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Led by a resurgent offense and defense, the Ravens held off the Chicago Bears, 30-16, in a crucial game Sunday.
The win at M&T Bank Stadium ended a four-game losing streak and capped a tumultuous weekend in Baltimore. The Ravens (2-5) were again without star quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was ruled out Saturday because of a hamstring injury, and are now under NFL scrutiny for their handling of his practice designation Friday.
With Tyler Huntley (17-for-22 for 186 yards and a touchdown) stepping in for Cooper Rush under center, the Ravens avoided a franchise-worst 1-6 start and bolstered their playoff hopes. Only one team in modern NFL history has opened a season 1-6 and gone on to make the playoffs.
The Ravens led 16-6 in the fourth quarter but needed an interception by cornerback Nate Wiggins and a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Charlie Kolar two plays later to pull away from Chicago (4-3), which had won four straight games. The Ravens’ 30 points nearly equaled their total over their three previous games, a span in which they were outscored 98-33.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams went 25-for-38 for 285 yards and an interception. The Ravens mostly bottled up a white-hot Bears ground game, holding running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai to 69 rushing yards. Inside linebacker Roquan Smith, making his first start since a Week 4 hamstring injury, had a game-high 11 tackles against his former team.
Running back Derrick Henry had 21 carries for 71 yards and two scores, including a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that gave the Ravens a lead they would not relinquish. Wide receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman combined for nine catches for 114 yards.
The Ravens will hit the road to face the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night, their final game before the NFL’s Nov. 4 trade deadline.
A get-right coaching game
John Harbaugh and Co. were already having a rough season before Saturday. Then Lamar Jackson’s practice participation snafu threw even more gas on the fire for Ravens fans. Whether the hate was deserved or not can be debated. What was inarguable, however, was that the Ravens needed their coaches to deliver every edge they could Sunday.
For the most part, the staff delivered. On offense, coordinator Todd Monken kept Tyler Huntley out of obvious passing situations, helped him pick on favorable matchups in coverage and finally sprinkled in some touches for Keaton Mitchell. On defense, coordinator Zach Orr helped create just enough pressure up front to end a few Bears drives. And on special teams, Harbaugh and coordinator Chris Horton trusted Jordan Stout to drop a laser-guided punt in the fourth quarter, which helped set up Nate Wiggins’ crucial interception.
The Ravens have a long road ahead to a potential playoff appearance. For one week, anyway, the coaches had them pointed in the right direction.
— Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter
Clawing out of the pit
It wasn’t pretty by any means. The eight-minute opening drive by the Bears certainly made it seem like it would be another long day for the defense. There were still lots of plays the defense will want back, ones where targets and lanes were so open all you could do was scratch your head and wonder. But the Ravens also made a stop in the red zone, something that didn’t feel possible three weeks ago. They pressured the quarterback, recording sacks and tackles for loss that have been missing this season. And, in critical situations, the defense came away with a takewaway. It’s a long road to get back to the Ravens standard on defense, but it was a step in the right direction.
— Giana Han, Ravens reporter
Winning without Lamar
It’s true that I picked the Ravens to win this week, but in retrospect it was the completely wrong reason. I assumed Lamar Jackson would come back, and when he was ruled out Saturday, it seemed like a brutal harbinger for Sunday’s game with the season pretty much on the line. But after two weeks of being unable to do anything on offense without Jackson, the Ravens finally showed what winning without their two-time MVP looks like.
Taking the job from the overmatched Cooper Rush, Tyler Huntley took a few big shots but largely colored within the lines and took care of the ball. The Ravens got a bunch of handoffs to Derrick Henry, relied a lot on Zay Flowers and definitely got some good play calls out of the embattled Todd Monken. Some field position help from the defense on what turned out to be the winning score was critical, and you’d like to see Baltimore get better in the red zone. But coming back from the bye, the Ravens finally showed they could play a competent game even without Jackson on the field.
— Kyle Goon, columnist
A return to competency
The Ravens did things Sunday that they had previously proven to be incapable of. Converting on short yardage situations? Getting pressure on the opposing quarterback? Forcing turnovers?? Unheard of. All of the elements of their game that had been missing made appearances in a much-needed win over the Bears. It’s too early to know whether the season is salvageable, but at least this Ravens team somewhat resembled the iterations we saw in 2023 and 2024.
— Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast host
That’s how it’s supposed to work
You have to wonder if some of the awkwardness in the Ravens’ offensive approach — as detailed by sources to Giana Han for a story this week — stemmed from Todd Monken being asked to have an offense that could work for Lamar Jackson and, uh, Cooper Rush. It never felt like a situation that made all that much sense. Seeing Tyler Huntley more ably run an offense that was clearly derivative of what the Ravens like to do with Jackson hammered that point home. Everything about the Ravens felt like it was finally in harmony, for probably the first time since the first three quarters of the season. Every player and coach did what they had to and kept hope alive for another week.
— Chris Korman, editor
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