Flacco's Return Spoiled by Dominant 2nd Half

September 15th, 2025

Slow Start, Huge Second Half Ruins Flacco’s Return to the Bank.

A sunny fall day in Baltimore quickly turned into nap time during the first quarter of the Ravens game.

The opening quarter was a sluggish affair, highlighted by a mere 60 total yards between both teams, four punts, and a field goal. 

But once the second quarter began, it was all Ravens from there.

Despite their usual dominance on the ground, the Ravens struggled to establish the run game throughout the day. 

Uncharacteristically, they leaned heavily on the defense and the passing attack. Derrick Henry finished with just 23 yards on 11 carries and lost a fumble.

Fortunately, the defense came to play. Cornerback Nate Wiggins returned an interception to the 1-yard line, and Roquan Smith silenced critics with a massive performance — scooping up a fumble and taking it 63 yards to the house, adding to his 15-tackle day.

Lamar Jackson continued to spread the ball around effectively for the second straight week. He connected with Zay Flowers seven times for 76 yards and found DeAndre Hopkins twice for 64 yards, including another highlight-reel touchdown with a defender draped all over him. 

Devontez Walker, the second-year receiver from UNC, caught two passes — both for touchdowns — and Tylan Wallace opened the scoring with the game's first TD.

Lamar finished 19-of-29 for 225 yards and four touchdowns, becoming just the 8th player in NFL history to throw at least two touchdown passes and maintain a passer rating of 90 or higher in 10 straight games (including playoffs).

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My Ravens Review

The defense looked much better this week. While they gave up some garbage-time yardage, the unit played with fire from the jump. 

Roquan Smith clearly heard the chatter and responded with a monster game. Big-time plays from Nate Wiggins, Marlon Humphrey, and Kyle Hamilton gave the secondary a huge boost.

Offensively, the Ravens must do a better job establishing the run. At halftime, Derrick Henry had just five carries for six yards — and four of those carries came out of shotgun formations. 

Lamar Jackson only ran twice all game for 13 yards, and the team finished with just 45 rushing yards total.

That said, the passing game continues to shine.

 Still, I'd like to see Mark Andrews more involved — he has only two catches this season. DeAndre Hopkins is shaping up to be the first veteran receiver signed in free agency to truly make an impact for Baltimore, already with two touchdowns in two games.

This team has the talent and depth to make a deep playoff run — assuming they stay healthy. Putting up 40 points on the Bills and now 41 on the Browns — two teams with elite defenses when not playing the Ravens — speaks volumes about this offense’s potential.

Stats & Player of the Game

•Lamar Jackson: 19/29, 225 yards, 4 TDs

•Derrick Henry: 11 carries, 23 yards

•Zay Flowers: 7 receptions, 75 yards

•DeAndre Hopkins: 2 receptions, 64 yards, 1 TD

•Roquan Smith: 15 tackles, 63-yard fumble return TD

Player of the Game: Roquan Smith

Much of the media questioned whether Roquan had lost a step since last season — but he was all over the field today and made his presence known in a big way.

By Ronnie Kron