Ravens offense regains confidence in 30-17 thrashing of Raiders

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QB Joe Flacco talked about it all last week— “we just need to find our confidence as an offensive unit”… and things finally came together for the Ravens on Sunday in Oakland.

From the 52-yard pass to Mike Wallace on the first play to running out the clock in the fourth quarter, the NFL’s 30th-ranked offense showed more resiliency than it had all season.The Ravens (3-2) now find themselves tied atop the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers, although their rival owns the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“Every win is big,” said Flacco, who ended a 10-game interception streak. “I think this is more significant because for what it does for the mentality and confidence of the football team.”

The Ravens’ most efficient offensive performance all season — scoring on five of eight drives — began the night before. Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg went over all of the potential plays, and Wallace started dreaming of getting the go route on the first snap.

“If we get this play, it’s on me to start the game off and going from there would be a snowball effect,” Wallace said.

The Ravens, who had been shut out in the first half the past two weeks, scored 24 points before halftime. Then, after the Raiders closed to within 24-17 in the third quarter, Flacco and the offense marched 72 yards on 12 plays for a much-needed field goal to stop Oakland’s momentum.

With Terrance West sidelined with a calf injury, Buck Allen took over as the team’s red zone back. Allen responded with a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

There was some adversity for the Ravens. Starting right guard Matt Skura injured his knee in the third quarter, leaving the offensive line even more shorthanded. The Ravens already have lost four O-linemen for the season, and Skura was replacing Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury earlier this year.

Baltimore next plays host to the Chicago Bears and No. 2 overall draft pick Mitchell Trubisky.

Joe Flacco hit Mike Wallace on two deep passes to spark Baltimore’s struggling offense, and the Ravens got a fumble return for a touchdown by Jimmy Smith to beat the short-handed Oakland Raiders 30-17 on Sunday.

The Raiders (2-3), playing without injured star quarterback Derek Carr and two key cornerbacks, played from behind all game as Smith returned Jared Cook‘s fumble 47 yards for a touchdown that made it 14-0 just 3:50 in.

Backup quarterback E.J. Manuel , making his fourth start in the past three seasons, threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree and led another TD drive that ended in Marshawn Lynch‘s 3-yard run . He finished 13 for 26 for 159 yards.

The Coliseum was rocking after Lynch’s TD cut Baltimore’s lead to 24-17 late in the third quarter. The Ravens, who had been held to three-and-outs the first two drives of the second half, responded with a 72-yard drive to a 21-yard field goal by Justin Tucker that gave Baltimore a 10-point lead. Flacco converted a pair of third downs on the drive, completing a 13-yard pass to Breshad Perriman on third-and-3, and a 27-yarder to Wallace on third-and-8.

Flacco looked like his best days of olde, scrambling when necessary to avoid a sack and firing under heavy pressure to make critical connections.

Flacco also showed off his improvisational skills in the first quarter when he tripped on a drop back after a shotgun snap. He got up and stumbled before getting off a 6-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin that converted a third down. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive on a 1-yard run by Javorius “Buck” Allen that made it 21-3.

Final:

1 2 3 4 T
BAL 14 10 0 6 30
OAK 3 7 7 0 17

Scoring Summary:

FIRST QUARTER BAL OAK
TD
12:45
Vince Mayle 2 Yd Run (Justin Tucker Kick)
5 plays, 75 yards, 2:15
7 0
TD
11:10
Jimmy Smith 47 Yd Fumble Return (Justin Tucker Kick)
3 plays, 13 yards, 1:35
14 0
FG
5:07
Giorgio Tavecchio 32 Yd Field Goal
12 plays, 61 yards, 6:03
14 3
SECOND QUARTER BAL OAK
TD
11:57
Javorius Allen 1 Yd Run (Justin Tucker Kick)
15 plays, 75 yards, 8:10
21 3
TD
9:11
Michael Crabtree 41 Yd pass from EJ Manuel (Giorgio Tavecchio Kick)
6 plays, 75 yards, 2:46
21 10
FG
5:18
Justin Tucker 22 Yd Field Goal
8 plays, 70 yards, 3:53
24 10
THIRD QUARTER BAL OAK
TD
3:46
Marshawn Lynch 3 Yd Run (Giorgio Tavecchio Kick)
12 plays, 65 yards, 4:42
24 17
FOURTH QUARTER BAL OAK
FG
13:10
Justin Tucker 21 Yd Field Goal
12 plays, 72 yards, 5:36
27 17
FG
2:24
Justin Tucker 44 Yd Field Goal
13 plays, 54 yards, 6:26
30 17
Matchup Ravens offense regains confidence in 30-17 thrashing of Raiders Ravens offense regains confidence in 30-17 thrashing of Raiders
1st Downs 19 15
Passing 1st downs 8 8
Rushing 1st downs 11 7
1st downs from penalties 0 0
3rd down efficiency 7-14 6-12
4th down efficiency 0-0 0-1
Total Plays 65 54
Total Yards 365 245
Total Drives 9 10
Yards per Play 5.6 4.5
Passing 222 137
Comp-Att 19-26 13-26
Yards per pass 8.5 4.7
Interceptions thrown 0 0
Sacks-Yards Lost 0-0 3-22
Rushing 143 108
Rushing Attempts 39 25
Yards per rush 3.7 4.3
Red Zone (Made-Att) 2-5 1-2
Penalties 1-5 3-24
Turnovers 0 1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs 1 0
Possession 33:43 26:17
Ravens offense regains confidence in 30-17 thrashing of RaidersBaltimore Passing
C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT SACKS QBR RTG
Joe Flacco 19/26 222 8.5 0 0 0-0 85.7 98.6
TEAM 19/26 222 8.5 0 0 0-0 98.6
Ravens offense regains confidence in 30-17 thrashing of RaidersBaltimore Rushing
CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
Javorius Allen 21 73 3.5 1 9
Alex Collins 12 55 4.6 0 25
Terrance West 2 17 8.5 0 13
Vince Mayle 1 2 2.0 1 2
Joe Flacco 3 -4 -1.3 0 -1
TEAM 39 143 3.7 2 25
Ravens offense regains confidence in 30-17 thrashing of RaidersBaltimore Receiving
REC YDS AVG TD LONG TGTS
Mike Wallace 3 133 44.3 0 54 3
Jeremy Maclin 6 43 7.2 0 14 8
Breshad Perriman 2 15 7.5 0 13 3
Javorius Allen 4 12 3.0 0 8 5
Nick Boyle 1 9 9.0 0 9 2
Michael Campanaro 1 8 8.0 0 8 1
Benjamin Watson 2 2 1.0 0 4 4
TEAM 19 222 11.7 0 54 26
Ravens offense regains confidence in 30-17 thrashing of RaidersBaltimore Defense
TACKLES MISC
TOT SOLO SACKS TFL PD QB HTS TD
Eric Weddle 7 4 0 0 1 0 0
C.J. Mosley 6 3 0 0 0 0 0
Patrick Onwuasor 5 3 0 0 0 0 0
Willie Henry 5 3 0 1 2 1 0
Lardarius Webb 4 4 0 0 0 0 0
Terrell Suggs 4 3 1 1 0 2 0
Tony Jefferson 4 3 1 1 0 1 0
Matthew Judon 4 3 0 1 1 0 0
Za’Darius Smith 4 1 0 0 0 0 0
Marlon Humphrey 3 2 0 0 0 0 0
Anthony Levine Sr. 2 1 1 1 0 1 0
Brandon Carr 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Michael Pierce 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Wormley 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Kamalei Correa 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Javorius Allen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jimmy Smith 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM 54 34 3 5 4 5 1

 

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