BALTIMORE — The most difficult task in sports right now is not a single act — hitting a swerving baseball, saving a penalty kick, returning a supersonic serve — but rather a collective undertaking. It is containing the juggernaut that is the Baltimore Ravens’ propulsive offense, operated with unholy efficiency by quarterback Lamar Jackson, whose affinity for the magnificent is matched only by his ability to produce points, stacks of them.
As well as any team has since mid-October, when the Ravens’ demolition tour of the N.F.L. went into overdrive, the San Francisco 49ers mitigated Jackson’s effectiveness on Sunday. They forced Baltimore to punt twice. They stripped the ball from him. And they held the Ravens to their fewest points all season.
But the later it got, with the score tied in the fourth quarter amid the driving rain at M&T Bank Stadium, the nature of San Francisco’s mission evolved. The 49ers needed one more stop and could not get it. Jackson converted two critical short-yardage runs — including one on fourth down on Baltimore’s side of the field — on what proved to be the winning drive in the Ravens’ 20-17 victory. As time expired, Justin Tucker kicked a 49-yard field goal, sending his teammates rushing onto the field, another contender vanquished.
“I think this whole team is living in the moment, for these moments,” Tucker said.
In winning their last eight, the Ravens (10-2) have smashed both of last year’s Super Bowl teams (the Patriots and the Rams), trampled the A.F.C. South-leading Texans and squashed the Seahawks — the only other team to beat San Francisco — in Seattle, all by double digits. The brutal conditions on Sunday almost demanded a close game, but they also belied the artistry of an affair contested between elite teams that could be reprised, without much objective complaint, in nine weeks, at Super Bowl LIV.
Neither team ever led by more than 7 points, and the score was tied after three quarters. The weather decreed urgency, discouraging field-goal attempts and encouraging fourth-down boldness, and the game turned on those choices in the fourth quarter.
After stumbling on fourth-and-5 at the San Francisco 40-yard line, and after Chris Wormley deflected Jimmy Garoppolo’s pass on fourth-and-1 from the Baltimore 35, the Ravens encountered a fourth-and-1 at their own 44.
No team is as aggressive on fourth down — or as successful — as Baltimore, which has converted 15 of 20 opportunities. On the sideline, Coach John Harbaugh never wavered.
“We knew we were going to go for it,” Harbaugh said.
Receiver Willie Snead IV added with a laugh: “I was a little nervous, but I wasn’t surprised.”
Jackson powered over the right guard for 2 of his 101 rushing yards. The drive began with 6 minutes 28 seconds remaining. The 49ers never touched the ball again.
“We want to be on the field,” guard Marshal Yanda said. “We want to stay on the field.”
Rare as it is for a one-loss team to be an underdog in Week 13, especially a week after throttling the formidable Packers, San Francisco (10-2) had not yet played an opponent as brawny as the Ravens, who entered the game leading the N.F.L. in points, rushing yards, total yards per game and, unofficially, opponents deflated.
Contrary to popular perception, Jackson does not throw with his right hand because he found it too simple to do so with his left, nor did he teach Michael Phelps, an ardent Ravens fan, how to swim. Those viral fictions reflect the fabled status Jackson has attained among teams hastening to solve the very electrifying unpredictability that has left them awe-struck.
During the Ravens’ winning streak, Jackson has been tested by, and has befuddled, some of the league’s savviest defensive gurus — the coaches Bill Belichick (Patriots) and Pete Carroll (Seahawks) and the defensive coordinators Romeo Crennel (Texans) and Wade Phillips (Rams). Barring a Super Bowl rematch, Baltimore is unlikely to face a front as destructive as San Francisco’s again. Across those five victories, in which the Ravens won by a combined 107 points, Jackson accounted for 14 touchdowns — 10 passing, four rushing — and only one turnover.
That gaffe came just after halftime Sunday, in the middle of a fruitful drive deep in San Francisco territory, at the end of Jackson’s longest run. Safety Marcell Harris dislodged the ball from Jackson and recovered it, giving the 49ers possession at their own 20. As San Francisco marched down the field, Jackson flogged himself, angry at his blunder and its consequences — a field goal by Robbie Gould, capping a 14-play series, that tied the score at 17-17. Jackson regained his focus, he said, only upon stepping onto the field again, and he was still furious at himself after the game.
“If I keep the ball in my hand, you know, we’re going to score,” Jackson said.
Although no team had forced more three-and-outs (38) or allowed fewer yards per play (4.29) or generated more sacks (44) than the 49ers, their lapses across this jubilant season share a common culprit: mobile quarterbacks, like Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray. In response, the 49ers concentrated on committing to the running back on Jackson’s zone-read plays and not protecting the edges.
“You have to defend on every play,” San Francisco Coach Kyle Shanahan said. “You can’t just go after the quarterback.”
Excluding kneel downs, Jackson had guided the Ravens on 12 consecutive scoring drives — 10 touchdowns, two field goals — before San Francisco forced a punt on Baltimore’s first possession. Undeterred, Jackson started a new streak.
Capitalizing on Garoppolo’s fumble at his 23, Jackson lofted a 20-yard touchdown to a leaping Mark Andrews, then embarked on two drives that showcased the Ravens’ clock-controlling might. Each consumed more than seven minutes, and their totality — 10 points, on a 1-yard keeper by Jackson and a 30-yard field goal from Tucker — pressured San Francisco to keep pace.
The 49ers did, far better than New England and Seattle, Houston and the Rams, until they didn’t. Until the most elusive player in the N.F.L. foiled them from accomplishing the most difficult task in sports.
Source: Football - nytimes.com
