The Ravens likely did their due diligence in the hiring process, but they probably wouldn’t have made the difficult decision to fire longtime coach John Harbaugh if they didn’t know Jesse Minter would be available.
They had their sights set on the hotshot defensive coordinator from L.A. who already had left Baltimore once after following Harbaugh’s younger brother, Jim, to Michigan and later to the Chargers. It was Minter’s job to lose, and it became noticeable Sunday night why the Ravens felt the need to end something good with their Super Bowl-winning coach for the unknown upside of Minter.
So far, the gamble has paid off for the Ravens, who stole a 30–23 overtime game on the road against the Falcons to improve to 4–1. Maybe it’s not fair to say things got stale with Harbaugh after one losing season, but clearly Baltimore has benefited from Minter’s fresh ideas.
Without the injured Lamar Jackson, the Ravens’ offense still moved efficiently with backup Tyler “Snoop” Huntley. He’s not new to starting games for the Ravens (12 total during his six seasons in Baltimore), but he looked like a different quarterback this time around, completing his final 11 passes and producing the game-winning one-yard rushing touchdown with 2:57 in overtime.
Even the two-time MVP in street clothes has benefited from being around Minter’s creativity because Jackson was seen coaching up Huntley throughout the game, and whatever he told him must have worked, especially on Baltimore’s six-play, 71-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to erase an eight-point deficit and tie the game.
On a day filled with coaching miscues, from London to Washington, D.C., Minter’s team played with composure and excelled in situational football to win a game it had no business winning. Just two weeks ago, the Ravens took a game from the Cowboys in Brazil because they were the better situational football team.
Usually rookie head coaches struggle with clock management and making tough decisions in crunch time. Yes, the Ravens had a tough Week 2 loss against the Saints, but Minter has already shown he’s a quick learner and has his team atop the AFC North standings. He’s been excellent in overseeing all three phases of his operation while also calling plays for the defense.
We’ve already established that the Falcons are competitive with Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback, but it’s still unknown whether they’re simply just good inside the NFC South, a mediocre division that hasn’t had a team win more than 10 games since the 2021 Buccaneers with Tom Brady. While it’s still tough to tell how dangerous the Falcons can be, it says plenty that the Ravens kept Bijan Robinson contained for long stretches and this offense didn’t take off like it did against the Packers and Saints the past two weeks.
With the difficulty level increasing against Minter’s defense, the Falcons appeared to just be a mediocre team from the NFC South. Penix struggled at times against the mind games that Minter is known for when designing pressure. Penix didn’t have his first completion until the fourth drive of the game, but luckily for the Falcons, they could afford the slow start because the defense provided a scoop-and-score touchdown in the first quarter.
Still, Penix didn’t help himself in certain key situations. He slightly overthrew a pass to left tackle Jake Matthews, who was wide open in the end zone. Coach Kevin Stefanski had his hands in the air thinking that would be an easy score, but the Falcons were forced to settle for a field goal that extended the lead to 17–9 with 9:51 in the third quarter. Eventually, Penix (19-of-32, 240 yards, TD) found a rhythm, but again had trouble against pressure down the stretch and was knocked out of the game after taking a shot on the final drive of regulation.
From there, the Ravens had full control, which makes you wonder how they would have performed if they hadn’t trailed for most of the game. Huntley (24-of-32, 201 yards, 2 TDs; six carries, 20 yards, TD) was practically unstoppable behind the balanced attack that featured running backs Derrick Henry (24 carries, 102 yards) and Justice Hill (four carries, 73 yards) providing 175 of the 208 rushing yards.
For three-plus quarters, this was trending to be a soon-forgotten game in Atlanta without Jackson. A loss the Ravens could have afforded against an NFC opponent. But eventually we saw what the Ravens were expecting to get from Minter when they made the gamble to shake things up. He was worth it if it means constantly being the team that excels in situational football.
Having Jackson and Henry helps, but being aware of the situation goes pretty far in the NFL, just ask the Eagles and Commanders. Minter gets it in that regard.
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