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COMMENTARY
Sixteen thoughts on the Patriots’ 23-17 win over the Raven
A few of us (ahem) required the exercise more than others, yet beyond a shadow of a doubt, the exercise has been educated. In any event, when the Patriots' rival looks prevalent on paper and in the standings, in any event, when it seems like the season has gotten ugly and the great occasions will be not many, discounting Bill Belichick's group against any adversary is a conventional solicitation to resemble an idiot. The Patriots came into Sunday's night's matchup with a 3-5 record, one win (against the Jets, who I accept were casually consigned from the NFL in 1989) in their last five games, and confronting a continuous foe that that last season had sent the establishment the sort of trench they hadn't suffered in 20 years. It looked as grim as
the blustery, breezy Foxborough climate, which resembled an outtake from "The Perfect Storm."
So what was the deal? Simply the sort of rousing group wide accomplishment we've seen so often the previous twenty years, however the benevolent thing that appeared to be far off this season. The Patriots went out and played harder than the Ravens, running the ball down their necks with second-year back (and sprouting sensation) Damien Harris increasing 121 regularly fierce yards on 22 conveys. Cam Newton ran for a score and tossed for another, and the safeguard fiercely belted the Ravens at any and each chance. I don't have a clue whether the 4-5 Patriots are a season finisher group. I don't have a clue whether what they did is manageable. Be that as it may, they were the better group Sunday, and now we understand what each one of those nearby early misfortunes couldn't affirm: they can beat anybody. They may not generally do it. However, they can. They can.
Before the finish of the game, the NBC broadcast appeared as though a combo of the foggy Bears-Eagles season finisher game in '87 and "Waterworld." This affirmed something different: The Patriots stay a breathtaking horrible climate group. They didn't commit the basic errors that the Ravens did in the downpour. Baltimore had in any event three terrible snaps, and two – one out of a wildcat development to Mark Ingram that slaughtered a drive, and another later that got by Lamar Jackson – were incredibly expensive. The game finished on a dropped pass by the Ravens, which was fitting. In the interim, Newton and the Patriots didn't submit a turnover.
Harris was the No. 1 star of the game, establishing the pace with his hard running against a Ravens guard that stacked the container and could possibly have had Ray Lewis out there in Patrick Queen's shirt. Yet, there were a lot of unrecognized yet truly great individuals that have the right to be sung. Huge numbers of Harris' best runs appeared to come behind Isaiah Wynn and Joe Thuney on the left side, however the whole line set the pace against a Ravens protection that entered with the association's No. 1 positioned run protection. Meyers, whom we ought to put stock in now, had a gigantic third-and-3 transformation late and tossed a score pass. What's more, Rex Burkhead just chugs along as a consistent donor, with 66 absolute yards and a couple of getting scores.
Protectively, Chase Winovich was out of the doghouse and everywhere on the field, with seven handles and a few weights on Jackson. J.C. Jackson secured A.J. Earthy colored – there's a "Bid farewell To Hollywood" joke here some place – and took out a pass for the fifth consecutive game. Freshman Kyle Dugger had 12 handles and by my bookkeeping constrained a turnover that wasn't called (more on that in a second). Also, remember punter Jake Bailey, who punted twice in the last 8 minutes: a 52-yarder to the Ravens 20, and a 40-yarder to their 17 with 65 seconds left.
I don't know I've seen the Patriots offense set up a more noteworthy drive than its first of the second half Sunday. The Patriots went 75 yards on four plays, in a specific order: Harris, behind left watchman for 16 yards; Harris up the center for 25 yards; Newton to Meyers for 26 yards; Newton behind right gatekeeper and tackle for a 4-yard score run and a 23-10 lead. Huge plays have been hard to obtain now and again this season, which is the reason it was so noteworthy to see them shoot their way down the field.
. Jackson led the Ravens on an impressive 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to cut the Patriots lead to 23-17 in the final minutes of the third quarter … or, I should say, it was impressive if you thought it should have been allowed to continue after the seventh play of the drive. That was when, on third-and-9, Jackson found Mark Andrews for an 8-yard gain that upon further review looked like Dugger ripped the football loose. Andrews was ruled down, and NBC officials expert Gene Steratore agreed with the decision, as former officials are wont to do when something isn’t painfully obvious, but it sure looked to these ancient eyes like the ball was hanging off of Andrews’s arm when Dugger took it.
I’ve been wondering when Josh McDaniels might take page out of the Trickeration Handbook and have former college quarterback Meyers unleash a pass on an unsuspecting defense. But then, I wondered when the Patriots’ offensive coordinator was going to let Mohamed Sanu – who has thrown four touchdown passes on eight career attempts – a chance to throw last year and it never happened, so I can’t say I expected Meyers to get his chance Sunday night.
But he did, and did he ever make the most of it, lofting a perfectly placed touch pass to Rex Burkhead in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown and a 13-10 lead with just over a minute left in the second quarter. Meyers is the Patriots’ No. 1 receiver right now, but as far as I’m concerned, the throw should vault Meyers to No. 2 on the quarterback depth chart.
The Jakobi Meyers, College Quarterback stuff did get to be a little much on the NBC broadcast, though I give them credit for their usual excellent preparation in having high school footage of him throwing the ball at the ready. After Meyers got the perfect spot to catch a Newton dart and convert and important third down in the fourth quarter, Collinsworth cited that savvy wide receiver play as something stemming from his QB days. He was awfully close to talking about Meyers like he was some combination of Doug Flutie, Cam Newton and Roger Staubach in college.
For those of us yelping the last few weeks that hard-running Harris needs more touches, the Patriots’ first series was a welcome appeasement. Harris carried on the first five plays from scrimmage, picking up 21 yards, as the Patriots charged into Ravens territory with runs on seven of their first eight plays.
Harris went over 100 yards early in the third quarter, and now has three 100-yard rushing games this season. I’m not as anti-Sony Michel as most – those six TDs he scored in the 2018 postseason do count – but with Harris running like this and Burkhead doing his thing, it’s hard to see what his role is when he returns.
That first drive actually sputtered out when the Patriots got away from the run. After Newton converted a fourth-and-1 with a blast into the line, he threw an incompletion on first down, found Burkhead for 4 yards on second, and then took a costly sack on third down when Matt Judon blew past right tackled Michael Onwenu, taking the Patriots out of field goal range. Those kind of mistakes – including Nick Folk’s missed extra point on the second touchdown – didn’t haunt on this night, though. The Patriots wouldn’t let them.
It took a series for Jackson and the Ravens’ offense to activate. But the Ravens came out full-throttle on their second series, breaking off plays of 21, 19 and 13 yards on a 13-play, 94-yard drive that ended with Willie Snead taking a forward toss from Jackson, willing himself invisible just as Jonathan Jones was about to hit him, and scoring from 6 yards out for a 7-0. Looked like it might be a long night for the Patriots at that point, but the Ravens couldn’t find that gear often in the rain.
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