Ravens vs. 49ers: MVP, Winners & Losers

The heavyweight bout was everything we all expected. The pouring rain, the vicious battle between the top offenses and defenses in the league. The flags, the scores, the controversy. It all ends in a glorious win for the Baltimore Ravens as they defeat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17.

Co-MVP: QB Lamar Jackson

He knew going in this wasn’t going to be another LA Rams affair. This defense is for real and they will pressure you and cover the pass-catchers. They did so all day and forced him to run. Good thing he’s good at that, too, as he sets the new NFL record for most 100-yard games by a quarterback in a single season (4).

Co-MVP K Justin Tucker

At the beginning of the year, Tucker was the best kicker in the NFL while Gould placed second. Now, Gould has fallen from the rankings, as he’s missed four attempts from 50+ yards. Tucker, meanwhile, has stayed at the top and proved he’s king by completing a 49-yard kick to win the game and propel the Ravens to 10-2.

Winners:

Offensive Line — The star defensive line only finished with one sack on Jackson and helped push forward for a total of 178 rushing yards.

Patrick Mekari — Special shoutout here. His first start after the season-ending injury to Matt Skura and he plays an excellent 60 minutes.

TE Hayden Hurst — Three catches and all of them were critical. Good to see him getting worked in later in games.

TE Mark Andrews — He battled hard and scored the lone passing touchdown today. He now has tied the Ravens franchise record for most receiving touchdowns by a tight end.

CB Marlon Humphrey — A solid blocked field goal helped land him in the winners column as he and the entire defense struggled. They did respond when it mattered most, though.

P Sam Koch — Held the game-winning field goal for Tucker and booted a perfect punt, which landed at the one-yard line. Both of his punts were inside the 20.

LS Morgan Cox — Great snaps to help score six points for the Ravens kicking unit and also allowed Koch to hit two great punts. We love our special teams.

WR/ST Chris Moore — That punt doesn’t end up on the one-yard line if not for Moore. Good job helping the team by any means necessary.

SS Chuck Clark — A great forced fumble which ended up being the only takeaway produced today by the Ravens.

Losers*

*These players had a bad game. This shouldn’t be taken too literally. This is a critique article of the game today.

Run defense — After a dominant first quarter in which the 49ers couldn’t find a lane, they pin-pointed a glaring weakness thereafter. Raheem Mostert finished with 146 yards on only 19 carries. Coach Wink will have some words this week.

CB Marcus Peters — A bad game by the cornerback. He let up the fourth-down touchdown and just couldn’t get to his spots in time. The weather was the biggest factor and I have all the confidence he makes these plays when they aren’t hydroplaning on the field.

WR Marquise Brown — He didn’t have a bad game; I just had high expectations for him. That’s probably unfair of me but in a big game I expected he would have more of an impact. Tough defense by the 49ers eliminated almost everything.