Defense Dominates As Baltimore Ravens Lead Seattle Seahawks 17-3 At Halftime
The Baltimore Ravens entered Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks on a three-game winning streak, and through 30 minutes, they're dead set on keeping that streak going.
Heading into the locker room, the Ravens hold a 17-3 lead over their fellow bird team, and it's clear to see that Baltimore's defense is the story of the first half.
The Ravens, who are missing key secondary players Marcus Williams and Rock Ya-Sin, allowed just three first-half points and have looked very impressive overall. Seattle finished the first half with just 89 yards and four first downs, while Baltimore sacked Geno Smith four times and forced two turnovers, with NFL interception leader Geno Stone getting his sixth pick of the year. Even when the Seahawks got down to the red zone late in the half, the Ravens buckled down and held them to just a field goal.
After a somewhat shaky defensive performance last week against the Arizona Cardinals, the Ravens defense has come to play against the Seahawks.
Baltimore had a decent first half offensively as well, but turnovers proved to be an issue. The Ravens racked up 224 yards and 16 first downs and also won the time of possession battle with over 17 minutes of ball control. However, two key fumbles, one by Lamar Jackson and another by Odell Beckham Jr., have put a damper on an otherwise great half.
The star of the show has been running back Gus Edwards, who has two rushing touchdowns after scoring three of them last week. Lamar Jackson completed 12 of 16 passes for 125 yards and he's Baltimore's leading rusher with 61 yards on eight carries. Mark Andrews was the Ravens' leading receiver with five catches for 50 yards.
On the Seattle side, Smith has completed just six of 14 passes for 93 yards, with more than half of those yards coming on a 50-yard completion to D.K. Metcalf. Running back Kenneth Walker leads the Seahawks in rushing with 17 yards on six carries.
The Ravens will get the ball to start the second half as they look to pad their lead.