Man, what a game!
Monday night’s matchup between the Lions and Ravens in Baltimore was billed as a potential Super Bowl preview. NFL fans would be lucky to get the rematch in February after an epic battle between two great teams on Monday Night Football in Week 3. Detroit prevailed, 38-30, in a hard-fought, thrilling matchup.
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It was a fantastic, entertaining game from the opening drives. Detroit scored first with a masterful 11-play drive from QB Jared Goff. Baltimore quickly matched it in eight plays, with each team picking up four first downs along the way. The defenses then traded 3-and-outs, a strong indication of just how tightly contested the game would remain all night.
The Lions masterfully balanced runs and passes, with Montgomery having an outstanding game. His 72-yard scamper set up another TD as part of a 96-yard drive. Detroit’s special teams were troublesome all night, but the offense and defense picked them up with smart, fundamentally sound and aggressive football.
The defense did its part far beyond reasonable expectations. Detroit sacked Jackson seven times, including two from Al-Quadin Muhammad. Aidan Hutchinson bagged a sack and forced a fourth-quarter fumble on Derrick Henry. Derrick Barnes made several plays as a delayed rusher, foiling several would-be escapes from the perennial MVP candidate. The Lions defense largely neutralized Henry, holding him to 50 yards on 12 carries, including two red zone stuffs in the first half.
It wasn’t all perfect. Cornerback Terrion Arnold had a rough night in coverage. The Lions dropped two interceptions, one from Brian Branch and another, in the end zone, by D.J. Reed. Jackson made some great throws, notably a second-half TD strike to TE Mark Andrews, the first of two scoring connections between them.
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Back to the Henry lost fumble. The Lions cashed that in with another Montgomery touchdown, extending the lead to 38-24 with under two minutes to play. That TD was set up on a brilliant 4th-and-2 play-action pass connection from Goff to St. Brown that befuddled the Baltimore defense. The Ravens did answer with a Jackson-to-Andrews score, but Sam LaPorta snagged Baltimore’s onside kick to effectively end the game.
Detroit ran the ball 38 times for 224 yards and four touchdowns. Goff was not sacked once all night, and the Lions did not turn the ball over. The Lions dialed up a winning gameplan, with both coordinators winning their individual chess matches against their Baltimore counterparts. OC John Morton showed creativity and a keen sense of how to attack the Ravens depleted defense. DC Kelvin Sheppard called about as masterful a game as anyone can against Jackson and the Baltimore offense.
With the win–Detroit’s first ever in Baltimore against the Ravens–the Lions improve to 2-1. Baltimore falls to 1-2 with the loss. The Ravens lone win came against Detroit’s Week 4 opponent, the Cleveland Browns, whom the Lions host in Ford Field on the short week on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions outmuscle and outplay Ravens in big Monday night road win
