Ravens — Bears: What We Learned
The Ravens managed another amazing comeback in a 16-13 victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 11.
Here's What We Learned:
— Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley was in the unenviable position of having to fill in for Lamar Jackson, who was a late scratch because of an illness. Huntley had some early jitters but got more comfortable as the game wore on. Huntley threw a 30-yard pass to Sammy Watkins that gave the Ravens the ball inside the Chicago 5, setting up Devonta Freeman's winning touchdown run. Huntley completed 26 of 36 pass attempts for 219 yards with an interception. He also ran for 40 yards on seven carries. It was a solid performance despite being sacked six times.
— Outside linebacker Tyus Bowser is having a stellar season and was a key difference in the game. Bowser finished with two sacks and had a third called back because of a penalty. He also had five tackles. Patrick Queen had a team-high seven tackles, including one for a loss, and is much better at the WILL.
— The big plays were almost fatal to the Ravens again. Andy Dalton gave the Bears a 7-6 lead on a 60-yard touchdown pass to Darnell Mooney. At least three Ravens defenders missed a tackle on the play. Then, Bears wide receiver Marquise Goodwin beat Ravens cornerback Chris Westry on a double move and caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Dalton with under two minutes left. Overall, though, the Ravens played mostly solid on defense and made a key stop at the end of the game. Justin Houston also had a sack and has 101 for his career.
— Dalton played some of his best games against the Ravens. In one of his most memorable moments. Dalton threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd with 44 seconds that gave Cincinnati a 31-27 victory that knocked Baltimore out of the playoffs in 2017. It looked like he had managed another improbable win, but the Ravens prevailed.
— The Ravens running backs performed much better, and the team finished with 123 yards on the ground. Devonta Freeman (16 carries, 49 yards, 1 touchdown) ran hard and picked up some key first down. Latavius Murray (10 carries, 32 yards) also moved the chains with some aggressive runs.
— Tight end Mark Andrews did a good job calming Huntley down with his ability to get open and make some acrobatic catches downfield. Andrews finished with 73 yards on eight receptions (10 targets).
— The Ravens (7-3) took over the second seed in the AFC playoffs with Buffalo's 41-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Baltimore also remains in first place in the AFC North. The Patriots (7-4) now own the third seed.
