According to Kyle Hamilton, the Ravens defense has its swagger back. Well, almost.
They need to improve their celebrations first, Hamilton said after the Ravens' 27-19 win in Minnesota. But the mere fact that they're planning them shows that they expect them and is a far cry from the feeling around Baltimore's defense earlier this season.
On a day in which Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense had an uneven performance, Baltimore had three takeaways, including two interceptions, and had three fourth-down stops.
"I think we're starting to hit our stride," Hamilton said. "It's not a surprise to us. I think we're playing to our potential now, and that has to be sustained."
Heading into their Week 7 game against the Bears with a 1-5 record, the Ravens' defense was ranked last in the league in points allowed per game (32.3) and had just three takeaways in six games.
Baltimore now has seven takeaways in its past three games. Turnovers come in bunches, they say, and the Ravens are reaping the rewards.
Baltimore also held one of the best wide receivers in the game, Justin Jefferson, to just four catches for 37 yards on 12 targets. Fellow top receiver Jordan Addison had just three catches for 35 yards.
In his fourth career game, Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy started hot but finished completing less than half of his passes (20 of 42) for 248 yards.
Head Coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens didn't do too much out of the norm to deal with Jefferson.
"We rolled the quarters to them a couple of times, but that's really still covering the guys," Harbaugh said. "I think the credit goes to the players. I thought our guys did a great job of just covering."
Rookie first-round safety Malaki Starks came up with the Ravens' first interception in the second quarter, skying over the top to pick off McCarthy when he went for a kill shot with a deep ball to Jefferson on third-and-inches. It was the type of game-changing play that Starks frequently made in college at Georgia.
"I think I'm just really trusting myself, my preparation, and the guys around me," Starks said. "I'm just trusting them to do their job, which is allowing me to play fast and just be myself. So, [it's] really just the connection with the team, and just the amount of work that we put in."
It was Starks' second interception in as many games after he had none through Baltimore's first seven.
"God forbid a rookie takes more than seven games in the NFL to get adjusted," Hamilton said. "He is progressing just fine, and it's no surprise to us."
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey came up with the second interception despite his hand having a heavy bandage following a Friday finger injury.
That came on the Vikings' first drive of the second half and further turned the momentum Baltimore's way. Humphrey's six interceptions were the most in the AFC last season, but it wasn't until he had a hurt hand that he got his first this year.
"Turnovers have been key," Humphrey said. "We spoke on that in the offseason. It's hard to win games if you don't turn the ball over."
Undrafted rookie safety Keondre Jackson came up with a crucial forced fumble and recovery on a kickoff return that set up a Ravens touchdown that opened up the game in the third quarter.
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie broke up a fourth-down pass in the fourth quarter, and the Ravens closed the door with the Vikings getting one last chance to try to tie it up in the final minutes.
The Ravens nearly had another takeaway with a diving Roquan Smith interception late in the fourth quarter. After that play, the Ravens tried to execute Hamilton's celebration idea of teammates running "gassers" while the guy who got the ball watches like a coach. Only problem was that the pick was overturned after replay review.
"We still have work to do and stuff to be done, but we have to work on our celebrations if we're going to say that we got our swagger back," Hamilton said. "Some of our celebrations are bad, but at least we have stuff to celebrate now."
