ATLANTA (AP) — The Baltimore defense made life miserable for
Matt Ryan and the Falcons‘ offense — and gave rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson
plenty of room for error.The Ravens turned in a dominating defensive
performance
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James Hurst Jersey , limiting Atlanta to its fewest yards in almost two
decades while Jackson guided Baltimore to its third straight victory, 26-16 on
Sunday.The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner, making his third straight start and first
on the road, completed only 12 of 21 passes for 125 yards but did plenty of
damage with his legs. He carried 17 times for 75 yards, including a 13-yard
scoring run in the first quarter that turned out to be the Ravens’ lone
offensive touchdown.Article continues below ...Not much offense was needed.Not
the way the Ravens played on the other side of the line.Baltimore held the
Falcons to 131 total yards — Atlanta’s worst showing since a 105-yard effort
against San Francisco on Dec. 12, 1999 .“Our defense, they’re rolling,” Jackson
said.The Ravens sacked Matt Ryan three times — one of which forced a fumble that
Tavon Young returned 11 yards for a touchdown to seal the victory midway through
the fourth quarter. Baltimore held a nearly 2-to-1 edge in time of possession
(39:39-20:21) and limited the Falcons to 2 of 9 on third-down conversions.When
the Falcons went for it on fourth-and-1 at
midfield
Youth James
Hurst Jersey , Ito Smith had barely taken the handoff when he was swarmed
over by the Ravens for a 1-yard loss. Atlanta finished with just 34 yards
rushing on 15 carries.“The defensive line did a great job of containing the
run,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “Once a defense gets a team one-dimensional,
that’s when you can definitely go to work on their offense.”For Ryan, it was the
fewest passing yards in a game he played from start to finish in his 11-year
career. The only times he threw for fewer yards were in 2009, when he passed for
15 yards against Tampa Bay before being knocked out of the game with a toe
injury , and a 106-yard performance in the 2011 regular-season finale, also
against the Buccaneers, when the Falcons built a big lead and rested their
starters heading into the playoffs.“We never really got anything
going
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Patrick Onwuasor Jersey ,” Ryan said. “That makes it tough when you really
are not moving it and you’re letting them kind of dictate the game. That’s a
tough pill to swallow.”The Ravens (7-5) have bolstered their AFC wild-card
position since Jackson took over at quarterback for the injured Joe Flacco. The
rookie had some shaky moments — and left for one series to be checked for a
possible concussion after getting hit in a head by a teammate — but he was good
enough to send the Falcons (4-8) to their fourth straight loss.“I wanted to get
back out on the field and help my team win,” Jackson said.Justin Tucker
connected on field goals of 41, 21, 45 and 47 yards.The Falcons, mired in their
longest losing streak since a six-game skid in 2015, played before thousands of
empty seats at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and heard plenty of boos with the clock
winding down.“This is as challenged as we’ve been in a while, certainly since
I’ve been here,” said Dan
Quinn
Youth Patrick
Onwuasor Jersey , in his fourth season as the Falcons coach.The only
excitement was provided by defensive end Vic Beasley, who picked up a fumble
after Grady Jackson knocked the ball loose from Jackson. Beasley took off on a
74-yard return , huffing and puffing toward the end but finding enough energy to
spike the ball over the goalposts, giving the Falcons a short-lived 10-7 lead.
The Ravens tied it up before halftime and dominated the final two quarters,
outgaining Atlanta 193-44.The Falcons finally scored their lone offensive
touchdown on Ryan’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Austin Hooper with 4:18 remaining,
getting a big assist from a pass interference penalty.RAVENS‘ OTHER
ROOKIEBaltimore continued to get good production out of rookie running back Gus
Edwards, who followed up two straight 100-yard performances by grinding out 82
yards on 21 carries.Edwards is an undrafted player out of Rutgers who spent the
first five games on Baltimore’s practice squad.An injury to Alex Collins, whose
season ended Saturday when he was put on the reserve
list
White
Za’Darius Smith Jersey , opened the door for the 238-pound Edwards. He’s
sure taken advantage of his opportunity.INJURY REPORTRavens: Jackson missed one
series in the third quarter, clearing the way for Robert Griffin III to get his
first significant playing time since 2016. Griffin went 2 of 4 for 21 yards,
guiding the Ravens to a field goal before Jackson returned to the field. Also, G
Alex Lewis left with a shoulder injury.Falcons: TE Logan Paulsen went out in the
second quarter with a knee injury. LB Foyesade Oluokun (knee) left briefly but
was able to return.UP NEXTRavens: Play their second straight road game at AFC
West-leading Kansas City.Falcons: Travel to Green Bay to face the slumping
Packers, knowing they must win their final four games just to avoid their first
losing season since 2014. Running back Mark Ingram met the media as a member of
the Ravens for the first time on Friday and said that everyone he knows that was
ever part of the organization reached out to him to pitch him on coming to
Baltimore.One player he doesn’t know yet is quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has
at least one thing in common with Ingram. Both players are Heisman Trophy
winners and Ingram said he’s excited about being in “a Heisman backfield” as
well as being part of an offense that figures to feature a heavy dose of running
the ball.“One thousand percent,” Ingram said. “That was very interesting and
something that really caught my attention. Just having the opportunity to be in
an offense that runs the ball and has Lamar, his run-pass-option
abilities
Za’Darius
Smith Jersey 2019 , just to be able to bring my game to this offense and
be able to help this team, I’m excited about it, and it’s something that was
really intriguing to me.”There were reports linking the Ravens to a pursuit of
Le'Veon Bell earlier this week, but Ingram said he wasn’t paying attention to
any of it while waiting to see if things worked out for him in Baltimore. They
did and he should have plenty of chances to make that choice look like the right
one this season.
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