Unsung heroes from the Ravens’ Week 12 win over the Chargers

The Ravens received impressive performances from several unheralded players in their eighth win of the 2024 season.

In Week 12, the Baltimore Ravens came out on top of a primetime battle between AFC playoff contenders when they handled the Los Angeles Chargers in a 30-23 victory in which the final score wasn’t indicative of how they controlled the game. This improved their record to 8-4, keeping them half a game back of first place in the AFC North standings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were upset by the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football.

In a game where they were favored to win, the Ravens overcame a sluggish start and erased a 10-point deficit early in the second quarter to pull ahead and never trail again. They secured the victory thanks to some underrated yet impactful performances from a handful of well-known starters and several of their less-heralded players making plays on both sides of the ball.

This article highlights the players whose performances flew under the radar but were still clutch — the unsung heroes.

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Offensive line

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Anytime the Ravens have a monster game on the ground, it always starts in the trenches and Monday’s performance was no exception as they eclipsed the 200-yard mark for the fourth time this season the first since Week 7. The 212 yards they accrued were the most ever given up by a Jim Harbaugh-coached defense and the Ravens 389 yards of total offense was the second-most given up by the Chargers vaunted defense all season. The brightest star of the bunch in this game, when it came to run-blocking, was third-year pro Daniel Faalele who they called upon to make several key pulls and blocks to bring running back Derrick Henry and other ball carriers for first downs and chunk plays.

The Ravens’ offensive line was also lights out in pass protection with the only sack coming for a net loss of no yards and they consistently gave Lamar Jackson ample time to throw when he dropped back or rolled out to pass. According to NextGenStats, the reigning league MVP had an average time to throw of 3.43 seconds which was the third-longest the season.

ILB Chris Board & Kristian Welch

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Filling the void of a two-time All Pro such as Roquan Smith in the middle of the defense is a tall task and with him out due to a hamstring injury, the Ravens relied upon all three of their reserve inside linebackers to step up and perform. While versatile fifth-year veteran Malik Harrison was the star of the bunch with a team-leading and single-game career-high 13 total tackles, Board and Welch’s contributions shouldn’t go overlooked either as they helped limit the Chargers’ rushing attack to just 83 yards on 20 carries.

Welch started the game lined up next to second-year pro Trenton Simpson, played nine defensive snaps and recorded a solo tackle. Board played a season-high 37 defensive snaps and recorded four total tackles including two solos and played another 23 snaps on special teams. He made a pair of stops in the open field to prevent Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey from picking up a first down in third down-and-long and made a big hit on quarterback Justin Herbert on a scramble.

WR Tylan Wallace

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The fourth-year pro was only on the field for just seven offensive snaps and was targeted once but made the most of it by taking what was a first-and-19 after a holding penalty on guard Patrick Mekari into a second-and-4 after turning a short reception into a 15-yard rumble. Instead of a first-down penalty derailing a drive as has been the case throughout this season including on the first drive of this game, Wallace’s clutch play kept an eventual touchdown drive on track.

CB Tre’Davious White

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The two-time Pro Bowler didn’t start the game but saw an uptick in his usage with 36 defensive snaps which was 52% of the team’s total. He was excellent in coverage once again as he continued to make the move to acquire him for essentially nothing, one of the best trades of any team at the midseason deadline in terms of value given up and immediate returns already received. White finished with three total tackles including two solos, a pass breakup and forced other incompletions by being in position to prevent the receiver from making a reception.

TE Isaiah Likely

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images

While the third-year pro didn’t get a single target for the first time this season, that didn’t stop him from making impactful plays. He made one of the key blocks to spring Jackson for his third rushing touchdown of the season and the team’s first points of the game in the second quarter. Coming into Week 12, the only two successful onside kick recovery attempts came against the Ravens. After the Chargers’ garbage-time touchdown that made it a one-score game, Likely was the member of the hands team who jumped on kicker Cameron Dicker’s attempt to get his team the ball back with less than a minute left in the game.