Still feeling a little queasy
After having to deal with MVP Mahomes, defense must now stop Mayfield
Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale had to watch the Kansas City Chiefs roll up over 500 yards of offense Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
When he reviewed film of the 33-28 loss this week, he didn’t feel any better.
“I lost four pounds this week because I watched it three times and threw up all three times,” he joked Thursday.
The Cleveland Browns don’t have quite the same weapons as the Chiefs, but they’re potent enough to make any defensive coordinator feel queasy. Quarterback Baker Mayfield will be looking to bounce back from a slow start Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, and in receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry he has two “Pro Bowl guys,” coach John Harbaugh said Wednesday. Running back Nick Chubb is also a dangerous runner and receiving option.
In their Week 17 meeting last season, the Browns finished with 426 yards of total offense against the NFL’s top-ranked defense and still lost. Martindale knows the Ravens can withstand only so many big blows before the team’s season takes a hit.
“When you’re involved in one of those games, those 1,000-yard offensive-output games, it’s never fun, especially as a defensive coordinator,” Martindale said. “The biggest disappointment we had is we had a chance to get them off the field there at the end, and we didn’t do that.
“We’ve gone back and looked at it, corrected some things that happened and talked about communication in those areas of situational football. We’re moving forward and we’re on to the [Browns].”
Drop kick comeback
With the Ravens trailing the Chiefs 33-28 and the two-minute warning just a second away Sunday, Justin Tucker lined up for a kickoff.
The ball was in his hands; he didn’t want a tee. NFL rules prohibit the ball from being punted on kickoffs, so Tucker had to drop-kick it.
When his first drop was unsatisfactory, he gathered it again, as if he were starting over at the free-throw line. The second time, he tossed the ball so that it landed past the Ravens’ 35-yard line and spun back toward him, widthwise, a bigger target for him to blast into the heavens above.
When the ball finally fell to Mecole Hardman at the Chiefs’ 36, there were four Ravens within 5 yards of the rookie. They couldn’t touch him because he’d smartly called for a fair catch. They could only hope he’d drop it, which he didn’t. Kansas City took over, and a third-down conversion thereafter put the game away for good.
“It’s a play that we’ve been working on for a while out here,” Ravens special teams coach Chris Horton said Thursday. “We figured, ‘OK, when’s going to be the right situation to kind of pull that out?’ And we thought on Sunday it was the perfect opportunity for it. We didn’t execute it the way we wanted. Obviously, that ball sailed on us a little bit further than we wanted it to, but it’s a play I think, moving forward, that this league will see. It’s a great play for us and it gives us an opportunity to recover a ball in that situation.”
Horton acknowledged the clock was a factor in the decision to attempt a drop kick; by forcing a fair catch, the Ravens could earn another timeout through the twominute warning. But mainly, the Ravens were hoping for chaos — and a taller kick.
Under NFLrules, until the ball is touched or hits the ground no player on the kicking or receiving team can block within 15 yards of the kicking team’s restraining line (in this case, the 35). With a higher launch angle, a Chiefs player with shakier hands might have tried to catch the drop kick closer to midfield. And the Ravens, running unimpeded to the ball, would have had a numbers advantage.
“With how that play’s officiated, how the return team can block and when they can block when the ball’s in the air and things like that, it just gives us an opportunity to get a bunch of guys around the ball,” Horton said. “If I’m trying to catch the ball, let’s see what we can do. Hopefully, that ball falls down, we pick it up. It’s our ball.
“Someone’s probably going to signal for a fair catch. Most of the time, it’s going to be the returner. You just rely on a guy that’s really not used to catching the ball like that just dropping that ball and the cover guys surrounding him and maybe picking up the ball.”
It didn’t work Sunday, but Horton indicated there would come a time when the Ravens would try it again.
“We’ve got a talented kicker [and] we’ve got a talented punter,” he said. “These guys can do a lot of different things. So moving forward, we’ll just continue to figure out how we can develop that play and make it better.”
Andrews out again
Tight end Mark Andrews (knee) missed his second straight practice Thursday. Andrews sat out just one practice last week and was not at full strength for the loss to the Chiefs.
His game status for Sunday will be announced Friday.
Inside linebacker Otaro Alaka (hamstring) also missed practice after being limited Wednesday. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey (hip) was limited for the second straight day. Cornerback Jimmy Smith (knee) and safety Brynden Trawick (elbow) remain out.