Resilient Ravens rally in second half to beat Indianapolis 24-10

If the Baltimore Ravens had lost their Week Nine AFC matchup with the Indianapolis Professional Football team on road after the week they had and the injuries they have sustained in just the last week alone, it would have been understandable if not expected.

However, on Sunday, it was truly a tale of two halves when these two teams that came into the game with identical 5-2 records took the field and the Ravens ultimately prevailed with a 24-10 win in the end.

“It was a tough, tough football game,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “It took a lot of courage and mental toughness to win that football game. I’m really proud of our players for finding a way to win.”

For the first 30 minutes of play, Indianapolis was in complete control of the game but Baltimore flipped the script in the final 30 minutes.

In the first half, the Ravens couldn’t muster up a modicum of consistent offense and were held to just 55 total yards. The offensive line was overwhelmed by a fast-flowing Indianapolis defense.

There were no holes for quarterback Lamar Jackson or any of the running backs to run through and the passing game seemed even more out of sync than it had for the majority of the year outside of the season opener.

The defense came into the game hampered by injuries and shorthanded in the secondary yet were able to keep the game close and even extended their consecutive game streak with a turnover forced to 21 straight and scored their first points of the game and only of the first half when safety Chuck Clark returned a fumble forced by cornerback Marcus Peters 65 yards for a touchdown.

Indianapolis moved the ball well offensively in the first half and veteran quarterback Philip Rivers seemed to get more and more comfortable picking apart the Ravens zone and man coverage as the game went on.

When Baltimore went into halftime down just 10-7, it seemed like an insurmountable lead they wouldn’t be able to overcome with the way they were playing on offense and beginning to yield more of defense.

Following the intermission, it was as if an entirely different Ravens team came out of the locker room and took the field for the second half. The adjustments on both sides of the ball worked to perfection and Harbaugh’s aggressiveness paid off every time.

On offense, Ravens Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman went with a more up-tempo approach and rarely used a huddle. It resulted in the far more efficient attack that was able to move the ball up and down the field on Indianapolis’ vaunted defense that was lights out in the first half and scored 17 unanswered points.

“The offensive play-caller is probably the most scrutinized guy in the program,” Harbaugh said. “I thought G-Ro (Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman) did a great job of finding a way to get us into great situations.”

Jackson rebounded from an inept first half where he hardly had time to throw and couldn’t connect with his targets when he did by completing all 10 of his second-half passes.

He also led the charge for a ground game that was shutout in the first half but finished with 110 on the day with a team-leading 58 yards coming from his electric legs alone on 13 carries.

Baltimore’s offense was able to keep Indy’s off the field for the majority of the final two quarters with their potent and balanced attack.

However, when they were on the field, the Ravens defense went from bending but not breaking in the first half to pitching a shutout in the second.

Defensive Coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale made just as if not even more impressive second-half adjustments on his side of the ball without several of his top and Pro Bowl players.

“I thought Don Martindale called one of his very best games,” Harbaugh said. “He was kind of going at it with [Colts Head] Coach [Frank] Reich and Philip Rivers. He called a heck of a game, maybe one of his best ever.”

His already razor-thin secondary was without All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey after he tested positive for COVID-19 last week, veteran inside linebacker L.J. Fort was ruled out with a finger injury after being activated from the Reserve/COVID list and Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell left the game on the opening series with a calf strain and didn’t return.

He had to get creative and rely heavily on rotational players like rookie Malik Harrison and third-year pro Chris Board to offset the loss of Fort, rookie Justin Madubuike helped the other veteran defensive linemen make up for the loss of Campbell.

Former undrafted free agent Terrell Bonds got his most extensive playing time on defense of the season and after being targeted by Rivers early and often in the first half, he stepped up and fared much better in the second half.

As impressive as some of the backups and reserves stepping up on defense were in this game, the brightest star was All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters who hand teamed up with Clark to log both of the team’s turnovers in addition to playing good in coverage and bringing an edge to the entire team.

His interception of Rivers’ first pass of the second half sparked the Ravens’ first offensive touchdown drive of the game.

“He’s going to be a Hall of Famer,” said Peters of Rivers. “When you’re playing against a quarterback like that, you have to be on all your toes. He saw that there were some things that he wanted to hit on, and he hit on them. But shoot, as a defense, we attacked it well. Everybody flew to the ball, and we just played fast.”

This was arguably Baltimore’s biggest win of the season and a testament to their ability to respond and overcome pregame and in-game adversity.

It puts them in sole possession of the top Wild Card spot in the AFC playoff standings going forward and keeps them within striking distance of the still undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North division race.

It also marked the first time that they’ve been able to win a game when trailing at halftime since Jackson took over as the starter, first time winning in Indianapolis, broke an NFL record of consecutive games with at least 20 or more points scored at 31 in a row, and improved their road record to 10-0 dating back to last season.

“We always hear about like in the press that we never came back,” Jackson said. “It’s good. We don’t want to be behind. But it’s good, it shows what our team is made of.”