ReFocused, NFL Preseason Week 2: Baltimore Ravens 20, Indianapolis Colts 19
The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night, 20-19 ending the second full week of preseason action in the NFL.
PFF’s ReFocused series this season features immediate takeaways and a key to the victory from two Senior Analysts who graded the performance, watching every player, on every play of the game. For more data and analysis from the game, utilize our Premium Stats 2.0 dashboard to expand your knowledge on the key players, signature stats and much more.
FINAL SCORE
Baltimore Ravens 20, Indianapolis Colts 19
Analyst Takeaways
QB Joe Flacco looked sharp in his quarter-plus of action, seeing only two of his nine attempts hit the turf. He finished the night strong with a pair of excellent throws on his final drive, first finding Michael Crabtree in the Cover-2 hole down the left sideline and capping the drive with a tight-window throw to John Brown in the back of the end zone for a score.
Lamar Jackson‘s night was less clean, as the rookie struggled with accuracy when he looked beyond the short areas of the field. It wasn’t all lows, however as his best throw of the night came on a touchdown to open the third quarter, where Jackson put the ball away from tight coverage while on the move.
Edge defender Za’Darius Smith was a problem for the Colts’ pass protection throughout the first half. He constantly found different ways to attack as he forced multiple pressures against different linemen. The Ravens were stout against the run for most of the evening as Colts’ running backs struggled to gain momentum as Baltimore’s front-seven constantly found ways to clog the rushing lanes.
Colts rookie left guard Quenton Nelson struggled to get much of a push against the Ravens’ interior defensive line, in particular, Brandon Williams gave Nelson the most trouble on running plays.
Colts QB Jacoby Brissett had a positive night making some quality throws. A handful of his incompletions were the result of excellent plays by the defensive backs however, his final drive was a mixed bag. After completing two lengthy passes, including one to Steve Ishmael on a go route against tight coverage, Brissett threw one pass behind his receiver on a hitch and then underthrew a pass across his body while scrambling to end his evening.
Hassan Ridgeway was the standout for the Colts defense, notching a pair of sacks while also proving difficult to handle in the run game. In the secondary, CB Quincy Wilson didn’t yield a reception into his coverage and made a nice play on the ball late in the third quarter to get a third-down stop and force a punt.
KEY TO THE GAME
Baltimore: In a bit of an ugly game, Baltimore got enough quality throws from all three quarterbacks to get the job done.
Indianapolis: While the Colts’ quarterbacks were able to find some success in the air, the Ravens’ secondary refued to make it easy. The unit forced a handful of pass defenses and created several tight windows to throw into throughout the game.
