Originally Posted by keg in kc
I don't think they expected Baltimore to come out running the ball after halftime any more than I do. I mean, they were down 23-6, playing like they were the team with the lead. And, you know what, I'm kind of okay with that. If the Ravens want a 5 minute drive to start the half when they're down 17, then, shit, let em go for it. I thought it was really dumb, at the time. Thought that all they were doing was shortening the game and making it harder on themselves to catch up. And as it turns out, that was the case. They ran out of time.
And the two bombs that padded Jackson's stats in the fourth quarter, one was a PI they got away with and the other one we should've played like it was a hail mary, and not tried to catch it.
The defense did its job, in the end. They forced a FG when they needed to, and they held on the 2 point conversion. They kept them under 30, which is what you need to win with this offense. And shit, not gonna win pretty every week, and that game wasn't nearly as ugly as either the score or the yardage stats made it look.
My takeaways: Need to continue to work on the run defense. We had trouble tackling Ingram today, and I'm not sure why; tackling had been much better in previous games. I thought Thornhill had maybe his toughest game so far, but that's the learning curve for a young safety. On the flip side, I thought this was the first time the Mathieu looked good this season. The coverage is improving every week, across the board. We're starting to see some push from the defensive line on pass plays. We're starting to see a little more creativity with stunts and blitzes.
All in all, we're 3 games into a complete defensive overhaul, both personnel and system, and it's pretty much going exactly like you'd expect. Some good plays, some costly breakdowns.
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