Matthew Judon registeredtwosacks, two quarterback hitsand forced a fumble. Terrell Suggs essentially sealed the game with a sack/strip and fourth-down sack in the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter of Sunday's dominant 23-0 win, nearly all the Ravens' defenders broke out into a choreographed spinning dance.
It was clear they were having one heck of a time.
Baltimore's defense entered the week tied for 16th in the NFL in sacks, right in the middle of the pack. With such a dominant defense, they knew they could have more.
After a week off during the bye, the Ravens displayed a ferocious pass rush that kept backup Packers quarterback Brett Hundley uncomfortable throughout the afternoon.
Hundley threw interceptions on the Packers' first two offense series. Green Bay fumbled on the third. After that, the pass rush did much of the damage.
"I just think after his first two picks, [Hundley] just didn't want to make the mistake again," outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "I don't think that takes away from what our guys did today."
The Ravens notched a season-high six sacks overall and came within a whisper of a couple more.
Second-year linebacker Matthew Judon led the charge early with two sacks, two quarterback hits and a forced fumble. Suggs essentially sealed the Ravens win with a pair of fourth-quarter sacks, including one on fourth down and another that was a sack/strip. Defensive tackle Willie Henry also notched a pair of sacks and quarterback hits, bringing key pressure from the inside.
"Matthew Judon had a phenomenal game, one of the best I've seen. Willie Henry, you know what I'm saying?" Suggs said.
"And that's not mentioning the things Za'Darius Smith did, Tim Williams. I think everybody carried their share of the load today. When you play defense like that, it's good, it's a community."
Judon started the party with a forced fumble in the second quarter, then took it to another level two drives later when he got a pair of sacks on the same series to close out the Packers' scoreless first half.
The first was a sack for a 12-yard loss and the second was a loss of 13. Hundley is nimble, and can elude defenders, but Judon impressively wrapped him up deep in the backfield.
In his first year starting, the 2016 fifth-round pick now has three sacks this season and is showing his growth every week. He had to admit, Sunday's game was his best yet.
"The more I'm out there, hopefully the more impact I can have on the game," Judon said. "Sometimes I'm in coverage and sometimes I'm blitzing. We keep changing it up and it's hard for opposing offenses to know what I'm doing."
Henry got in on the fun at the start of the second half. Desperate for some offense, the Packers went for it on fourth-and-6 from Baltimore's 41-yard line. Henry halted that, beating his man inside to drop Hundley for a loss of 8. Judon was also in hot pursuit.
Suggs put the Packers away late in the fourth quarter. Held quiet for much of the day, he looped around wide and dove for Hundley's arm just as the third-year quarterback was about to get rid of it. The ball bounced loose and was recovered by linebacker C.J. Mosley.
Suggs then essentially sealed the Ravens' shutout win with his second sack, which came on fourth-and-11 with under four minutes left.
At that point, with the Ravens holding a commanding 16-0 lead, the defense was able to pin its ears back and go after Hundley, who was left battered by the end.
Head Coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens specifically entered the game with the intention of getting as much speed on the field as possible. In addition to Suggs, Judon and Smith, rookies Tyus Bowser and Williams were also active.
“One of the big parts of this game was to put as much speed on the field as we could because they spread you out, they put receivers out, the quarterback can run, But I also think that’s not just going to apply to Green Bay; it should apply going forward.” John Harbaugh
