Let's move on to the Sunday night game and uh this was a thriller, and it was funny because I had a text group uh that I was talking to some of the people during the game and I had this like budding conspiracy theory that uh the NFL doesn't allow ties in these moments and we've seen like weird situations where all of a sudden, like, a game will just get whacked or railroaded by a really weird call and you're like, oh, someone wanted to get to uh Matt Locke.
Or, uh, Law and Order SVU, uh, pretty quickly, but the Ravens escape, uh, and I put escape in air quotes, uh, 30 to 23 over the Atlanta Falcons.
Atlanta was red hot again to start this game.
Uh, Falcons are a good team, man.
Like, I, I think we got a good team, we had, we had a race the first two weeks from our memory banks.
Like Atlanta is a good team.
Atlanta's a good team.
Um, Michael Pennox threw for 240 yards in this one.
Uh, uh, passer rating of 93.
Drake London was a beast and has been a beast, in effectively almost all of Michael Pennox's starts.
And while Bijon didn't have, I mean, 86 yards is still great.
I mean, a lot of teams, the Eagles, yeah, I mean , I think a lot of people would take Bjon Robinson's down game, which was, I'm looking at it right now 86 rushing yards, 118 yards from scrimmage on 21 touches, right?
And you know, but the more that Pennix is in the game.
The fewer heavy boxes the Falcons are gonna see, and Pennox is doing a great job of stretching the field, and I think that there's no better example than this.
So, Tua Tungavaoa had to come in at the end of this game because Pennox took a shot, and so Tua is piloting this team in overtime to try to lead them down the field to score a, um, a, a game-tying touchdown.
And Chris Collinsworth pointed this out that the, the Falcons ran essentially the same play that they ran earlier in the game.
And what Pennox was able to do was kind of look off Kyle Hamilton in a situation and throw the ball in a different direction.
Kyle Hamilton, when the play was run again, was looking at Tua and he's saying, I know you're not throwing it to anybody but Drake May, or, uh, I'm, I'm sorry, Drake.
Um, and so he's like, I'm just gonna park myself right here, and I know this is where you're throwing the ball, because I know you're not as good as Michael Pettit, and that's exactly what happened.
It's, it's unfortunate because Pennix is playing so well, um, and I, I thought he was even a little bit more confident using his legs in this game, and he just looked a little bit freer in general, um, yeah, I think, but it's the durability thing like it just, it, it sucks, you know and it bites you, and I think Tommy Reese has done a really nice job of building the offense, great job, you know, and like I just.
And you're right, like the way he's spreading the ball around, the way, like, it just feels like all five guys are eligible and, and what they would tell you, what his coaches would tell you is like his superpower.
I remember Jeff Ulbricht saying this, like, and uh Ulbricht made this comment to last year's staff, right?
Like, so, when Raheem and Zach Robinson was the OC when those guys were all still there, like, he said, like, I can't believe this kid's vision, you know, I can't believe he's seeing the things that he's seeing.
And so I think like what you're seeing now is a guy who can have all 5 guys alive on every play.
And that's like, that can, that can really do a number on a defense and what they're able to do to you when they know that they have to cover every inch of grass in the field, and that he's already there in year 3 is great, you know, like, so, um, And it just sucks that like I mean like what did they say after the game now I missed that.
I, I looked like ribs maybe or something like that.
Was that what it was?
Yeah, he took a shot to the ribs, yeah, but did they say like I don't, I don't know.
I don't know if there's any official on that yet, but, um, but yeah, I mean it's, it's hopefully not serious, um, because obviously this has been a huge problem for him going back to college and the ACE's had 3 ACL tears and this is always the question with him, and I think.
You know, part of it is like, he's not an athletic.
But he's not the greatest mover in the pocket, if that makes sense, you know, like he, he's straight line fast, but he's kind of clunky back there, like he kind of plays.
In a little bit of like a 7 on 7 way, where he's not all that elusive inside like the tight confines of the pocket, which I think is why he takes so many of these hits.
Yeah, no, I agree.
I mean, you can see that there's, there's definitely a clunkiness to it.
Um, on the flip side for Baltimore, you know, I don't know what you, what you want to assign blame to David Blau in Washington.
I don't know.
Again, I think I've arrived at the fact that this is a Jaden issue, but, you know, we have the Davis Webb thing where he was already changed out as a play caller and we'll get to that.
But Declan Doyle is another one of these young guys.
He's probably not gonna be there for very long, and, you know, but this is a game where you're watching all the other young play callers kind of go through their growing pains.
He goes out and beats a red-hot Falcons team with an ace.
His call uh for a two-point conversion at the end of that game that with the backup that was dude dude, dude, the fake jet to the fake jet to Dave Flowers like yeah hell and having and, and you know what, like here's the other thing, the ball handling on that's not easy and having Derek and they almost messed it up too, right?
and Derrick Henry being like capable of doing the ball handle and yeah, you saw he bobbled it a little bit, but the ball handling on that play is not easy for uh somebody who doesn't play quarterback.
And so, like just being ready with that call in that situation.
And Henry coming downhill with the defense getting stretched horizontally because Zay Flowers is coming across.
It's like a relatively simple idea that was executed so well.
And now, all of a sudden, you got like this 250 pound force of nature running in space, and all he needs is 2 yards and it was over.
It was, it was an awesome call.
And it's great like to, like, It's not just having that call because it's not like that's the most novel thing in the world, but it's like holding on to it for that situation too, you know what I mean?
Like, like being like knowing like, and that's a feel thing that's a really good sign for a first-time play caller, you know, because I'm sure there are other situations when he's been tempted to pull that out, you know.
Well, it's funny too because everyone's like Derrick Henry can't run in short yardage.
Derrick Henry can't run in short yardage.
Yes, a bigger.
And I'm putting slow in air quotes here, a bigger, less.
You know, he's not, um, he's not as quick to the hole which allows for penetration to, yeah, you said it, uh, uh, that's what she said, um, but the, um, you know, him.
The way that his body's constructed, it's not just like, turn and hand it off to him at the goal line, it doesn't make sense.
You get him the ball in a gun run in space, like, at the goal line, forget about it.
Like that, you're not stopping, you know, and so I think that was, was, was a great thing to just sort of break up that idiotic uh uh uh storyline.
The, the Ravens, They, they are surviving these games.
They're winning these games, and it's so weird, Albert, because John Harbaugh goes to the Giants with a track record of losing these games and changes their fortune.
And then the Ravens under Jesse Minner changed the Harbaugh.
Fortune and start winning these games down the stretch.
It's wild.
They're a real Super Bowl contender.
Like they, they, Lamar is playing so well and it's a shame he's hurt, and I think their ability to win a game like this without him is great, you know what I mean?
Like, awesome, awesome, awesome, um, you know, Kyle Hamilton making the play that he did, the defense playing the way, um, that it was able to play at the end of that game, not perfect through the game, but at the end of that game, um, and I think like, you know.
This is like one of the reasons why John Harbaugh got fired because they thought so highly of that roster, you know, um, last year.
And I remember like last year it was, we haven't had, this is one of the best rosters we've had in the last 25 years.
And that like level of expectation is fair or not, I think it's part of what got John last year.
And now I think you're seeing it, right?
Like, I, you know, I, I'm just, you know, looking at, at the like, Malachi Starks is, is starting to come, come into his own.
Kyle Hamilton, Roquan Smith, it's like just hitting on all of these, Nate Wiggins is becoming a really good player at corner.
We know what Zay Flowers is.
It's just, you know, Vega Ione is becoming like an important offensive lineman for them.
They'll have Cam Jergens coming back.
It's, it's just like hitting on all of these picks over the years.
It's a really good team.
And I think like, sometimes the change in voice can help.
Um, regardless of how much somebody's accomplished, and I think Jesse's done a really nice job of coming in there and giving them a fresh perspective while still maintaining the bones of the Harbaugh program, which were good.
Snoop Huntley, by the way, threw some darts in this one.
a nice what an ideal backup too for Lamar, you know what I mean?
Like I know, and I was down on it, to be honest with you.
I thought they could have upgraded a little bit better, and their relationship is so, I mean, you saw it, they were communicating constantly on the sideline, but like he threw some great balls.
Uh, on Sunday, and you can see like Lamar was like genuinely, genuinely excited for him, you know what I mean, like there was no, I mean, I was, it was cool watching that, but I think like Huntley allows for you, you don't need to change much when you put Hunt Tyler Huntley in there, you know, so shout out to Snoop.