Baltimore vs. Kansas City
Ravens Defense Dominates in 9-6 Win at Kansas City to Improve to 4-1
The Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl-winning team of 2000 won plenty of games on the strength of their defense.
So far this year, the team appears more well-rounded in its quest for a second Super Bowl, but in Week 5, the defense had a throwback performance in a 9-6 win at Kansas City.
Baltimore (4-1) came into this game at Arrowhead Stadium with the second-ranked offense in the NFL, but the Chiefs defense shut down Joe Flacco and company, keeping them out of the end zone all day.
Not to be outdone, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and the illustrious Ravens defense did the same to Kansas City (1-4) and kept Matt Cassel’s offense to just two field goals in the hard-fought victory.
"This game is as hard as it gets," defensive captain Lewis said after the game. "We knew the kind of game we were going to get out of these guys. We knew it would be a tough sled. For us to come in and just keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting, that's the one thing we talked about. ... Today was a big win for us."
PSL City Is Your Ultimate Resource for Baltimore Football Tickets With NO Fees!
Harbaugh was grateful for the defense that didn’t give an inch while he goes to work on the offense.
“There are a lot of things we’re not pleased with,” Harbaugh said. “We're chasing our A-game every week. We want to have our A stuff. It's like a pitcher, we want to have our best stuff every week. We didn't have our best stuff."
The Chiefs came into the game having given up at least 35 points in three of their four games, so you can never be sure what you’ll get in the NFL on “any given Sunday,” as the phrase goes.
"They're not always pretty around here, but there's one thing we do around here, we do what we have to do to win the football game," quarterback Joe Flacco said. "I've been saying that for a long time, whether that's throwing for 400 yards or having a (bad) day and throwing for 100 yards.”
Even though they didn’t get into the end zone, the Ravens’ offense came through at the end of the game. After the Chiefs cut the deficit to 9-6, Baltimore took over with 4:30 remaining and successfully ran the clock out. Harbaugh was impressed with the offense making a statement to end the game instead of having the defense on the field to close the game out, which has happened a couple of times already this season.
"There have been plenty of times in the past when we did not convert and needed to convert in a four-minute situation and we had to punt and put the defense back out there," Harbaugh said. "We were able to do that this week and win the game."
Flacco was 13-for-27 for 187 yards and an interception, ending a streak of four solid games to start the 2012 season. His previous low was 232 passing yards in the 24-23 loss at Philadelphia in Week 2.
Ray Rice paced the offense with 102 rushing yards on 17 carries, and Anquan Boldin led the team in catches (four) and receiving yards (82).
The defense did not sack Cassel, but Lewis and Bernard Pollard each had 10 tackles. Lardarius Webb and Cary Williams each picked off a Cassel pass, and Reed and Courtney Upshaw recovered one fumble apiece.
Jamaal Charles ran for 140 yards on 31 carries on the Ravens defense, but they held Cassel to under 100 yards in the passing game. He was 9-of-15 for 94 yards and the two interceptions.
"The ones that count the most are never the prettiest," linebacker Ray Lewis said. "The ones that count the most are the ones that you have to fight through. Anybody on each side of the ball will tell you that they'll take a `W' before anything."
Baltimore has now won four straight against Kansas City, dating back to December 2006. That includes a 30-7 victory over the Chiefs here at Arrowhead Stadium in last year’s Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Ravens have now given up 13 points in two games against Chiefs this calendar year.
GAME RECAP
The Ravens never trailed in the game, opening the scoring with a Justin Tucker field goal in the first quarter to make it 3-0. After Ryan Succop kicked a field goal late in the second quarter, the halftime score was 3-3. Tucker booted two field goals in the third to get the Ravens to a 9-3 advantage, and Succop responded with one of his own to make it 9-6 with 4:34 remaining.
Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel elected to kickoff, and they never saw the ball again. The key play in the drive was Flacco scrambling for a 16-yard gain on third and 15 with three minutes left to play. Ray Rice then barreled forward for a one-yard gain on third and 1 after the two-minute warning. The play was upheld by a replay review, allowing Flacco to take a knee on two plays and end the game.
UP NEXT
Baltimore returns to M&T Bank Stadium next Sunday to host the Dallas Cowboys. It will be the first home game this year to be held away from prime-time. Dallas had an early bye week after a 34-18 loss at home to Chicago this past Monday night. They come into the Week 6 matchup with the Ravens at 2-2 on the season.