Baltimore Ravens’ 55-20 win vs Oakland Raiders silence John Harbaugh, critics – NFL Recap
The Baltimore Ravens finally gave a befitting answer to their coach John Harbaugh and some critics, who believed the team had been playing far below their potential, when they thrashed mistake-prone visitors the Oakland Raiders in front of capacity filled
home ground to record an easy victory with final score at 55-20 on Sunday (Nov. 11).
It was again impressive quarterback Joe Flacco’s show-off who threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Ravens ride on the momentum to a comprehensive win at the end. Flacco’s performance was helped by wide receiver Jacoby Jones who completed
105 yards.
Flacco said:
"Obviously, we had success. We ran the game plan and it worked well. We stuck with it. We scored points early and continued to score them."
The Ravens’ cause was also helped by the Raiders’ repeated and some of avoidable mistakes, although the hosts outclassed the visitors in all departments. Still it is not a question of a win or loss but the points’ difference is huge. Courtesy of their 55
points, the Ravens have set a new record of the franchise.
Raiders found it difficult to pull themselves up together and display a teamwork. It led to committing repeated mistakes and helped the opponents to an easy win.
Raiders' coach Dennis Allen said:
"We had too many mental errors on defence, gave up too many big plays, we turned the ball over too many times and we didn't execute on special teams. When you do those things, it generally results in something like that."
With the win, the Ravens have consolidated their lead in the American Football Conference (AFC) North division, ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Steelers win their game on Monday (Nov. 12) they will still be a game behind the Ravens.
The victory is more important given Harbaugh last week urged the team to do better and his apparent concern was based on the team’s last five wins that were short-margin victories.
Their obvious concern was the defence, which has traditionally been hallmark of the Ravens’ performances. It was let compromised to an extent this year. The team has let players like Ray Rice leave the headquarters unceremoniously and it made them suffer
on the defensive line.
Yet Joe Flacco’s return to prime form under supervision of quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell has compensated the lacking strength of the team on the defence. This has also helped Flacco settle his score. He had been complaining of the team’s ignorance in credit
giving during past season. He has led the team from the front this season and has been hailed as hero of their majority of performances.
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