How does a team that looks so good the past four weeks suddenly turn into slow-motion garbage at SnapDragon Stadium (formerly Qualcomm) in San Diego on prime time TV?
It happened to the Ravens on Sunday Night Football.
And it’s because Chargers’ guru Norv Turner stole the show by completely negating the main strength of both the Ravens’ offense and defense with masterful chess maneuvers of scheme and positioning of his players.
Turner, his OC Clarence Shelmon, and his DC Greg Manusky all should be nominated for Emmy’s for the script they wrote that brought down the Ravens from their lofty perch and reduced them into a bumbling sack of eggs in the featured game on NBC December 18th.
Humiliated by a genius…
Basically, what Turner did was orchestrate the nullification of pass-rusher supreme Terrell Suggs by chipping him and diverting him out of existence. Philip Rivers then moved his pocket of protection with him at will, and dissected the Ravens secondary which was playing without Lardarius Webb. That meant rookie Jimmy Smith was left on many an island to defend against the great Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd, both of whom are 6-5 and just as speedy as Smith. Meanwhile, Rivers was skillfully looking Ed Reed off the plays, so that there was no help for Smith, who got torched into oblivion.
At the same time, Turner threw a dazzling array of stunts and blitz pressures at Joe Flacco and his pass protection personnel, apparently so diverse and complex that the Ravens could neither read nor react in time to save Flacco. The result— Joe was hurried, Joe was mauled, and when he did have a half-second to set up his progression, his receivers were either covered or invisible. It was god-awful.
The final score was Chargers 34, Ravens 14… it wasn’t even that close!
The Ravens (10-4) had their four-game winning streak snapped, but clinched a playoff berth earlier in the day thanks to losses by the New York Jets, Oakland and Tennessee.
The Chargers (7-7) won their third straight following a six-game losing streak and are tied with Oakland for second in the AFC West, a game behind Denver with two to play. Denver and Oakland both lost on Sunday. The Chargers finish with road games against Detroit and the Raiders.
Rivers threw for one score and reached the 4,000-yard mark for the fourth straight season, Ryan Mathews ran for two scores and hit 1,000 yards rushing.
Even though Ray Lewis was back with the Ravens after a four-game injury layoff, the Ravens only had two punishing hits on Rivers. Rivers was dominating, completing 17 of 23 passes for 270 yards to lead the Chargers to scores on six of their first seven possessions. He didn’t throw an interception and the only sack the Ravens got was wiped out on a personal foul against Terrell Suggs.
Rivers joined Peyton Manning (1999-04 and 2006-10) and former teammate Drew Brees (2006-11) as the only QBs in NFL history with at least four-straight 4,000-yard seasons.
Baltimore’s Joe Flacco got the treatment many thought Rivers would. Flacco was sacked five times — three by former Ravens linebacker Antwan Barnes — and intercepted twice. Overall, the Chargers had seven sacks and Barnes finished with four.
Mathews scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards. Rivers surpassed 4,000 yards on a 21-yard completion to Malcom Floyd that set up Mathews’ 3-yard TD run late in the third quarter. The drive was set up when Takeo Spikes intercepted Flacco and returned it 45 yards to the Baltimore 27. The Chargers were flagged 15 yards for excessive celebration.
San Diego took the second-half kickoff and moved 80 yards, with Rivers throwing a perfect 28-yard TD pass to Floyd for a 24-7 lead. Then Mathews scored on a 1-yard run and Novak kicked a 45-yard field goal to help the Chargers take a 17-7 halftime lead.
Novak became the first Chargers kicker with 11 field goals of 40 yards or longer in a season when he booted his 45-yarder for a 10-7 lead. Rivers was sacked on the drive by Cory Redding for an 8-yard loss, but Suggs was whistled for a personal foul for head-slapping tight end Randy McMichael. Instead of a third-and-17 on their 27, the Chargers had a first down on the 50 after the 15-yard penalty.
After forcing a Ravens punt, the Chargers moved 80 yards in seven plays. Rivers pitched to Mathews for a 1-yard TD run and a 17-7 lead. The key play was Vincent Jackson’s 58-yard reception, which put him over 1,000 yards for the season.
San Diego’s Mike Tolbert scored on a 2-yard run on San Diego’s opening drive and Flacco’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Ed Dickson tied it early in the second quarter.
It was one of the worst and flattest performances I’ve ever witnessed in almost 15 years of watching and covering the Ravens. But give some of the credit to Norv Turner and Philip Rivers— it was one of the most masterfully executed game plans by an opponent I’ve ever seen, and the Ravens were decimated by it.
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