BALTIMORE — As Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh discussed his team’s 17-9 victory over the Atlanta Falcons late Saturday afternoon, a television in the back of the news conference room was showing the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New England Patriots.
When the Bengals finally sealed their victory, Harbaugh’s Ravens were assured of a postseason spot.
“Are we?” Harbaugh asked before receiving confirmation. “Oh, OK. It feels great. Yeah, great. Good. Congratulations to our guys. To clinch the playoffs with two games left (in the regular season) is pretty remarkable. It’s not something that’s done too often.”
Tyler Huntley threw a first-half touchdown pass, and Baltimore’s defense kept the Falcons out of the end zone as the Ravens (10-5) won for the second time in three games without injured starting quarterback Lamar Jackson (knee).
Baltimore won’t have to worry about a repeat of last season, when Jackson was injured and the Ravens ended up dropping their final six games to miss the postseason. The Bengals’ victory, however, came with one drawback: It kept Cincinnati a game ahead of Baltimore atop the AFC North Division standings.
Atlanta (5-10), which entered just a game behind the first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South, was eliminated from playoff contention — a fate that seemed inevitable when the team nosedived after a 3-3 start. The Falcons have dropped eight games by eight or fewer points, but that hasn’t made their current four-game skid any easier to take.
“Ultimately, it’s about winning,” second-year Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “You can look at the progress that’s being made. But we’ve got to find ways to play with a lead. We’ve got to find a way to get over that hump.”
Gus Edwards ground out 99 rushing yards and J.K. Dobbins added 59 for Baltimore. Huntley’s 6-yard pass to Demarcus Robinson in the second quarter was the first touchdown catch by a Ravens wide receiver since the third week of the season
Huntley ran for a 2-point conversion that put the Ravens up 14-0, and that was a good sign for a Baltimore defense has allowed more than 14 points in a game just once since the start of November. On Saturday, the Ravens held the Falcons without a touchdown on four red-zone trips.
“It was good Ravens football,” Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews said. “Shoutout to the defense, who had a great game. Special teams and all that. But when you get a day like this, cold weather and adverse conditions, any time you come out victorious, it’s a good win.”
With rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder making his second NFL start, with the first a loss to the rival New Orleans Saints six days earlier, the Falcons went three-and-out on each of their first two possessions in Baltimore and had only 12 yards of offense during a first quarter played in frosty 17-degree weather — the lowest kickoff temperature for a home game in franchise history.
In the final minute of the first half, an intentional grounding call against Ridder while he was seemingly being hit turned a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line into a hasty field goal as time expired. Smith furiously objected to the call from the sideline, but after the game he opted to keep his comments — and potential fine money for criticizing the officials — to himself.
“I’d rather give that money to people in Atlanta,” Smith said. “If they’re going to fine me a lot of money, I’d rather give it to people who need it.”
Ridder was 22-of-33 passing for 218 yards.
“I thought Desmond took another step against a pretty good defense,” Smith said. “But at the end of the day, we didn’t win situational football. Baltimore did. That’s why they walked away with a win right there.”
Atlanta was also burned by a holding call on a third-quarter touchdown run that would have cut the deficit to 14-9, pending the conversion. And there was a fumble by star rookie receiver Drake London — it was forced by Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey — in the second quarter, which turned out to be the only turnover of the game.
“I thought I did everything I could possibly do to secure the catch. Tried to put two hands on it,” London said. “But that’s Marlon Humphrey, one of the better cornerbacks in the league. He just punched it out.”
Overall, the Falcons converted only five of 14 third-down tries and went 0-for-4 on fourth down.
“Situation football,” Ridder said. “At the end of the day, we go back and look at red zone, third down and turnovers, making sure we win all those things. Obviously, situational football wasn’t our best today. That’s something we’ll look at and try to get better at.”
On the first possession of the second half, a holding call on receiver Olamide Zaccheaus nullified a touchdown by Cordarrelle Patterson, and Atlanta kicked a field goal again.
Down 17-6 in the fourth, the Falcons had first-and-goal from the 4, but four straight runs were stopped short of the end zone. Tyler Allgeier was unable to convert on fourth down from the 1.
The Falcons pulled within eight on a field goal with 2:03 remaining, but they had let so much time run off that the kickoff brought the clock down to the two-minute warning. Atlanta did have two timeouts remaining, but the Ravens were able to get a first down and close out the win.
Afterward, Smith talked about looking to show improvement in the final two weeks at home against the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay.
“We’re looking to win and progress. Then I’ll stop coming up here and sounding like a broken record,” he said. “We need to win at home, win for our fans and finish this thing out right.”