The Baltimore Ravens blew out the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium, 41-10 yesterday, despite not having a dominant advantage in the yardage comparison.
The Ravens gained only 77 more yards (396-319) than the Broncos, and first downs (25 to 20) were pretty even as well. Both teams had precisely ten drives, while Denver ran more plays (68 versus 54).
With only one turnover in the game (a Bo Nix interception to Ar’Darius Washington), you may be wondering what the difference was.
Red zone efficiency is the answer, as Baltimore perfectly embodied the ideal of “bend but don’t break” on defense while consistently capitalizing on offense. The Ravens scored in four of their six trips (66%) inside the red zone, while Denver went only one in four (25%).
While Nix could “move the sticks” on the Ravens, his yards per attempt was just 6.8, and Denver found the end zone just once. And that lone touchdown came on a trick play, with Nix catching a two-yard pass from Courtland Sutton.
Last week, former superstar safety and nine-time Pro Bowler Brian Dawkins hailed Nix’s ability to move the chains while consistently avoiding critical mistakes.
“What you see from Bo is that with some of the creativity, he has to get the ball down the field to get first downs,” said the four time first team All-Pro, in an exclusive with RG. “It’s going to be imperative for him not to turn the ball over. That’s always the case for a quarterback – especially for a rookie – and to not beat himself up too much when he makes mistakes. Because mistakes will be made.
“They will be made, and you can’t beat yourself up to the point that it affects you on the next play on the next read, and that’s going to be the learning thing for him. But from what I’ve seen from him and from that relationship [with Sean Payton], it seems they’re clicking.”
Dawkins, who had a Hall of Fame nickname in Weapon X, is right—Nix and Payton had been clicking together entering this weekend. But the Ravens did a great job limiting his production in the vertical passing game and preventing the big play.
Baltimore needed to apply pressure, which would force Nix to make mistakes. They did just that, sacking him four times.
Tavius Robinson had half of those sacks with four quarterback hits. He was one of the brightest stars on defense for the Ravens yesterday.
“As a defense, we prepared well during the week and came out and did what we had to do today,” Robinson told the Ravens website. “[I’m] happy with how we responded to last week, and now we’ve got a quick turnaround for Cincinnati.”
