Category: Gameday

Top photos from the Ravens 35-34 win over the Bengals on Thursday Night Football

Top photos from the Ravens 35-34 win over the Bengals on Thursday Night Football

Underused pass catcher Tylan Wallace had three catches for 115 yards (38.3 avg) and one touchdown, including an 84-yard catch and run that resulted in Lamar Jackson’s longest touchdown pass of his career, as Baltimore held on for a 35-34 win at home on Thursday night. Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase almost spoiled the Purple Rising party, as the former LSU star logged 11 catches on 17 targets for 264 yards (26.4 average) and three touchdowns, with a long of 70 yards for a touchdown.

In another near-perfect performance, Jackson was 25-33 passing for 290 yards (8.8 avg), four touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 141.4 rating. His AFC North rival, Joe Burrow, did his part for the Bengals, hanging in the pocket as he went 34-56 passing for 428 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions.

The Ravens defense allowed 470 yards, as Cincinnati was 8-16 on third downs.   Baltimore was sloppy on the night, with 11 penalties for 81 yards.

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Tylan Wallace’s breakout performance fuels Ravens’ Thursday night win over Bengals

Tylan Wallace’s breakout performance fuels Ravens’ 35-34 Thursday night win over Bengals

Tylan Wallace performed like Thursday night at Oklahoma State, earning All-American and All-Big-12 honors for the Cowboys.

In a game reminiscent of his college days, Wallace and Ja’Marr Chase traded highlight plays as the Baltimore Ravens held on for a 35-34 win on Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football.

Wallace had three catches for 115 yards (38.3 avg) and one touchdown, including an 84-yard catch and run that resulted in Lamar Jackson’s longest touchdown pass. Ja’Marr Chase almost spoiled the Purple Rising party, as the former LSU star logged 11 catches on 17 targets for 264 yards (26.4 avg) and three touchdowns, with a long of 70 yards for a touchdown.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was 25-33 passing for 290 yards (8.8 avg), four touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 141.4 rating. His AFC North rival, Joe Burrow, did his part for the Bengals, hanging in the pocket as he went 34-56 passing for 428 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions.

The Ravens defense allowed 470 yards, as Cincinnati was 8-16 on third downs.   Baltimore was sloppy on the night, with 11 penalties for 81 yards.

John Harbaugh’s team will now prepare for a must-watch showdown against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

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Ravens to debut a new alternate Purple Rising helmet vs. Bengals on Amazon’s TNF

Ravens to wear alternate Purple Rising helmets vs. Bengals in Week 10

The Ravens turn up for matchups against the Bengals after going all-black in 2023; Baltimore is taking things up a notch.

The Ravens announced they would wear their new Purple Rising helmets Thursday night, November 7, when they host the Cincinnati Bengals.

“The reaction to our ‘Purple Rising’ helmet launch from both players and fans was extremely positive,” Ravens Senior Vice President of Marketing Brad Downs stated. “We can’t wait to debut it in front of a national audience and huge Baltimore crowd this November.”

The first-ever alternate helmet features a metallic purple rising painted shell with gold talon lines, a gold face mask, and the front-facing Ravens logo, best known for the red eyes that adorn the player entrance tunnel at M&T Bank Stadium.

Purple Rising is just the third helmet version the Ravens have worn since the franchise’s inception in 1996.

Vikings kicker Will Reichard finally missed a kick: Here’s what it means

Rookie kicker Will Reichard missed his first kick on Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts, meaning he’ll finally get a haircut.

Not much went right for the Minnesota Vikings in the first half of their Sunday Night Football game against the Indianapolis Colts. The interior offensive line has been getting blown up all game, leading to a ton of pressure on quarterback Sam Darnold.

Darnold has not handled that pressure well, getting sacked three times in the first half, and getting pressured several more times. One of those sacks resulted in a fumble and a scoop-and-score for the Colts defense. Darnold also threw an interception early to compound the issues the Vikings are having early.

One consistent for the Vikings this season has been rookie kicker Will Reichard. Reichard was perfect on the season coming into the game, making his first 14 field goals of the season, including four kicks of 50+ yards. Reichard was also perfect on his extra points on the season, making his first 20 in a row.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, their fans, and Reichard’s hair, “was” is the operative term in that last paragraph. Reichard missed his first field goal of the season Sunday night against the Colts, missing a 53-yard kick in the second quarter and bringing his streak to an end.

Reichard’s special teams coach, Matt Daniels, mentioned earlier this season that Reichard was not cutting his hair until he missed a kick. That means Reichard is going to have a new look when he shows up to practice next week.

To make matters worse for the rookie kicker, Reichard missed a second kick to close out the first half, this one from considerably closer, as he doinked a 31-yard field goal off the upright. Missing multiple kicks in a game is not something Reichard is used to, as he only had three games at Alabama with multiple missed kicks in his five seasons in Tuscaloosa.

If it can go wrong for the Vikings, it has in the first half.

Sharp Lions cut through mistake-prone Packers in rainy Week 9 road win

The sharp Detroit Lions soundly defeated the sloppy Packers in rainy Green Bay in Week 9

The Detroit Lions proved beyond any shadow of a doubt they are the kings of the North. Dan Campbell’s Lions roared into Lambeau Field and soundly defeated the Green Bay Packers, 24-14, in a driving rainstorm that flooded some distance between the first-place Lions and the rest of the division.

Chants of “Ja-red Goff” broke out in the Packers home stadium as the Lions went into victory formation, cementing Detroit’s third straight win in Green Bay. The Lions ran for 124 yards and scored 24 straight points after the Packers opened the game with a long and impressive field goal drive.

Detroit wasn’t seriously threatened after running out to a 24-3 lead with Jahmyr Gibbs’ 15-yard TD run on the opening drive of the second half. The Packers tacked on a late touchdown, but the Lions offense calmly ran out the clock. The Lions did not turn the ball over.

The Packers were certainly complicit in their own demise. Green Bay made the mistakes the Lions largely avoided, and several of the home team’s errors came in crucial situations. Among them:

  • A missed field goal with the score 7-3 Lions, which gave the Lions enough field position to kick a field goal of their own
  • Six dropped passes, notably a should-be touchdown in the fourth quarter where Jordan Love threw behind a wide-open Dontayvion Wicks. It wasn’t an easy catch opportunity but he got both hands on it, albeit in the driving rain.
  • One of the worst decisions you’ll ever see a quarterback make, with Love gift-wrapping a pick-six for Lions safety Kerby Joseph.
  • Six pre-snap penalties, notably a 4th-down encroachment penalty that set up Detroit’s first touchdown.

The Lions played a much cleaner game despite it being their first outdoor game of the season. Jared Goff completed 11 of his first 12 passes and avoided turning the ball over once again. Goff finished 18-of-22. He netted just 145 passing yards, but that was all the Lions needed.

Other than a controversial ejection to star safety Brian Branch — his penalty was certainly merited but the ejection was highly suspect — Detroit played smartly. The defense was stingy in coverage despite an almost complete absence of a pass rush, not allowing a passing touchdown and holding Green Bay to just 3-of-12 on third-down conversions.

With the impressive divisional road win, the Lions improve to an NFC-best 7-1 record. Green Bay falls to 6-3.

Watch: Kerby Joseph gets a too-easy pick-6 from Jordan Love and the Packers

Lions safety Kerby Joseph gets a too-easy pick-6 from Jordan Love and the Packers in Week 9

Kerby Joseph did it again!

The Lions safety scored on a pick-six in the second quarter of the Lions Week 9 visit to Green Bay. This highlight is simultaneously an excellent play by the Lions playmaking safety as well as one of the most laughable throws you’ll ever see, courtesy of Packers quarterback Jordan Love.

This play gave the Lions a 17-3 lead in Green Bay not long before halftime. It is Joseph’s sixth interception of the season and it’s only Detroit’s eighth game.

Brian Branch ejected from Packers game after illegal hit

Lions star safety Brian Branch ejected from Detroit’s Week 9 game in Green Bay after an illegal hit

The Detroit Lions have lost another critical member of the defense midway through the second quarter of their Week 9 visit to Green Bay. This player loss is not injury-related, however.

Safety Brian Branch was ejected from the game after earning an unnecessary roughness penalty for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Packers wideout Bo Melton. The infraction was flagged on the field by referee Clete Blakeman’s crew, and it was not a controversial call. But then the NFL intervened…

Branch was ejected by the league after a review off the field. The league has the ability to review fouls like this, and they deemed it worthy of ejection.

After his ejection, Branch earned another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as he left the field.

Ravens vs. Broncos: Top photos from Baltimore’s 41-10 win in Week 9

Top photos from the Baltimore Ravens 41-10 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 9 at M&T Bank Stadium

Denver entered the game 5-3 with the NFL’s third-ranked defense, but the Baltimore offense shredded them, as Vance Joseph’s defense surrendered 396 yards and five touchdowns on the afternoon.

The Ravens are 6-3 after a 41-10 win over the emerging Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium.

Here are the top photos from the win.

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Lamar Jackson finished with perfect passer rating as Ravens demolish Broncos 41-10

Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson finished with a perfect passer rating in Week 10 as the Ravens defeated the Broncos 41-10

The Ravens spent all week talking about removing the taste of an ugly loss to the Browns in Week 8. John Harbaugh’s team responded solidly, dominating the upstart Broncos 41-10 at M&T Bank Stadium.

Denver entered the game 5-3 with the NFL’s third-ranked defense, but the Baltimore offense shredded them, as Vance Joseph’s defense surrendered 396 yards and five touchdowns on the afternoon.

With talk about Josh Allen potentially winning MVP, Jackson completed 16 of 19 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday, marking his fourth perfect passer rating.

Derrick Henry finished with 101 yards rushing and two touchdowns, moving past Barry Sanders for 10th on the all-time touchdowns list and going over 1,000 yards for the sixth time in his career.

Zay Flowers had another 100-yard game, finishing with 127 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

On defense, Zach Orr’s unit surrendered 319 yards, including 197 passing and, most importantly, just ten points.

Baltimore will now prepare for Cincinnati on a short week and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football.

Amon-Ra St. Brown sends a bold statement with his pregame outfit in Green Bay

Lions All-Pro WR Amon-Ra St. Brown sends a bold statement with his pregame outfit in Green Bay

There is no doubt about how Lions All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown feels about Sunday’s opponent, the Green Bay Packers. St. Brown made that abundantly clear with his pregame outfit.

The Lions standout walked off the team bus and into Lambeau Field wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with “Green Bay Sucks” on the front.

 

That raises the stakes a little for the NFC North showdown. It’s worth noting Amon-Ra’s brother, Equanimeous St. Brown, used to play for the Packers.