Knee-Jerk Reactions: Ravens 10 Broncos 9

The Ravens beat the Denver Broncos 10-9 in Week 13.

Lamar Jackson was injured in the first half and didn’t return.

RSR staff react to the win here.

Derek Arnold

What do you even say after this one? Every bad dream you had last night coming into this one came true, save for the final score at the end. Lamar Jackson suffered what looks to be a potentially serious injury. However, prior to leaving the game, the offense under LJ was as abysmal as it’s been for the last several weeks. Greg Roman, rumored to be in line for the Stanford head coaching gig, was calling terrible plays that resulted in just 17 yards of total offense in the first quarter, and no touchdowns for the first three quarters for the third straight game.

Jackson in? Slow-developing plays leading to sacks (like the one Jackson took that injured him).

Tyler Huntley in? Plays in quickly, ball out quickly, but…running backs completely disappear, and James Proche (!?!?!) is throwing passes into this coverage.

Winning is better than losing. What comes next, however, is anyone’s guess.

Nice to see Snoop finally get a notch in his belt after so many near-misses last year.

Kevin McNelis

The win is the most important thing. We’ve said this about the last few wins because of how ugly they are. That said, the Ravens got bailed out by a few defensive penalties on that last-second drive, and it means that this offensive staff will likely stay the same for at least one more week as we head into a matchup with the Steelers.

Goodie.

The worst parts of this game were the worst parts of what made last season so unbearable. An injury every drive, offensive inefficiency, absolutely boneheaded throws leading to picks, all of it led to a game that the Ravens could easily have dropped. But here the Ravens are, still 8-4 and in first place. No matter how close they are to the clock striking midnight, they live to fight another week.

Ron Toothe

Somehow, some way, the Ravens got it done against the Denver Broncos. Amidst every possible road block being thrown in their direction, and a plethora of questions that need to be answered this upcoming week, today they can breathe a sigh of relief. The same issues that have plagued this offense since the bye were there again today, but when it counted on the final possession, Tyler Huntley put together a drive for the ages. The kid has the clutch gene and that can no longer be denied.

Ronnie Stanley is sorely needed back if the Ravens have any prayer of keeping the quarterback upright going forward, whether that’s Lamar Jackson or Huntley.

Patrick Queen‘s injury didn’t look very promising, which only makes the acquisition of Roquan Smith a few weeks ago even more important down the stretch.

More head scratchers from Greg Roman, notably on a few key third downs and that abomination of a half-back pass from James Proche into quadruple coverage.

Chad Racine

Certainly Huntley played better than Lamar today and brought a little spark to the  offense. However, the offense was unable to score until it mattered the most. I’d rather a strong finish for the win than fall apart at the end.

Do we have a quarterback controversy? No, but this is happening at a very interesting time, a week after Lamar’s reaction to a tweet that made a valid point. If Huntley plays well and Lamar remains out we could have a dilemma in Baltimore moving forward.

Chris Schisler

The Ravens won and the Broncos only scored nine points. That’s the end of the positives. The Ravens had an embarrassing showing on offense. It didn’t help that Lamar Jackson left the game with an injury, but this offense seemed determined to stall no matter who was under center. Give Huntley credit for the game winning drive, though this offense has a dreadful day.

The Ravens only had three third down conversions. They punted seven times, had two turnovers and were held under 300 yards. The Ravens played one of the worst offensive teams in the league, yet looked like the lesser team most of the game.

The injuries to Jackson and Patrick Queen hold a shadow over this game, a game that does nothing for the Ravens’ confidence. The Ravens were expected to win this game, and barely managed to get the job done. They stay on top of the AFC North but this team needs to find answers fast.

Even in victory, they still seem absolutely lost.

Jared Pinder

What to say, what to say. Even though the Ravens did manage to win this excuse of a game, the changes that need to be made are so obvious. They honestly don’t need to be repeated at this point but if you have faith in Roman at this point than you are lost. Please Stanford, hire him.

I do feel bad for this defense right now. They were dominant for the majority of this game.

Obviously we have to wait for the Lamar news to see how the injury is. Harbs said it wasn’t season ending but we just don’t know at this point. It also seems like Queen injury isn’t huge either.

Either way this team needs change regardless of the win. If the Ravens allow this offense with Roman to continue than we need to have a dialogue about Harbs, and it won’t be good.

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