The Baltimore Ravens notched their third straight win with a 27-19 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Here are the instant reactions from Baltimore Beatdown’s staff:
Was it pretty? Absolutely not. The
Ravens left a ton of plays on the field on Sunday afternoon, especially on offense, but a win is a win, especially for this team. The defense played a clean game outside of some ticky-tack pass interference, and they forced J.J. McCarthy into plenty of mistakes, including two field goals. Baltimore’s special teams coverage was ferocious, forcing two fumbles on kickoffs, though only one was recovered. The offense made enough of those turnovers to beat the Vikigns, but situational playcalling and execution remains a huge issue on the offensive side of the ball. At 4-5, though, the Ravens are showing they can still make plenty of noise in the AFC. – Nikhil Mehta
Fans were treated with the all-too-regular late-game panic as it looked like the team may replicate their week one collapse in Buffalo, but fortunately the Ravens escaped to secure a huge third win in a row. It was never pretty. The defense mostly looked solid, but still allowed the occasional big play, often to Jalen Nailor. Lamar Jackson and the offense never established a true rhythm until late, but were unable to put the game truly out of the reach, which remains a concern. Winning in this environment, regardless of how it looked, is a huge win. Hopefully the Ravens can put together 60 minutes of winning football in Cleveland next Sunday. – Mark Myers
It wasn’t a flashy win, but the Ravens got it done to keep their season alive with a third-straight win to put them one game behind .500 now. The defensive turnaround seems real at this point, even if it has been aided by facing less than stellar quarterbacks. Being able to finally force turnovers has been huge for this team as they added another three today. It was encouraging to see Dre’Mont Jones with a few pressures in his debut with Baltimore. I remain skeptical of the unit against top-end quarterbacks, however, but they do not have to worry about that for right now with an easy schedule remaining.
Offensively, Jackson was effective passing the ball and Todd Monken found creative ways to convert in multiple short-yardage situations which is an area the Ravens have struggled in this season and at times in this game. I hope to see more snaps for Keaton Mitchell in the run game going forward as he continues to show big-play ability with lightning speed. – Dustin Cox
The Ravens took care of business in Minnesota and have now won three straight games to claw back to 4-5 on the season. It wasn’t all pretty and the Ravens red-zone offense continues to underwhelm, but as a whole, this looks like a much improved team compared to the one we saw just a month ago. The biggest development recently has been the improvement on the defensive side of the ball. The Ravens pass rush still isn’t a good unit but the transition of Kyle Hamilton to the nickel spot has done wonders for them around the line of scrimmage. Newcomer Dre’Mont Jones had a few nice plays and should figure to become a bigger part of the Ravens rush as the season progresses. Overall, this team certainly has the ability to go on a run and make the playoffs, but questions still remain on the offensive and defensive lines that could prevent them from making any kind of noise. – Stephen Bopst
The Ravens grinded out another pivotal victory in a hostile environment. Their offense was up-and-down at times again and they certainly left some points on the field. For the second straight week, they played more efficiently and sustained drives better in the second half than in the first half. While it wasn’t flawless, scoring 27 points was enough for a pretty comfortable win thanks to a solid effort from the defense. The Ravens capitalized on mistakes by the Vikings and continued their streak of forcing multiple turnovers — which they were struggled to do in the first portion of the year. With soft opponents on deck in the coming weeks, the Ravens are positioned to keep winning games and claw into the playoff picture. – Frank Platko
