BALTIMORE — The headline on ESPN.com read, “They don’t travel well.” The headline on ESPN.com was wrong. The Green Bay Packers capped off an impressive road win against the defending Super Bowl champions on Sunday, defeating the Baltimore Ravens 19-17 at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Packers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead but saw momentum change early in the second quarter when Ryan Taylor blocked a punt only to have John Kuhn touch the bouncing ball beyond the line of scrimmage, allowing the Ravens to recover and giving them a fresh set of downs. Baltimore promptly drove into the red zone and was primed to take the lead with first-and-goal on the 4. After three straight runs by Ray Rice resulted in three yards, the Ravens elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the 1-yard line. Mike Daniels and Micah Hyde combined to stuff Bernard Pierce for no gain, turning the ball over on downs. “Our defense stood up for me and had my back,” said Kuhn after the game. “Nobody was more appreciative of that goal-line stand than myself… That’s a detrimental mistake that I can’t make.” The defense also picked up Mason Crosby after he whiffed for the first time in 2013. With 12 seconds left in the first half, Nick Perry got around the edge and knocked the ball loose from Joe Flacoo. Rookie first-rounder Datone Jones scooped up the football and returned it 20 yards to the Baltimore 13. Offered the chance to quickly redeem himself, Crosby did just that, nailing a 31-yard field goal to put Green Bay up 6-0 at the break.
Two injuries provided a gut-wrenching subplot: Wide receiver James Jones left the game early in the first quarter with a sprained PCL and later returned to the sidelines in street clothes. There is a chance that Jones could suit up next week. Fellow wide out and Mr. Versatility, Randall Cobb, suffered an agonizing blow to the knee on a Matt Elam hit. Cobb also appeared later on the sidelines but was hobbling on crutches. Mike McCarthy confirmed that Cobb would miss “multiple weeks” with the knee injury. Down to just Jordy Nelson and Jarrett Boykin, the Packers handed the Ravens a heavy dose of their run game in the second half. Unable to utilize their preferred three-receiver set, Green Bay dialed up designed runs on 59 percent of their second half play calls, the second-highest such percentage for a half in the past three seasons. The Ravens held Rodgers to just seven completions after halftime. The Green Bay quarterback made the most of his opportunities however, throwing for 199 yards on those completions. The biggest offensive play of the day was a 64-yard missile to Jordy Nelson which put Green Bay ahead 16-3 with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter. Baltimore corner Lardarius Webb bit on the play-action to Lacy, freeing up Nelson for an absolutely perfect Aaron Rodgers throw.
Joe Flacco immediately responded, leading the Ravens down the field and scoring on an 11-yard TD pass to Jacoby Jones, narrowing the gap to 16-10 with 11:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. Rodgers and the Packers offense answered with a 12-play, 72-yard drive which took over 7½ minutes. Mason Crosby converted a 31-yard field goal attempt to put Green Bay up by two possessions, 19-10. With the game hanging in the balance, Joe Flacco delivered a 63-yard strike to Tandon Doss on fourth-and-21 with 2:40 left on the clock. On the ensuing play Dallas Clark hauled in an 18-yard TD to bring the Ravens within two points. Green Bay safety Jerron McMillian, who slipped and fell in coverage on fourth down, failed to hear the defensive play call and was caught out of position on the Clark touchdown.
With three timeouts remaining the Ravens decided to kick it deep and attempt to stop the Green Bay offense. The Packers, however, salted the game away. On a pivotal third-and-3 from their own 27, Aaron Rodgers hit Jermichael Finley on a crossing pattern. Finley rumbled down the left sideline for 52 yards and stepped out of bounds with 1:42 on the clock. “I was about 99 percent going to Jermichael on that one,” Rodgers stated in his post-game interview. The Packers went to their rookie stud three straight times to end the game. Lacy applied the dagger to the Ravens on a 4-yard scamper on third-and-2, causing Packers GM Ted Thompson to slam his fist in excitement on the counter in the press box. “Days like today remind you of why you love this game so much,” said Rodgers. “Offensively, we’re struggling a little bit, but we found a way to make enough plays to win.”
The ground game was stellar once again, grinding out 140 yards against a stingy Baltimore front. Eddie Lacy jump-started the Green Bay offense, opening the game with back-to-back runs of 10 and 37 yards on the way to his first career 100-yard rushing performance. “I had to stay hydrated,” said Lacy, who was spotted with three empty Gatorade bottles and one empty bottle of water in his locker. After finishing one yard short of the century mark last week, Lacy ran for 120 yards against the Ravens on 23 carries. The Packers have averaged 160.3 yards rushing over their past four games.
The Packers simply dominated the line of scrimmage on defense, limiting the Ravens to a mere 47 yards on the ground while recording five sacks. A.J. Hawk, the steady heartbeat of the Packers defense, filled in as the defensive signal caller for the injured Brad Jones, registering 10 tackles, five tackles-for-loss, and three sacks (Hawk recorded just three sacks all of last season). Green Bay’s third ranked run defense (78.2 yards per game) proved too much for the Ravens to handle. Despite the absence of Clay Matthews, Baltimore ball carriers were hit in the backfield on nine of 21 designed run plays, the most since Week 1 of 2010. The Ravens finished 2-for-14 (14%) on third down against Green Bay, needing double-digit yards to convert on nine of their attempts. Their average distance to gain on third down was a staggering 11.2 yards.
Green Bay will need to address their depth at receiver this week. Jarrett Boykin dropped two passes and looked out-of-sync on several other routes, although he did record a key 43-yard catch to set up a field goal. The Packers could sign undrafted rookie WR Myles White off the practice squad. Charles Johnson, one of Green Bay’s seventh round selections this past draft, was signed by Cleveland on Saturday. The Browns travel to Lambeau Field next Sunday to take on the Packers at 3:25 CDT.
Statistical Notes:
- Prior to Sunday’s loss, the Ravens had won 13 consecutive home games against NFC opponents.
- Terrell Suggs, Baltimore’s all-time sacks leader and the 2011 Defensive Player of the Year, failed to record a sack, snapping his personal five game streak.
- Sam Shields blanketed Ravens WR Torrey Smith, limiting him to 1 catch for 12 yards. Smith had recorded at least 4 catches and 92 yards each week entering Sunday’s contest.
- Eddie Lacy is averaging 4.4 yards per carry, a full yard more than last year’s leading rusher (Alex Green, 3.4).
- Mike McCarthy may have found his return man in rookie Micah Hyde. The former Iowa standout averaged 13.6 yards on five punt returns Sunday, including bursts of 20 and 23 yards. Green Bay was averaging a pedestrian 7.1 yards per punt return going into Baltimore.
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