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.
As well as any team has during the Ravens’ demolition tour of the N.F.L., the San Francisco 49ers mitigated Jackson’s effectiveness on Sunday. They forced Baltimore to punt twice, for one thing. They stripped the ball from him, for another. 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 in Baltimore territory — 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 division-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.
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 44.
No team is as aggressive on fourth down — or as successful — as Baltimore, which has converted 15 of 20 opportunities.
“I was a little nervous,” receiver Willie Snead IV said, laughing, “but I wasn’t surprised.”
Jackson powered over the right guard for 2 of his 113 rushing yards. The drive began with 6 minutes 28 seconds remaining. The 49ers never touched the ball again.
Rare as it is for a one-loss team to be an underdog in Week 13, the 49ers (10-2) had not yet encountered an opponent as brawny as the Ravens, who entered the game leading the league in points, rushing yards, total yards per game and, unofficially, opponents deflated.
During the Ravens’ winning streak, Jackson has befuddled some of the league’s savviest defensive gurus, and he is unlikely to face a front as destructive as San Francisco’s again.
Despite the 49ers’ might, Jackson’s only turnover of the game came just after halftime Sunday, in the middle of a fruitful drive deep in San Francisco territory, at the end of his longest run. Marcell Harris stripped the ball from Jackson and recovered it, giving the 49ers possession at their 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.
“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 commenced a new streak.
Capitalizing on Garoppolo’s fumble at his own 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, until they didn’t, until the most elusive player in the N.F.L. prevented them from fulfilling the most difficult task in sports.
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December 01, 2019 at 04:09PM
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