Ravens Impose Their Will On The Commanders, Send Em Packin Down 95 South
Rob Carr. Getty Images.Talk to ya Commies!!
What a good solid win over what looks to be a rare respectable DC team. The Ravens probably let them stick around in that game a little longer than they deserved, but ultimately they imposed their will on them and put them in their place.
They controlled the football game in virtually every way imaginable. The offense absolutely cooked today. They got the ball 9 times. They scored on 6 of those drives. The 3 failed drives were an unfortunate tipped interception on what was an otherwise productive opening drive, a punt mixed in, and then a door-slamming drive that ended with kneels in the 4th. So really, they hung points on 6 out of 8 drives. If there's something they maybe didn't do so well, it was finish in the red zone at the same clip they had so far this year. Settling for 3 field goals is one thing that let DC hang in this one for longer than they should have, but it was more than enough anyway.
One of the more impressive things was just how methodical they were offensively. They weren't gifted good field position on any of those 6 scoring drives. They presented a lot of run fronts, and Lamar and Zay Flowers diced them up the entire 1st half. Zay had 9 for 132 in the first half alone. Zay might've gotten shut down in the 2nd half, but the rest of the offense ate. Bateman came up with some huge catches, Mark Andrews is finally looking like himself, and Lamar and Derrick Henry each ripped off big runs that broke their spirit. It was a balanced offensive attack that produced 484 total yards, 176 on the ground and 308 through the air.
There was little wow factor or hardly any flashy plays - it was just methodical and physical dominance that helped the yards come easy. That's gotta be a scary thought for the rest of the NFL. With the offensive pieces we have, we can build any kind of goddamn superjet we want, whenever we want. That's been shown throughout this 4 game winning streak. Against the Cowboys, we ran it right down their throat relentlessly. Same thing against Buffalo. Against Cincy, Lamar threw it all over the yard when we needed to. Today it was an awesome mix of both where one preceded the other based on what they showed us and how the game flowed. I felt sorry for the guys in white by the end of it - they were on the field for over 36 minutes of pure ass-kicking. Hell, Derrick Henry had what felt like the quietest 132 and 2 touchdowns I can ever remember.
The defensive side of the ball was adequate. I thought they made things difficult for Jayden Daniels, and he held his own and got his. I think he's as legit as people are saying and he'll be around for a long time. Him and Terry McLaurin made some magic in some big spots that helped them stay competitive in this game. We got decent pressure on him and he handled it well. When the game situation called for them pushing it down the field, he was able to make some plays there too. We stuffed the run as we always do, and we had very few breakdowns in coverage. The defense was not special today, but they didn't have to be. That will be the case most Sundays with this offense.
Solid, dominant win over what should probably be a playoff team. Next up… Monday Night Football down in Tampa. I'm sure that'll be a supercharged environment post-Hurricane against another 1st place NFC team. Should be a fun one. One of these days the schedule will lighten up, but the Ravens will be better for it come January. Let's keep the train rolling.