humphrey, all of whom are having great seasons. These men are captaining a defense that is making a late-season push, and they’re using the perfect formula for a playoff run. Defense wins championships; It’s a saying that will always hold true, and this Baltimore Ravens defense is flexing and getting us to believe they’re a championship caliber defense.