Hindsight: Ravens knockout Bengals, 19-14

Cover32/Ravens is proud to present Hindsight, a weekly article that will reflect on the most recent game, highlighting points of interest and importance to Ravens Nation.

Hindsight: This game was never in question.

From the beautiful opening drive-TD catch by Breshad Perriman, to the lauded orchestration of the walk-off safety by the Ravens, this game was not in doubt at any point. The Ravens went up 10-0, and then stopped a trademark-looking Cincy drive chock with a plethora of Andy Dalton pass attempts to stay up 10-3.

The Ravens added another FG, and then in a brilliant series of maneuvers, stopped the Bengals with under 2 minutes left, got the ball, drove down to the 37, and added a walk-off FG to go up 13-3 at the half. After stuffing the Bengals’ first possession in the 3rd quarter, the Ravens drove down and went up 16-3 with yet another Tucker FG. Cincinnati added a touchdown, the Ravens added a FG, and ended with the time-killing intentional hold play that you’ve been hearing so much about. It simply always appeared that the Ravens would win.

Hindsight: The Bengals gameplanned penalty-baiting?

There is no other explanation. The Bengals had multiple instances of their players pretending to have been knocked down or illegally interacted with, the most obvious being LB Vontaze Burfict’s Flosberry Flop after he pushed Steve Smith Sr. down from behind (illegally) and then stood over him. He actually got a 15-yard penalty for this:

And then there was the excessive fall by RB Jeremy Hill after a typical run-stuff scrum:

Bengal CB Dre Kirkpatrick, who had words about Steve Smith after the game, seemed to exaggerate contact between him and Smith which also drew a penalty, in the 4th quarter.

Hindsight: The Defense may not be getting the INTs, but they are causing game-saving fumbles and pass bats.

There were a couple of missed interception opportunities including Eric Weddle’s dropped one in the 1st quarter, but the strip-sacks by the front four were invaluable. Terrell Suggs had a monster game with two forced fumbles (FF) and one pass bat. Elvis Dumervil marked his return to play with the game-sealing FF and and earlier recovery of a Dalton snap muff. Rookie Matt Judon had two pass bats, and DL Brent Urban got in on the fun with his own pass bat. A whopping four of these bats came in the last 3 minutes of the game, very much aiding the Ravens’ effort to stop the Bengals.

Hindsight: Mike Wallace is as fast as lightning.

We thought we had seen a glimpse of it vs. the Steelers a few weeks ago, on his 95-yard touchdown catch-and-run, but he had two plays that showcased his fleetness yet again: the fake-reverse wheel route he ran, and then this 31-yard gain in the 2nd quarter.

Hindsight: K Justin Tucker is a future Hall-of-Famer.

To be the first kicker in league history that made 3 over-50 yard FGs in one half is just part of the picture. He is 27-27 on the year, and thrives on the opportunity to test himself. He went out to the field without hesitance, or being called, for the 57-yarder. “The way I think about it, I just say, I’m going to run out there [to kick it]. If they have to drag me off, ok,” Tucker told reporters afterward. “That’s the Raven way.”

Coach Harbaugh took a moment to contemplate the attempt as Tucker ran out, but eventually agreed with his confident kicker. “Tucker, Jerry and Randy were all saying, ‘Let’s kick it.’ So that was easy,” Harbaugh told reporters.

The M&T Bank Stadium crowd clearly loves Tucker’s excellence, seemingly approving more loudly for every single kick. The CBS commentators immediately claimed, “He is going to the Hall of Fame,” when he made the third plus-50 kick, and Cover32/Ravens’ alternate broadcast agreed with them (for once).

Hindsight: Harbaugh and his staff out-coached the Bengals.

Given: the Bengals were banged up and desperate. At 3-6-1, there was no margin for error. Yet, the Ravens suffocated their running game to the tune of 20 yards below their allowed season average thus far. The Cover-2 shell was in full effect, and it has historically given Flacco fits when applied by Marvin Lewis’ teams. But today, the Ravens were patient, picked their spots, had legit rushing gains, and took care of the ball save one pass. And of course, the intentional safety out of a point formation was executed well enough to be called any Special Teams Coach’s dream. All of the Ravens on the play were instructed to hold their opponent, while P Sam Koch ran out the final seconds back in the end zone. The way they executed, it could have been 30 seconds to run off, not just 11. And if the holding penalty is called on the offense with no time remaining, as long as it is in the field of play, there is no untimed down of replay, meaning the game is declared over. OK for this loophole to be addressed by the NFL competition committee, but for now, it is a pronounced case of “We know the rules better than you.” Also, look for copycats of this astute interpretation throughout the league.

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