“Are you kidding us?”
Ravens fall apart after Flutschfinger drama, 49ers humble Jags
By David Needy
November 12, 2023, 10:38 p.m
Two of football’s hottest teams fall apart in Week 10 – but in different ways. While the Ravens lose late in a thriller despite a bitter mistake by the Browns, the Jaguars go down against the 49ers. San Francisco is trying everything for an NFL record, but it doesn’t want to fall.
Baltimore Ravens – Cleveland Browns 31:33 (17:9)
A highly anticipated AFC North divisional duel took place between the Ravens and the Browns. And it shouldn’t disappoint in terms of drama. Cleveland (6-3) managed to minimize the gap to the leaders in the group with a 33:31 thriller victory after a 9:24 deficit against their long-time rivals from Baltimore (7-3). At the same time, quarterback Lamar Jackson and Co., one of the hottest teams in the NFL at the moment, suffered a bitter defeat.
Observers predicted that the defense would decide this game, after all, the Ravens allowed the fewest points in the league before the game (Browns were still in third place). And so it was Baltimore’s defensive line that once again got the Ravens off to a lightning start: When the second play of the game was underway, Brown had the ball, some of them were still in the locker room with their heads.
But not Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton: He first blocked quarterback Deshaun Watson’s throw, then caught it with the presence of mind while sprinting forward – and leisurely strolled into the end zone for his first touchdown of his career and an early shock. “Are you kidding us?” his team wrote on X, formerly Twitter, over a video clip of Hamilton’s heroic act.
A little later they proved that the Ravens not only have a first-class defense. After the Browns were forced to punt, running back Keaton Mitchell, who had recently been extremely hot, made it 14-0 with an explosive 39-yard touchdown run. Cleveland’s offensive line, which remains a mystery, was unable to score more than two field goals until shortly before halftime.
But two actions brought the Browns back into the game. First, a blocked punt led to another field goal. The Cleveland defense then showed what it could do and intercepted a long pass from Jackson. The interception didn’t lead to any Browns points, but even though the Ravens had largely dominated the game, even without an MVP performance from Jackson, they now only went into halftime with a 17-9 lead and a bad feeling.
But Jackson quickly made up for that in the third quarter: after a short missile throw from the quarterback, centimeter-perfect into the hands of superstar Odell Beckham-Junior, the Ravens made it 24:9. This looked like “OBJ”, who also played for the Browns for a few years, in his prime.
The Browns responded with a 17-play drive that included a touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion just before the fourth quarter. But a bad flip finger blunder played into the Ravens’ hands: The Browns dropped the egg while catching a punt, which meant Baltimore had the ball a few yards from the end zone. A short run and the Ravens made it 31:17. Was that it?
Not at all. Because the next drama followed immediately. The Browns got within 24:31 and shortly afterwards intercepted a deflected throw from Jackson and carried it directly into the end zone. But that wasn’t enough, the next bitter mistake followed: Because the extra point didn’t work, the Ravens still led 31:30. In the end, however, the Browns regained possession of the ball, scored a field goal – and actually turned the thriller in their favor.
Jacksonville Jaguars – San Francisco 49ers 3:34 (3:13)
Two heavyweights from different conferences met in Florida. Two series were at stake: the Jaguars’ five-game winning streak and the 49ers’ three-game losing streak. With the Californians’ humiliating 34-3 victory, both broke.
The first three drives of the duel perfectly summed up the 49ers’ victory: dominance at San Francisco, a black day for Jacksonville. While the recently strong Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (185 yards at the end) didn’t even manage a yard on his first six attempts, the Californians covered 57 yards in the first four attempts and quarterback Brock Purdy (296 yards at the end) found Brandon Aiyuk for a 13-yard touchdown.
The wind should no longer change the direction of the game. Like last November – when their fantastic winning streak began, which led them to the final of the Conference Championships – Purdy and Co. found their way back into the game with apparent ease after three defeats in a row. And that despite the fact that running back Christian McCaffrey had a difficult game and, despite numerous attempts, was unable to make history and score the unprecedented touchdown in the 18th game in a row.
After a Jaguars and two 49ers field goals, things got even worse for the team from Florida right at the start of the second half: First San Francisco’s tight end George Kittle scored an outstanding 66-yard touchdown to make it 20:3, then Lawrence threw was previously responsible for a fumble, an interception.
The humiliation began. Another 49ers touchdown didn’t count because after defender Ambry Thomas won the ball at his own 10-yard line (!), his run into the end zone was beautiful, but teammates from the sideline entered the field illegally. Deebo Samuel made it 27:3 a little later with a 23-yard run. And at the beginning of the final quarter, fullback Kyle Juszczyk added an additional seven points after a 22-yard pass from Purdy.