The Baltimore Ravens won in New Orleans and handed the Saints their third straight home loss. This was the first time the Saints had a three game home losing streak since 2006. It was a battle but the Ravens set the tone early with a goal line stance. The Ravens improved their record to 7-4. They remain in the hunt for the AFC North divisional title and the AFC Wildcard race. Meanwhile, the Saints fell out of first place in the NFC South with a 4-7 record.
The Saints got off to a good start on a reverse by receiver Joe Morgan. Lardarius Webb was able to track him down but was called for a horse collar penalty which gave the Saints the ball on the two yard line. Haloti Ngata absolutely blew up the guard in front of him and stopped Mark Ingram for a loss and kept him from scoring on the fourth down attempt.
The Ravens proceeded to go on a long scoring drive and went up by seven points thanks to a 15 yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to Steve Smith Sr. Smith has done an outstanding job against the Saints throughout his career. Tonight was no different. He posted five receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. His fiery play fueled the offense in more that just the passing game. Smith was able to get key down field blocks that sprung a few long runs by Justin Forsett.
Forsett posted a career high 182 yards rushing on 22 carries. He had four carries of 2o yards or more which put him at 12 for the year. That’s the most in the NFL, two more than Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray. The offensive line, especially Marshall Yanda played a major role in Forsett’s big night. Kyle Juszcyzk also paved the way with some punishing lead blocks.
The defense came up big against Jimmy Graham. Will Hill had a breakout game, showing why the Ravens where so excited to name the ball hawking safety a starter weeks ago. He was matched up with Graham quite a few times in one on one battles. Hill also came up with a big time play that really swung the momentum for the team. He had a 44 yard interception return for a touchdown that put the Ravens ahead 24-17.
The Ravens had a total of four tackles on the day. Two of them were by Elvis Dumervil. Dumervil continues to run by offensive linemen thanks to his ability to get such a great jump on the ball. Terrell Suggs and C.J. Mosley also had a sack of their own. The pass rush was able to get quite a few hits on Drew Brees which proved to be disruptive to the passing game. The win puts the Ravens one game behind the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional race.
Game Standouts:
- Terrell Suggs was credited with a sack. That gives him 100.5 sacks in his career. Only 31 other players in the history of the game have been able to accumulate 100 or more sacks. He passed former New England Patriots Andre Tippett and is now tied with Charles Haley and William Fuller for 28th in NFL history.
- Elvis Dumervil had two sacks, pushing his season total to 12.5. He is on pace for 17 sacks which would break the Ravens single season record of 15 held by Peter Boulware.
- C.J. Mosley got his first career sack against the Saints. He also had nine tackles on the day.
- Justin Forsett rushed for a career high 182 yards. His average of 8.3 yards per carry in the game pushes his season average to 5.83 yards. He also has 903 yards rushing on the season. Forsett barring injury will certainly reach the 1000 yard rushing plateau for the first time in his career.
Notable Quotes:
- Justin Forsett after his career high 182 yards rushing: “They were big. The offensive line did a great job of making those lanes open for me and I just wanted to seize the moment. I prayed for an opportunity and now that I have a chance, I just want to take it and run with it. This is special. I put a lot of work into this in the shadows. If it wasn’t for coach Kubiak banging the table for me or coach Harbaugh giving me an opportunity, I would probably be in a developmental league or somewhere working a 9 – 5.”
- Steve Smith Sr. on the feisty play all game: “Last time we played here with Carolina, we ran a rub route and I told Vacarro I’d get him back. I made a back with myself that I would look at all of my victims in the eye before I take their lunch money. I love this team, love the physicality. Love getting after safeties, blocking guys. They brought me here and told me to be myself. I love this because it allows me to show my football IQ. This is my fourth offense that I have learned. I think I am playing smarter. I am a route technician.”
- John Harbaugh on the large fan turnout in New Orleans: “On behalf of our fans, I want to congratulate and thank our coaches. The way this game was won, look at the stops on those first two drives. That was a statement by our football team. It was courageous play. After that, it was a dog fight that we knew it would be. We have thousands of fans here. They were great and it looks like they will have a great time in New Orleans.”
- Will Hill on his interception and play of the secondary: “As soon as he threw the ball, I seen it was a little bit behind me. I took the opportunity and ran with it. Dean Pees came into the sideline at halftime and gave us a reality check. He said, ‘We need to tackle. We need to continue to get after the run. As a secondary, we have to make those plays.’ We’re NFL DBs. For people to talk about us like we’re kids that’s belittling. It was time for us to show what we’re capable of.”
- John Harbaugh on Will Hill and the pass rush: “Will Hill’s play was the difference in the game. It showed that we could come up with a play on defense, not just a stop but an interception for a touchdown. It was exactly what we needed at the right time. The pass rush was relentless. We had four sacks but got numerous hits. We got to four or five hits within the first quarter.”
The Ravens will return home next week for a clash with the San Diego Chargers. Both teams are 7-4 and in the wildcard race. The winner of this game will be able to move one step closer towards securing a playoff birth in a tightly contested AFC conference.
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