The biggest surprise of this year’s playoffs is perfect: The Tennessee Titans beat the clearly favored Ravens in Baltimore, the fabulous season for Lamar Jackson and Co. ends with an unexpected low blow. The Ravens couldn’t stop Derrick Henry either – but Baltimore’s offense in particular was a bitter disappointment.
The Titans could hardly have imagined a better start in their wildest dreams: after a quick punt, Lamar Jackson and the offense came onto the field – and when Andrews was unable to control a pass shortly thereafter, Byard snapped at the interception. A little later, Tannehill (7/14, 88 YDS, 2 TD; 5 ATT, 14 YDS, TD) found Jonnu Smith in the end zone, who recorded the game’s first touchdown catch just spectacularly on the line.
And it got even better: In return, the Ravens failed on a short fourth down and immediately with the next play Tannehill fired the deep play action pass – a 45-yard touchdown on Raymond who had run a fantastic route. With the Ravens, the individual errors, especially drops, but also some inaccuracies in the passing game and errors in the Run Game by Jackson (31/59, 365 YDS, TD, 2 INT; 20 ATT; 143 YDS) themselves shaped the picture.
Still, Baltimore gradually got better into the game. The offense found a bit of a rhythm, although drops continued to be an issue here. But the Ravens Defense also became more stable and found a better mix in its aggressiveness, so that Tennessee could not move on.
And then the problem against these Ravens became clear: Baltimore is offensively too explosive to be offensive yourself. The last drive before the half-time break was marked by absolutely spectacular Jackson passes on critical downs, including an incredible one-handed catch by Marquise Brown. So after another field goal, there was only an 8-point lead for Tennessee.
Ravens mistakes remain – Titans shock Baltimore
So everything was apparently prepared so that Baltimore could lead the game in the expected paths in the second half. Jackson promptly had a 30-yard scramble on the first drive and the Ravens marched – but again they played 4th & 1, and again it didn’t work! Most importantly, Tennessee struck back immediately, this time in the form of a 66-yard run by Derrick Henry, followed by a trick play in which Henry threw a touchdown pass on Corey Davis.
This continued Baltimore’s astonishing implosion. Immediately afterwards, Jackson fumbled in his pocket trying to put a pass late in the down and Tennessee punished the turnover with a tannehill touchdown run in an option play a little later. Drops, lack of concentration and simple mistakes remained an issue at Baltimore, while Tennessee brutally punished every mistake.
And the mistakes kept coming. Jackson, already well behind, had his next turnover with a clear miss when he never took his eyes off his receiver on an out route and snapped Kenny Vaccaro shut. That was already game over.
Jackson showed some more spectacular plays including a touchdown drive, but the Titans defended their lead without it getting tight again. Tennessee is in the AFC Championship Game and is traveling to Houston or Kansas City.
No. 1 Baltimore Ravens – No. 6 Tennessee Titans
Result: 12:28 (0: 7, 6: 7, 0:14, 6: 0) BOXSCORE
Ravens vs. Titans – the most important statistics
- With this half-time bet you could have made a lot of money in advance: After two quarters Jackson had more passing yards (155 net yards) than both teams combined Rushing yards (129).
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Baltimore got nothing in the run game except Jackson. Mark Ingram (6 ATT, 22 YDS) and Gus Edwards (3 ATT, 20 YDS) were more accessories. Derrick Henry on the other hand (30 ATT, 195 YDS) scratched the 200 mark again.
- Tannehill has now won two consecutive playoff games in which he has thrown more than ten passes each and has stayed under 100 yards. The last quarterback to do this feat? Terry Bradshaw in the 1974 AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl.
- The 4th & 1 at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, at which Tennessee stopped the Ravens, was the first time Baltimore failed to score a 4th & 1 in a new first down this season – and a second failed attempt followed in the third quarter. In the regular season, Baltimore had successfully played eight out of eight in these situations.
- Ryan Tannehill had only one passing yard less (71) in Tennessee’s first three drives than in the entire game against the Patriots in the previous week (72).
- With an officially listed weight of 247 pounds, Derrick Henry is the heaviest player tossed a touchdown pass in the postseason since Daunte Culpepper in 2005. He is also the first running back with a playoff touchdown pass since Allen Rice in 1987.
The star of the game: Derrick Henry (RB, Titans)
Derrick Henry has earned a lot of money over the past few weeks for his upcoming contract negotiations. He is the first player ever to have over 180 rushing yards in three consecutive games; no player has had more rushing yards than Henry in his first four playoff games. He was the offensive pillar in New England – and now also in Baltimore: His 66-yard run on the one hand, but there were again many 5-, 6-, 7-yard runs to keep the offense constantly down the field to move. His physique combined with his agility are really rare, and it was impressive that Tennessee’s line dominated Baltimore’s defense. Henry could then create additional yards on the second level. The trick-play TD pass came as a candy on top.
The flop of the game: Baltimore’s offensive weapons
No question about it: Jackson made some serious mistakes that directly contributed to the defeat; especially in the course of the second half it became clear that he wanted too much. But he wasn’t the game’s flop, and not just because he played over 300 passing and over 140 rushing yards – Jackson’s weapons were a huge problem. Baltimore had an absurd number of drops, without which the game could have been completely different. There was no regular separation, even though Jackson stretched the plays, and the running backs couldn’t do anything themselves. Baltimore has to invest in its Wide Receiver Corps in the offseason.
Analysis: Ravens vs. Titans – the Tactical Table
- Baltimore showed its defensive aggressiveness from the start. The second play of the game was a play action pass for Tannehill – which he just took away against the flash from Earl Thomas, who hadn’t reacted to the run fake at all. This was generally noticeable: Baltimore read the play-action fakes of the Titans brilliantly and played primarily the pass, not the run. Especially the second-level defenders and specifically the Safeties played extremely aggressively here.
- Tennessee, however, had a clearly defensive plan defensively. The Titans were also extremely aggressive at times, but mixed their play calls very well. Early in the game, Tennessee had acted with delayed rushers, specifically assigned defenders, wait-and-see edge defenders and other small means to give Jackson as many tasks as possible in his reads. And that worked, Jackson made several wrong decisions at these moments.
- The Titans also had an excellent offensive plan, also with a good mix, more or less from the start. Tennessee combined its runs with early-down play action, play action screens, misdirection, and the like. Even if the Titans were once again extremely run-heavy. Defensive turnover and two critical fourth-down stops also paved the way.
- Tennessee’s Secondary was excellent. Jackson often had enough time in his pocket and made additional seconds. But it was not uncommon for the Titans Secondary to cover four, five, six seconds in close coverage.
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