INGLEWOOD, Calif. — On one of the game’s decisive defensive plays, the Baltimore Ravens had 670 pounds of defensive linemen dropping into coverage and a 190-pound slot cornerback blitzing a 236-pound quarterback.
How do you close out another game that you have no business losing, but you’re again flirting with doing exactly that? How do you reverse a trend of troubling late-game collapses, all while strengthening your position atop the conference and AFC North heading into a much-needed bye week?
If you’re Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, you stay true to what and who you are.
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All season, the Ravens have maintained one of the league’s best defenses by relying on selflessness, depth and deceit. Nobody is exempt from dropping in coverage or setting a pick to free up a teammate. Everybody will get an opportunity to take a free run at the quarterback. It’s up to the opposing offense to figure it out.
A seemingly comfortable 10-point lead over the Los Angeles Chargers was down to three, and a “here we go again” vibe was gaining traction with anyone who has followed the Ravens closely this season. A few of the defensive players even acknowledged that they felt it. It was the Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Cleveland games all over again — or was it?
“The chips weren’t falling our way at that point,” said Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton. “Roquan (Smith) or somebody said it, ‘If they don’t score, they don’t win.’ So, it’s on us at the end of the day.”
The Chargers and star quarterback Justin Herbert moved into Baltimore territory, where they faced a fourth-and-6 with under two minutes to play. Macdonald’s defense showed a blitz pre-snap. That was hardly surprising with the Chargers a little more than a first down away from having, at the very least, a shot at a game-tying field goal.
When Herbert received the snap, nickel corner Arthur Maulet blitzed from the slot, forcing Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater into a decision. Does he block outside linebacker Odafe Oweh or try to cut off Maulet? He chose Oweh. Chargers right guard Jamaree Salyer had nobody to block, because both Ravens nose tackle Michael Pierce and defensive tackle Broderick Washington dropped to take away passing lanes.
It proved to be the right call at the right time. An untouched Maulet slammed into Herbert, forcing him to throw the ball wildly to nobody in particular. The ball bounced off the turf and Herbert was flagged for intentional grounding, setting off a celebration on Baltimore’s sideline.
HUGE PLAY @ArthurMaulet2 !!!!!!
Tune in on NBC! pic.twitter.com/bXD5pzkakK
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 27, 2023
Three plays later, rookie receiver Zay Flowers burst into the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown run, putting the finishing touches on a Ravens 20-10 victory at SoFi Stadium that was much harder than it should have been but effective and rewarding for the visitors.
“It was a ‘got to have it’ play. I just timed it up well,” Maulet said. “The D-line did a good job to let me be free. I’m just doing my job.”
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The defense did its job all night, overwhelming Herbert and a talented Chargers offense for all but two of the home team’s 11 drives. The Ravens forced four turnovers (three forced fumbles and a Maulet interception), got two fourth-down stops and three sacks. Jadeveon Clowney’s strip-sack of Herbert and recovery kept a 19-play, near-nine-minute drive spanning the third and fourth quarters from resulting in points. Ravens coach John Harbaugh described it as the “turning point of the game.”
ANOTHER TURNOVER BY THE BEST DEFENSE IN THE NFL!
Tune in on NBC! pic.twitter.com/JC0yFADnQ6
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 27, 2023
Most importantly, the defense held strong when the game started getting hairy late — and when another Ravens fourth-quarter meltdown fell somewhere between possible and probable, depending on your power of positive thinking.
“I think it’s awesome because that’s kind of, I guess, been our Achilles’ heel this year, that we haven’t closed out games,” said Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy. “To close out a game like that on the road against a good offense is awesome.”
The Ravens squandered double-digit leads in the losses against the Steelers and Browns, and a late three-point advantage in the final seconds at home against the Colts. You could make a case that they should be 12-0 heading into their much-needed Week 13 bye week.
Yet, as the Ravens players showered, got dressed and made plans to go their separate ways — Harbaugh is giving them the full week off — there wasn’t a whole lot of looking back. It was all about looking forward and building on what they’ve accomplished in winning nine of their first 12 games and sitting atop both their division and the AFC.
“Especially going into the bye, we wanted to get the win, just so we could get out, have a good bye and nobody is pissed off at each other,” joked linebacker Patrick Queen. “Definitely need that break. You could go around the whole room, everybody has something banged up. Our team will fight through it, push through it, just overcome adversity. I’m pretty proud of this team. Happy for this bye week. Time to go relax.”
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The Ravens won’t be able to relax for long. When they return from the bye, they have to play the improving Los Angeles Rams, who have won two straight and are firmly in the mix for an NFC wild-card spot. Then they have to go on the road in back-to-back weeks and face the division-leading Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers. They then come home and face the high-flying Miami Dolphins, another division leader. They finish the regular season at home against the Steelers, a team that has beaten the Ravens in six of their past seven meetings, including in October.
It might just be the toughest remaining schedule in the league. Nothing will come easy the rest of the way for Baltimore, which is why being able to put away the Chargers in the manner it did was so gratifying.
“It meant a lot because our defense was playing lights out all night and we weren’t doing what we usually do, putting points on the board for those guys,” said Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. “But I’m grateful that we have a great defense, because without them, I don’t know how this game would have went.”
It wasn’t a tour de force performance by any means for these Ravens, at least not for their offense and special teams. Offensively, they managed just three points off the Chargers’ four turnovers — against one of the worst defenses in the league statistically. On 10 of their 11 drives, the Ravens crossed or started past midfield. Yet, they were stuck on 13 points until Flowers raced into the end zone on a third-and-3 to put the game away. It was the first-round rookie’s second touchdown of the night.
Zay Flowers with the exclamation point!
📺: #BALvsLAC on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/4A9GOmQsZC pic.twitter.com/em5hdCopf3— NFL (@NFL) November 27, 2023
The offensive line struggled for a good portion of the game, with Khalil Mack giving the Ravens offensive tackles fits. There were a couple of drops, and Jackson (18-of-32 for 177 yards and one touchdown) missed some throws and held on to the ball too long in a few instances. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken also got too cute at times, particularly on a direct snap to Gus Edwards on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter.
Harbaugh made a few curious decisions, or non-decisions. He didn’t challenge what appeared to be two questionable spots that took away Baltimore first downs. The first one, the less obvious one, preceded Edwards getting stuffed on fourth down.
“I’ll say this: We had trouble with the down and distance and what the spots were pretty much the whole game, just understanding what it was going to be,” Harbaugh acknowledged.
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At a critical moment in the fourth quarter, with the Ravens leading 13-10 with just over three minutes to play, Harbaugh opted to have Justin Tucker attempt a 44-yard field goal on fourth-and-1 from the Chargers’ 26. Tucker sent it wide left, his first miss under 50 yards this season.
Harbaugh’s decisions, though, would have been more highly scrutinized had Baltimore’s defense not done what it failed to do on three other occasions this year.
“The narrative is not something we really care about,” Harbaugh said. “It’s the fact that the guys stepped up and won the game. We’ve won nine games, and all of those games had to be closed out in the fourth quarter one way or another. A couple of them were closed out in the third quarter. Three of them weren’t. We want the three back, but we got the one tonight, and I’m proud of the guys for that.”
(Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
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