Ravens made sure 49ers never even had a chance to get started
It's always a shame when highly-touted NFL matchups that are also promoted as a potential Super Bowl clash end in a one-sided result.It gets even more disappointing when it's in primetime on Christmas. Has anyone guessed which game I'm talking about, yet? The Baltimore Ravens decimated the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night in front of […]
It's always a shame when highly-touted NFL matchups that are also promoted as a potential Super Bowl clash end in a one-sided result.
It gets even more disappointing when it's in primetime on Christmas.
Has anyone guessed which game I'm talking about, yet?
The Baltimore Ravens decimated the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night in front of the 9ers faithful in Levi's Stadium. Outside of an early safety that gave San Fran a 2-0 lead, Brock Purdy and co. struggled all night long thanks to a suffocating defense that forced five interceptions and recorded 4.0 sacks and nine quarterback on top of five tackles for loss. The 19 points scored by Kyle Shanahan's offense is also the second-lowest output of the season after the unit scored just 17-points in each game of the three-game losing streak from earlier in the year.
The 49ers averaged 35.0 points per game over the last three games before Monday night. It's not like the offense had been struggling, or anything like that. As a matter of fact, the conversation surrounding Purdy and his teammates was a topic of how the unit has rounded into shape and is in Super Bowl shape.
Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald temporarily shut that down, however, thanks to an incredible game plan that confused, manhandled, and dismantled the 49ers offense.
And it's because Macdonald had an absolute bead on what Purdy likes to do before the game. And he made sure his players knew what to do in order to win the game.
"We got DBs with hands," Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith told The Athletic's Ted Nguyen after the game. "We just tried to stay attached. We knew they're a spot team – they throw to spots. He [Purdy] trusts his spots. So, we just gotta be at the spot that we see on film that he's going to throw to."
Ravens DB, Brandon Stephens, the guy that tipped the ball to cause Purdy's second INT, also told Nguyen they knew Purdy what Purdy was going to do on that play, as well.
"[Our] defense just had a spectacular game against one of the best offenses there is," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said after the game. "Five turnovers; five interceptions; pressure on the quarterback pretty much all day and plastering the scrambles…
"…Defensively, it was all three levels. We had pressure. We had the run game under control, [and] that helped us a lot. But we had pressure. I think our coverage was just fantastic and we covered long, so we made them hold the ball, forcing them into some bad throws, and we had our hands on balls. We tipped balls; we had balls in the air, and guys caught them and that helps, too. It was just a complete team effort on defense to get those interceptions.”
“I see the best defense in the NFL," Ravens wideout Zay Flowers told reporters. "That's all I see. I’ve [known] it from the jump, but I guess a lot of people [didn’t] know it. We just had to go show it.”
Ravens defense is key to Super Bowl run
Yes, Lamar Jackson is an MVP candidate and one of the best quarterbacks in the game, but the NFL should go ahead and just send the Lombardi to Baltimore if the Ravens defense continues to play like this.
What we've seen this year is what many envisioned the Kansas City Chiefs -the NFL's darlings- to be in coming in: An MVP-type quarterback leading a high-powered offense that also has a defense that can shut down any opponent at any time.
In other words: A true Super Bowl contender.
No one is playing better football than the Baltimore Ravens, right now. Granted, the immediate reward is hosting the Miami Dolphins offense, but you better believe that if the Ravens come away with another dominant win over a very good team, then the Charm City will easily shadow the rest of the NFL's Super Bowl hopes as the regular season winds down.
