What We Saw: Colts at Ravens

A primetime game delivers drama and excitement once again

Corey Saucier
What We Saw 3 Years Ago

Colts @ Ravens

Final Score: Ravens 31, Colts 25 (OT)

Writer: Corey Saucier (@Deputy_Commish on Twitter, /u/Lights_Kamara_Action on Reddit)

 

Monday night gave us an absolutely crazy football game between Baltimore and Indianapolis, with QB Lamar Jackson leading the Ravens back from a 16-point deficit in the 4th quarter to ultimately prevail over the Colts in overtime. Monday night also gave us some crazy news regarding the resignation of Raiders’ head coach Jon Gruden due to the fallout concerning the recent revelation of his usage of insensitive language regarding minorities, women, and LGBTQ persons within multiple emails over the last several years. That is a story for another time, however, and this football game is absolutely the story for now.

The first half was mostly a yawn other than this sensational 76-yard TD reception from Colts’ RB Jonathan Taylor:

 

 

The rest of the first half gave us a handful of punts and a couple of field goals, but the second half was truly insane. Indianapolis wasted no time scoring a TD in just two plays on their opening possession of the second half. Lamar Jackson finally got the Ravens’ offense clicking in response and drove the ball 90 yards, but then he fumbled on 1st and goal from the one. Indianapolis returned the fumble 99 yards for a TD, but on review, an illegal forward pass was assessed and took the score off of the board. After that following drive resulted in another TD from Jonathan Taylor, Baltimore found themselves down 22-3. From that point on, Lamar Jackson and TE Mark Andrews took over the game – both finishing with career nights. Jackson’s 442 passing yards were the most ever in a game for a Ravens’ QB, and Andrews’ 11 catches and 147 yards were both career-highs. Andrews also had two TD grabs and two 2-point conversions to tie the game late in the 4th quarter and send the game into overtime. Baltimore won the coin toss in OT and took the ball down and scored without much resistance from Indy’s gassed defense. Ultimately it was Ravens’ WR Marquise Brown who sealed the game for Baltimore:

 

 

What did all of this action mean for your fantasy team? Did you pull off your Monday night miracle? Let’s dive into what we saw:

 

Indianapolis Colts

 

Quarterbacks

 

Carson Wentz: 25/35, 402 yards, 2 TD | 2 carries, 5 yards

 

Colts’ QB Carson Wentz had a solid fantasy night on Monday against the Ravens – thanks in large part to RB Jonathan Taylor‘s effort taking a short screen pass all the way to the house. Even without those 76 passing yards, Wentz’s passing yardage total would have still been a season-high, and it’s clear that Indy’s offense has improved since the beginning of the season. Wentz spread the ball around to multiple receivers but slightly favored WR Michael Pittman, Jr. on Monday night – finding him in the end-zone early in the second half. Wentz hasn’t quite shown that he’s worthy of being a starting fantasy QB to this point, but his upside could begin to provide some intrigue as the bye weeks start to roll in.

 

Running Backs

 

Jonathan Taylor: 15 carries, 53 yards, TD | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 116 yards, TD

Marlon Mack: 5 carries, 47 yards | 2 targets, 1 reception, 7 yards

Nyheim Hines: 4 carries, 18 yards | 1 target

 

RB Jonathan Taylor absolutely had a day against the Ravens’ defense on Monday night – finishing with 169 total yards and 2 TDs on just 18 total touches. Other than the huge play on the screen pass seen above, Taylor also found his way into the end-zone on this 5-yard pitch to put Indy up by 19:

 

 

Taylor’s huge night wasn’t enough to get the Colts the win in the end, but it was probably enough to get your fantasy team a win if you needed him to. RB Marlon Mack looked sharp in his limited usage as he and Indianapolis continue to seek a trade partner for his services, but RB Nyheim Hines‘ production suffered as a result. As long as Mack is in Indianapolis, Hines’ usage could remain frustrating and difficult to predict – but Taylor has clearly retaken the reins of this backfield after another slow start to the season.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Michael Pittman, Jr: 7 targets, 6 receptions, 89 yards, TD

Parris Campbell: 6 targets, 4 reception, 56 yards

Zach Pascal: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 48 yards

Mo Alie-Cox: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 50 yards

 

While RB Jonathan Taylor led the Colts in receiving yards on Monday night, it was WR Michael Pittman, Jr. who paced the WR group in targets, catches, and receiving yardage. Pittman would have had a fairly pedestrian night if it weren’t for this impressive TD grab while being held where, let’s face it, Ravens’ CB Anthony Averett definitely got Mossed:

 

 

Colts’ WR TY Hilton was kind enough to point this out to Randy Moss just afterwards:

 

 

Otherwise, WRs Zach Pascal and Parris Campbell both added a handful of catches, as did TE Mo Alie-Cox – yet none of them provided much fantasy impact.

 

Baltimore Ravens

 

Quarterback

 

Lamar Jackson: 37/43, 442 yards, 4 TD | 14 carries, 62 yards, Fumble (Lost)

 

It was a tale of two halves for Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson on Monday night. In the first half, Jackson was quiet and the Ravens’ offense was abysmal. Baltimore’s three points in the first half were the fewest scored to this point in Jackson’s career. Jackson had a shot to hit WR Marquise Brown for a TD late in the first half, but the throw was slightly off, and Baltimore had to settle for a field goal instead. After Jackson’s fumble on the Ravens’ first third-quarter possession led to another Colts’ TD, Jackson knew he would have to respond in a big way. He did just that – finally connecting on a big play with Brown on this pretty 43-yard TD to give Baltimore a little momentum:

 

 

Jackson wasn’t able to break any huge plays or score on the ground, but he ran enough to comfortably lead the Ravens in rushing and keep the Colts’ defense honest. All in all, it was a monster fantasy output for Jackson who faces a tough challenge against the Chargers next week.

 

Running Backs

 

Latavius Murray: 6 carries, 17 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 13 yards

Ty’Son Williams: 4 carries, 6 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards

Devonta Freeman: 1 carry, 1 yard | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 34 yards

 

I am honestly sort of speechless when it comes to describing the performance of Baltimore’s backfield. They continue to find ways every week to leave me with more questions than answers. RB Le’Veon Bell appeared to have overtaken RB Ty’Son Williams on the Ravens’ depth chart leading to Williams’ demotion to the practice squad. This week, it appears the tides turned yet again and it was Bell who was inactive and Williams who was back on the active roster. Ultimately, neither Williams nor Ravens’ RB Latavius Murray were able to get anything going on the ground against Indy’s defense. And while they both added a couple of catches, it was actually RB Devonta Freeman who paced the RB group through the air and made the most plays near the end of the game to help Baltimore pull out the victory. Good luck deciding who to start between these guys moving forward.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Mark Andrews: 13 targets, 11 receptions, 147 yards, 2 TD

Marquise Brown: 10 targets, 9 receptions, 125 yards, 2 TD

Devin Duvernay: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 45 yards

Sammy Watkins: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 35 yards

 

As mentioned in the opener, it was an absolute monster night for Ravens’ TE Mark Andrews. Andrews’ back-to-back TD grabs and 2-point conversions in the 4th quarter brought Baltimore back from a 16-point deficit to win in overtime on Monday night. While both of his TD grabs were from short-yardage plays, Andrews sliced up the Colts’ defense throughout the night. In fact, Andrews was the only offensive player for Baltimore to do any fantasy damage in the first half. About those TDs though:

 

 

 

WR Marquise Brown added a huge night of his own, with both of his TDs that we’ve already seen and whose nine catches were a career-high. Brown’s breakout season continued as he showed both the ability to beat a 1-on-1 down the sideline to score, and also the ability to work and find space underneath.

 

Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)

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