Ravens Force Five Interceptions, Secure 33-19 Win

Ravens Force Five Interceptions, Secure 33-19 Win

Ravensand#039; the defense took the game to San Francisco and took the football away. Five interceptions later, Baltimore left California with a convincing 33-19 victory over the 49ers that may have surprised many, but it did not surprise the Ravens.

They trusted defensive coordinator Mike Macdonaldand#039’s game plan against the 49ers and quarterback Brock Purdy, who had four interceptions before safety Marcus Williams picked off quarterback Sam Darnold to secure the win. The Ravens continued to make plays as Kyle Hamilton had two interceptions, while Williams, Marlon Humphrey and Patrick Queen each had one.

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s physicality and playfulness made life miserable for the 49ersand#039; offense that entered the game tied for second in the NFL in offense and scoring. andquot;Our defense just played a great game against one of the best offenses out there,andquot; head coach John Harbaugh said.

 

andquot;Five turnovers; five interceptions; pressure on the quarterback almost all day and plastering. I thought our guys worked hard all day.andquot; The Queen knew Ravensand#039; the defense also set the tone with its physicality, forcing the 49ers into mistakes. andquot;We play football that people don’t want to play,andquot; said the queen. andquot;Everybody here wants to be pretty and play basketball on the lawn and stuff like that, and we don’t like all that. andquot;You can do anything; weand#039;ll honestly punch you in the mouth every play. We couldn’t care less about all your cute and crafty things.

You still have to line up and play football. You still have to be touched, so and#039; it’s our way of thinking. That’s how we want to go out and punch people in the mouth.andquot; Baltimore’s four sacks and nine quarterbacks kept Purdy under pressure, and when he left the game with a concussion in the fourth quarter, Darnold received the same treatment.

This has been Baltimore’s defensive partnership all season. They have multiple effective pass rushers, two excellent inside linebackers in Roquan Smith and Queen, and versatile backs like Hamilton and Humphrey to help them cover coverages in a variety of ways. Ravensand#039; the swarming defense never let up, and while the 49ers made big plays, they just made too many mistakes. andquot;Defensively, it was all three levels,andquot; Harbaugh said. andquot;We had pressure.

We had the run game under control and that helped us a lot. But we were under pressure. andquot;I think our coverage was just great and we made a long run, so we made them hold the ball, we forced them into bad throws and we had the ball. We turn the balls over; we had balls in the air and guys caught them and that helps too. It was just a total team effort on defense to pick up those interceptions.andquot;

The defense entered the game in the right mood as well, as many expected the 49ers to bring fireworks with playmakers including tight end George Kittle, quarterback Christian McCaffery and wide receivers Brandon Aiyuki and Deebo Samuel.

While San Francisco has multiple weapons, Baltimore may have the NFL’s most versatile defense that can adjust from game to game or series to series. What did wide receiver Jadeveon Clowney think of the Ravens as underdogs? andquot;I thought it was funny,andquot; Clowney said. andquot;We were underdogs who knew what we were going through, 11-3. I think it put a chip on our shoulders. We came here to do our job and play hard and physical and play together and we did that today.andquot;