The Ravens did what they were supposed to do at the Meadowlands.
A 16 1/2-point road favorite against the woeful New York Giants, Baltimore came out of its bye week with a decisive 35-14 victory to improve to 9-5 and hold on to the AFC’s top wild-card spot. Other than an opening-drive fumble and 12 flags for a season-worst 112 penalty yards to continue that season-long problem, there wasn’t too much to dislike about Sunday’s showing.
Lamar Jackson continued his brilliant season with the sixth five-touchdown passing game of his career against a Giants defense missing six starters from its start-of-the-week depth chart. That didn’t even include two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and standout edge rusher Azeez Ojulari, who were already on injured reserve. As you’d expect, an undermanned defense was no match for Jackson, who tossed two touchdowns to Rashod Bateman as well as scores to Mark Andrews, Devontez Walker, and Justice Hill.
The two-time MVP became the first man in NFL history to complete 80% of his passes for five touchdowns, no interceptions, and 250 passing yards while also running for 50 yards in a game, further enhancing Jackson’s historic dual-threat resume. Pro Football Focus also credited him with a season-high four “big-time throws,” reflecting that it wasn’t just Baltimore receivers running wide open all day.
“He’s been locked in all season. He was locked in all week,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s on the guys [in] meetings, walkthroughs, everything — just keeping it about football and getting the football right.”
Meanwhile, New York was down to its fourth quarterback of 2024 after starter Tommy DeVito exited with a concussion late in the first half and was replaced by journeyman Tim Boyle. The Baltimore defense still did its share of bending thanks in large part to the aforementioned penalties, but Zach Orr’s group minimized the damage by holding the Giants to just five conversions on 17 combined third and fourth downs.
If we’re being honest, this contest more closely resembled a scrimmage than a December clash with any meaningful takeaways. Still, the lopsided score allowed Harbaugh to rest Jackson and other key veterans in the fourth quarter, a development that shouldn’t be overlooked understanding what looms.
8
The most meaningful development of the day occurred 100 miles south of MetLife Stadium where Pittsburgh fell 27-13 at Philadelphia to trim the deficit in the AFC North to one game. The Ravens will welcome the Steelers to Baltimore on Saturday, knowing a win pulls them even for first place with two weeks to go and a loss clinches a division title for Pittsburgh.
With their Week 15 tuneup out of the way, the Ravens know it’s now or never to try to secure a home playoff game and best the Steelers after dropping eight of the last nine meetings, an unacceptable stretch against their greatest rival.
“I’m ready to go out on my shield one way or another, and I know a lot of the guys in the locker room feel the same exact way,” inside linebacker Roquan Smith told reporters after Sunday’s win. “That’s what it’s going to be. Check your manhood, do your job, [and if we] do that, we’ll win the game.”
Coming out of the bye as healthy as any team could reasonably hope to be in December, the Ravens appeared to escape Sunday’s win without any notable injury concerns, another factor working in their favor. In contrast, the Steelers were already playing without top receiver George Pickens (hamstring) for the second straight game before all-world outside linebacker T.J. Watt exited in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Eagles with an ankle sprain, leaving his status in question on a short week.
There are no excuses for a team very likely needing to win out while hoping Pittsburgh drops at least one more game after Saturday’s showdown to avoid tiebreaker scenarios that don’t favor the Ravens.
In other words, there’s no time to be satisfied over a beatdown of the lowly Giants with so much work left to do.
“No matter what, we’re just looking at it like a playoff game — win or go home — so I think it’s kind of the same mentality,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. “I don’t think we try to get caught up too much into the ‘what ifs’ or here and there, so we’re just focused on being 1-0 every week.”
