MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — As he handed out game balls and congratulated his players on a five-day span that may have turned the team’s season around, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh’s voice reverberated outside the walls of the spacious visiting locker room at Hard Rock Stadium and was audible in a nearby room.
Moments later, Harbaugh walked around, talking to his players and delivering personal messages while music blared. He shared an embrace with outside linebacker David Ojabo as they went over a play from the game. He then went over to speak with center Tyler Linderbaum and a few of the offensive linemen.
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley playfully joked with quarterback Lamar Jackson, encouraging him to take a quick shower so they could get out of South Florida and return home as soon as possible. The team charter buses certainly weren’t going to leave without Jackson. A monthlong absence for the star quarterback was enough.
Derrick Henry, the normally ultra-serious running back who typically dwells on a play or two that he didn’t make from a game, sported a wide smile throughout his interview and joked with reporters.
“Vibes are high,” Henry said.
A week ago, the Ravens’ season was on life support. They were 1-5, their two-time league MVP quarterback was trying to return from a strained right hamstring, the defense was a mess and couldn’t buy a turnover, and their coaching staff was being maligned daily.
For one night, all of that felt like a distant memory. The Ravens did what a good team should have done to the struggling Miami Dolphins in prime time Thursday, persevering through a sluggish first half and staging a dominant third quarter to win comfortably, 28-6, in front of many of their fans who made the trip.
The performance was a fitting follow-up to Sunday’s 30-16 home victory over the Chicago Bears and sent Baltimore into the mini bye weekend with something it’s struggled to attain all season: momentum. The Ravens have nine regular-season games remaining, and they made sure they’ll still have plenty to play for.
“It takes belief, and it takes toughness. It takes faith, and it takes guts, and I’m proud of our guys for that,” Harbaugh said. “We had two games that we needed to win in (five) days, and they were absolute must-wins, both of those two games. For our guys to step up the way they did, and to step out the way they did, and play the kind of football they did with their backs to the wall — on the canvas — and to get back up and do what they did, is commendable. It just means we’re two games under .500. That’s all it means, but we’re two games under .500.”
It’s still not where the Ravens want to be, but it certainly beats the alternative. Over five days, the Ravens went from 1-5 to 3-5 and pulled within a game and a half of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 4-3, in first place in the AFC North and have to contend with the red-hot Indianapolis Colts Sunday.
The Ravens got their quarterback back after a three-game absence, and boy did Jackson announce his presence with a 204-yard, four-touchdown night that featured just five incompletions and no turnovers. After a tepid first half in which he looked unsettled, Jackson led the Ravens on back-to-back third-quarter scoring drives that broke the Dolphins’ backs.
“I just felt a little bit (more) comfortable, and our guys were just ready to score,” Jackson said of the second-half improvements. “Shoutout to the offensive line — they did great. All phases, all skill positions and our running backs, those guys were just locked in and wanted to put points on the board.”
Reluctant to run most of the night, Jackson picked up a big first down with a 13-yard run on third-and-6 on the first score of the third quarter — Harbaugh called it the biggest play of the game — and then completed six straight pass attempts. The last one was a 3-yard touchdown to Charlie Kolar. On the second scoring drive of the quarter, Jackson fired a 39-yard strike to Zay Flowers and then stepped up in the pocket and hit Rashod Bateman for a 9-yard score.
“Whenever you go into a game with Lamar, you feel really confident,” said fullback Patrick Ricard. “It’s Lamar Jackson. He’s pretty good.”
Added Kolar, who now has back-to-back games with touchdowns: “Having your MVP back, it just brings a whole new level of confidence in the team and the offense.”
Baltimore’s defense has picked itself off the mat as well, playing its best game in keeping Miami out of the end zone and forcing a season-high three turnovers. It started with safety Alohi Gilman’s strip, recovery and return to the Dolphins’ 7-yard line, setting up the first of two touchdown passes to tight end Mark Andrews. It ended with rookie safety Malaki Starks’ first career interception. In between, cornerback Marlon Humphrey got a big forced fumble and recovery as the Dolphins were mounting a fourth-quarter drive.
The Ravens, after struggling to stop anybody or anything (except the Cleveland Browns) over the first five weeks, have now given up only 39 points, forced five turnovers and gotten three fourth-down stops over the past three games.
“That’s the first word I think of, contagious,” said Gilman when asked about the forced turnovers. “They come in bunches.”
So, too, will wins, the Ravens believe — and a lighter schedule should help. The Dolphins showed why they were a 2-6 team coming into the night by making miscue after miscue in the first half, prompting them to go into the locker room trailing 14-6 despite dominating the Ravens in just about every way. Miami’s third-quarter malaise included blowing two timeouts.
The Ravens now go on the road to face the Minnesota Vikings next weekend. They won’t play a team that currently has a winning record until they face the Pittsburgh Steelers Dec. 7. With Jackson back and looking comfortable, the run game improving and the defense suddenly turning the ball over, it’s not hard to fathom the Ravens going on a little bit of a run and becoming the team pundits thought they’d be when the season started.
“It’s always nice to get a win,” Stanley said. “It’s a tough league. We’re happy with the result, but there’s a lot of work to do.”
At the very least, the Ravens have done enough digging out of the 1-5 hole to spur general manager Eric DeCosta to try and get the team more help. The trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, giving DeCosta ample time over the weekend to work the phones and attempt to make a few acquisitions.
The Ravens have plenty of draft capital and enough open cap space to make some moves. They also have clear needs. Even in their whitewashing of the Dolphins Thursday, the Ravens struggled in the first half to stop the run, a problem for much of the season. A standout interior defensive lineman and/or edge rusher would surely make this defense more formidable. Running between the tackles and short-yardage situations continue to be a problem on offense, too, so adding a quality guard is something DeCosta has to consider.
But those are questions for the general manager to ponder in the coming days. The Ravens first had to do their part to get back into the playoff mix. Over five days, they did just that, while reinvigorating a season that was spiraling out of control.
Late Thursday night, they allowed themselves a brief celebration. When they get back to work Monday, they will still face a long road to get to where they expect to be at the end of the regular season. Suddenly, however, the picture looks much clearer.
A healthy and explosive Jackson, plus a much-improved defense, allows them to finally imagine the possibilities.
“It’s just another step in the direction that we know we’re on our way to, so I think it was just part of the process that we’re all on,” said middle linebacker Roquan Smith, who had another impactful game with 12 tackles. “We’re excited about it. It was a great win on Thursday night in front of the world, and then on a short week, it just shows how resilient we are. But, it’s just 1-0 for this week, so we’ll enjoy it for the night and a little over the weekend, and then we’re on to the next opponent.”
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