The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Detroit Lions by the final score of 19-17 in Week 3 of the 2021 season. It was a hard-fought game by both teams, however it was somewhat of an underwhelming overall performance by Baltimore, as the Ravens were heavy favorites coming into the contest.
Detroit did a good job of keying in on the run and limiting some of Baltimore’s opportunities on offense. Part of that has to do with Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who said that he received calls from multiple coaches asking how to stop the Ravens’ offense and praising his defensive game plan in Week 3.
Aaron Glenn says that he received calls from several other coaches around the league after Sunday, asking him how to defend the Ravens’ offense.
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) September 30, 2021
Lions DC Aaron Glenn said he received about 5 calls from around the league commending him for his defensive game plan vs the Ravens.
— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) September 30, 2021
All things considered, Detroit did an overall solid job of stopping the Baltimore offense, holding them to just 17 points. However, the Ravens also contributed to stopping their offense, as drops, penalties, and more prevented them from putting the Lions away early. If Baltimore hadn’t made so many mistakes early in the game on the offensive side of the ball, Glenn might not have gotten so many calls.
Even with a few slip ups, the Ravens still averaged 5.3 yards per carry and 7.7 yards per pass, mustering 387 total yards of offense. Quarterback Lamar Jackson also had one of his best days throwing the football, which could have been even better had it not been for a few drops.
Glenn and the Detroit defense did a good job of not letting Baltimore score a lot of points and limiting their effectiveness, especially as the game wore on. However, there’s more to the game of football than meets the eye, especially when looking at the box score stats, and the Ravens could have scored 30+ points in this game had it not been for a few miscues.