The Breakdown: Resilient Ravens Have Great Vibe…

It took overtime for the Ravens to conquer the Atlanta Falcons, but that was fitting because Baltimore overcame many obstacles.

The Ravens didn’t have Lamar Jackson, but they had Tyler Huntley, which meant they had belief. Down by eight points late in regulation, the Ravens never lost their confidence.

Then, after the Ravens took the lead in overtime, Baltimore needed its defense to seal the deal on the Falcons’ final possession. No worries. Kyle Hamilton took the Ravens home with a game-clinching interception in his hometown.

Without Jackson, the Ravens displayed no panic, no lack of resolve, and encountered no situation they couldn’t overcome. The result was their third straight victory, 30-23, in overtime at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as the Ravens kept building momentum under first-year Head Coach Jesse Minter.

Here are my thoughts on a victory that the Ravens hope becomes a defining moment in their season.

This feels like a breakthrough win.

In Brazil, the Ravens won on a walk-off 56-yard-field goal by Tyler Loop after having just seven seconds left to pull off a shocker. Now, they’ve prevailed on the road despite trailing by eight points on the final possession of regulation.

Without Jackson, Baltimore was an underdog against the Falcons (2-3), who had won two straight games impressively since quarterback Michael Penix Jr. returned to the lineup. Minter took over a team that had squandered too many fourth-quarter leads in recent years, and they did it again Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints.

But since that game, the Ravens haven’t lost. They’re putting games away and putting their reputation as a team that can’t close out games to bed.

“We talk about being at your best when your best is needed, and just like, no flinch, no panic, not getting affected by plays,” Minter said. “I think that’s what we did, and that’s a big step for us. That’s a big step for our team. And if we let it be, it can be a launch point for us to really, really get this thing rolling.”

That’s what it takes to win consistently in the NFL. Every week seems to produce wild game-ending situations. The best teams weather the storm, and the Ravens seem to be morphing into a team that does that.

“That is a game that we have lost many times,” Hamilton aid. “That is just us getting over some sort of hump or dark cloud. I am excited for the future.”

Tyler Huntley is a winner.

Every player in the Ravens’ locker believes in Huntley, partly because he never seems flustered. Huntley played his best when it counted most – during the final drive of regulations and overtime.

He completed 11 straight passes and hit Rashod Bateman, Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews and Devontez Walker during the 71-yard touchdown drive near the end of the fourth quarter that sent the game into overtime. His 7-yard touchdown pass to Devontez Walker to end that drive was perfectly thrown, with the game on the line.

Dating back to last season, the Ravens have won Huntley’s last three starts. Baltimore hopes Jackson is back to face the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, but the Ravens always believe they can win with Huntley.

“I told the guys last night, ‘There’s not a locker room in the NFL that has more confidence in their backup quarterback than our guys have in Snoop,'” Minter said.

The Ravens’ defense takes another step forward.

Holding the Falcons to 23 points and just one offensive touchdown was no small feat.  A host of Ravens defenders made their presence felt.

Outside linebacker Mike Green who had a sack and two tackles for loss. Safety Malaki Starks led the Ravens with 10 tackles and had his most impactful game as a Raven. Outside linebacker Tavius Robinson almost won the game in regulation by forcing a fumble with a ferocious sack on Penix near the end of regulation that Atlanta was fortunate to recover. That hit summoned backup Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Except for one 34-yard scamper by Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson (17 carries, 86 yards), the Ravens kept him from taking over the game. Getting off the field on third down was a huge issue at times for the Ravens, as the Falcons were 9 for 17,but the Ravens stopped the Falcons on their final drive of regulation. Then Hamilton intercepted Tagovailoa and victory belonged to Baltimore.

If the Ravens play defense as well or better than they played against Atlanta, they’ll win plenty of games.

Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle was in his bag.

Doyle has only been calling plays for five weeks, but you can’t tell by watching the operation. Without Jackson, Doyle was creative using the weapons he had. He got the ball to Flowers and Henry in a variety of ways and used misdirection and formations to keep Atlanta’s defense off balance.

The Falcons had the NFL’s top-ranked run defense entering the game, and Baltimore carved it up with 208 rushing yards – more than the Falcons had surrendered in their first four games combined.

Henry (24 carries, 102 yards) was the workhorse, and one of Doyle’s best calls was when Justice Hill scampered for a 47-yard run, lining up at fullback in front of Henry on third-and-1.

On the game-tying two-point conversion, Henry lined up in the Wildcat, took a direct snap, faked a handoff to Flowers, then outraced the Falcons defense to the end zone. It was a bold design that turned out brilliantly for Baltimore.

Give the players plenty of credit for their execution and give Doyle credit for a game plan that gave them more opportunities to flourish. Watching Baltimore’s offense continue to evolve should be fun to watch especially after Jackson returns.

Extra Points

• Henry scored his first receiving touchdown since 2024 on an 18-yard screen. This week, Henry said Robinson is the best running back in the game in part because he can do it all. Henry showed he can, too.

• Atlanta was allowing only 48.3 yards per game on the ground coming into this game. The Ravens rushed for 51 yards on their first drive.

• Tight end Mark Andrews said it was “obviously not the type of product that I would like to put out there,” referencing his first-quarter fumble that was returned for a touchdown and a trio of potential catches punched out of his hands. But Andrews made two clutch catches on the Ravens’ overtime drive.

• Flowers had eight catches for 63 yards, while Bateman had five catches for 62 yards.

• The victory left the Ravens alone atop the AFC North at 4-1. Every other team in the division is 3-2.

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