The Baltimore Ravens have put the rest of the NFL on notice. In what was billed as a potential Super Bowl preview as Lamar Jackson and Co. traveled to Santa Clara and delivered a 33-19 shellacking on the San Francisco 49ers to wrap up Week 16 and the Christmas Day slate.
It was a shaky start for both clubs as the Ravens had a three-and-out and committed a safety on its first two drives of the game, while the Niners also turned the ball over on their first possession. After that, Baltimore started to come alive and kicked off what would be seven-straight scoring drives to leave San Francisco in the dust. While this game did feature two of the MVP frontrunners in Brock Purdy and Lamar Jackson, this game was owned by the Ravens defense. The unit tallied five turnovers, which included four interceptions off of Purdy.
That final pick by Purdy did prove to be the most fatal. After the Ravens had extended their lead in the third quarter to 11, the Niners QB tossed a pick to linebacker Patrick Queen, who took the ball to the San Francisco 9-yard line. It took Baltimore's offense just one play to find the end zone after the turnover and suddenly built up a 30-12 advantage. That proved to be an insurmountable deficit.
Jackson finished his night 23 of 35 for 252 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 45 yards on the ground. As for Purdy, he completed 18 of his 32 throws for 255 yards, a touchdown and those four interceptions. He did leave this game late in the fourth quarter after dealing with a stinger, but was cleared to return to action. Given the score, Kyle Shanahan elected have backup Sam Darnold finish out the contest.
Baltimore played tremendous complementary football throughout this game. The Ravens scored on seven straight drives at one point and in the process were able to force multiple turnovers. Three of the five turnovers forced by the Ravens on the night resulted in scoring drives and the team finished with 17 points off turnovers. The pass rush was routinely able to disrupt Purdy and bat balls down at the line of scrimmage and made life extremely tough on each dropback.
While the defense was smothering San Francisco's offense, Lamar Jackson was toying with the Niners defense and may have boosted his MVP odds in the process. While he finished with 252 passing yards and two touchdowns, Jackson really shined with his mobility. He was extending passing plays with his legs, and also gashing the 49ers when he did decide to tuck and run, finishing with 45 yards in the win.
You can't throw five interceptions and expect to win the game, so the loss does fall on the shoulder of Brock Purdy (who tossed four of the picks). He had picks on three of the 49ers' first four drives of the night, which erased any sort of home momentum they had at Levi's Stadium. Purdy led one touchdown drive in the first half, but beyond that was a shell of the MVP candidate that we saw coming into Week 16. While Purdy will have a bit piece of blame pie, the defense didn't have an answer for Lamar Jackson and the special teams unit killed them at a critical point in the game.
After going three-and-out to open up the first half, the San Francisco punt team committed back-to-back penalties that helped give the Ravens possession at the 49ers' 44-yard line. That helped spark a three-play touchdown drive and kicked off what was ultimately their run to push the lead to three scores. No matter which way you slice, it was a rather poor showing for a team that was looked at as the Super Bowl favorite coming into this weekend.
Even with Purdy throwing three first-half interceptions, the 49ers were able to stay within range of the Ravens, trailing by just four points heading into halftime. However, Purdy's final interception on the night was the straw that broke the camel's back. After the Ravens had scored on their opening possession of the second half, Purdy immediately threw an interception to Patrick Queen and Lamar Jackson then threw a 9-yard pass to Zay Flowers on the following play to go up 30-12 before the second half could even get rolling. At that point, Baltimore kept the Niners at bay and they never truly sniffed a comeback for the remainder of the game.
Kyle Hamilton has been an anchor in the Ravens secondary and he came up with a number of high-impact plays in the win, including two interceptions. His second pick of the night was one of the better effort plays that you'll see this season. Hamilton (No. 14) was initially blitzing off the left side of the line and was taken down to the ground on an illegal chop block. Despite being shoved to the ground, Hamilton got up as Purdy was scrambling in the backfield, worked back in coverage and was able to secure the interception on a tipped ball intended for George Kittle.
From here, the Ravens will head back to Baltimore for their final two games of the regular season. On Sunday, they have another pivotal matchup as they'll play host to the Miami Dolphins with a chance to wrap up the AFC's top seed. As for the 49ers, they'll look to rebound off of this loss when they travel to Washington to face the Commanders in Week 17.
The Ravens are one step closer to the No. 1 seed in the AFC. An impressive road win against the 49ers to move to 12-3 on the season. As for San Francisco, the loss puts the team at 11-4 on the year, but are still alive for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
And that's the fifth interception of the night for Baltimore. A truly dominating effort.
Naturally, as I write that, the defense has put the clamps down at the goal-line.
The Ravens have impressed tonight, but aren't exactly doing a great job closing this on a high note. Shouldn't even be this close at the moment.
Per the ESPN broadcast, Purdy is dealing with a stinger that has plagued him earlier this year, but he was cleared to return to action. Kyle Shanahan elects to keep him on the sideline likely as a result of the score.
Sam Darnold remains as the 49ers quarterback on this next drive. Purdy has his helmet on and is standing on the sideline.
And Sam Darnold comes in and casually runs the hurry-up offense, and uncorked a 12-yard touchdown to Ronnie Bell.
Brock Purdy was banged up on that sack, which has brought Sam Darnold in at quarterback for the 49ers. Given the score, I'll be curious if Purdy gets back in this game.
Oh no. Kyle Hamilton, who has two interceptions tonight, is down on the field in pain. Appeared to be holding his knee.
This is the first time since 2005 that the 49ers have allowed points on seven straight drives.
Kyle Shanahan is 0-28 as a head coach when trailing by 7+ points entering the fourth quarter.
I have no clue how Deebo Samuel didn't drop that ball after the Humphrey hit and didn't go down!
Kittle has easily been the most efficient pass-catching weapon for the 49ers tonight. He has 111 receiving yards, while no other San Fran pass catcher has 40 receiving yards.
The Ravens have scored in seven-straight drives.
This is the right call to push it to a 21-point lead. Of course, Harbaugh would've wanted a touchdown there, but to go up by three touchdowns is massive with just two minutes (and change) left in the third quarter.
Isaiah Likely has filled in really well for Mark Andrews. They are different players, but he's given Lamar Jackson a deep outlet in the passing game and seemingly rips off a chunk play at least once a game.
49ers LT Trent Williams (groin) is questionable to return.
And just one play after the interception, Lamar Jackson hits Zay Flowers for the 9-yard touchdown. This got ugly really quick.
That's interception No. 4 for Brock Purdy.
The Ravens made quick work of that drive. Gus Edwards rips off a 39-yard catch and run after they were given a short field and two plays later Nelson Agholor hauls in a touchdown from Jackson. Baltimore suddenly has an 11-point lead.
Interesting update on the MVP race as we head into the second half.
Boy, that was almost Purdy's fourth pick. Lucky that ball was a little hot coming in and bounced off a Ravens defender onto the ground.
This is Christian McCaffrey's eighth straight game with 100+ scrimmage yards, which is a 49ers record.
