The Ravens took a 35-14 lead into the fourth quarter against the Dolphins in Week Two, but their defense collapsed as the Dolphins reeled off four touchdowns on their way to a 42-38 victory.
Week Three found the Ravens up 31-20 on the Patriots as the fourth quarter got underway and the Patriots trimmed that lead to five points on a Rhamondre Stevenson touchdown run with over 12 minutes left on the clock. The similarities to the Miami game would end there, however.
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey picked Mac Jones off in the end zone to end the next Patriots drive and rookie safety Kyle Hamilton stripped wide receiver Nelson Agholor for another turnover. Lamar Jackson ran for a touchdown after that takeaway and cornerback Marcus Peters sealed the 37-26 win with another interception.
In his postgame media session, Humphrey said it was important for the defense to close things out that way.
“It means a lot,” Humphrey said. “It was tough last week knowing that our offense scored that many points, and then in the fourth quarter, our defense just could not get a stop — It was touchdown, after touchdown, after touchdown. So, for us to come up [and] have those big plays at the end, it was huge. It was a confidence boost. It was just a pride thing, that we can be this defense, but talk is cheap — we’ve just got to go out there and show it.”
The Bills are up next for the Ravens and the defense will have to stay sharp if they’re going to string together a winning streak.
