Unsung heroes from the Ravens Week 9 win over the Seahawks

The Ravens got some impressive performances from several unheralded players in their latest victory.

In Week 9 of the 2023 regular season, the Baltimore Ravens were back home and absolutely dominated their matchup against the Seattle Seahawks with a 37-3 win. It was arguably their best complete team performance in recent memory.

In a game that they were favored to win, the team was able to play at an extremely high level of complementary football thanks to some of their less-heralded players 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 Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Every time the Ravens offense has a dominant performance, this unit is almost always the driving force behind it and they certainly were on Sunday. They imposed their will from start to finish and paved the way for a season-high 515 yards of total offense that included a staggering 298 yards on the ground, which was the fourth-most in franchise history.

Second-year center Tyler Linderbaum was especially dominant with several impressive displays of athleticism and aggressiveness in space as a run blocker. He pulled and blocked Seahawks’ inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks twice on Keaton Mitchell’s 60-yard run and on the second block, he took out one of his teammates too.

While Lamar Jackson was sacked once, it came from his blindside and not the right side where veteran utility offensive lineman Patrick Mekari was lights out in pass protection filling in for Morgan Moses, who was inactive with a shoulder injury. According to Pro Football Focus, he didn’t even give up a single pressure on 38 pass blocking snaps.

FB Patrick Ricard

Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images

The four-time Pro Bowler is essentially another offensive lineman, the majority of his contributions don’t register in on the box score. However, his devastating lead blocks are just as integral to the offense’s success. Against the Seahawks, he helped propel Gus Edwards to a second straight multi-touchdown performance.

In addition to being a punishing blocker near the goal line, Ricard also blocked well in space in this game, particularly on a 10-yard run on a zone read play that moved the ball just outside of the red zone on the Ravens’ first scoring drive.

TE Isaiah Likely

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The second-year pro had his most productive game of the season. He caught all four of his targets for 42 receiving yards—third-most on the team. He benefited from the Seahawks devoting more defenders toward Mark Andrews when the Ravens deployed multiple tight end sets and did a great job of finding to soft spots in zone coverage.

Likely moved the chains for a fresh set of downs on all but one of his receptions against Seattle. He caught passes from both of the Ravens quarterbacks and finished as the Ravens’ second-highest graded player of the game with an overall of 92.6. Hopefully, it is a sign of what is to come down the stretch.

EDGE Jadeveon Clowney

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

The three-time Pro Bowler helped lead his fifth-team to victory and checked off the fourth and final name on his list of former teams that he defeated this season. While he didn’t record one of the defense’s four sacks on the day he was still consistently disruptive as both a pass rusher and run defender.

There were numerous occasions in which he slashed into the backfield shortly after the ball was snapped and brought down ball carriers before they could get up field. When he couldn’t get home for a sack, Clowney wisely got his hands up into Geno Smith’s throwing lanes and batted down a couple passes at the line of scrimmage.

CB Marlon Humphrey

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Even though it’s hard to imagine the cornerstone cornerback as an unsung hero, his shutdown performance against Seattle going up against one of the best wide receiver depth charts in the league deserves to be recognized. Humphrey finished with just one assisted tackle and according to PFF, he was targeted three times and gave up just one reception for five receiving yards while forcing an incompletion and an opposing passer rating of 42.4.

Brandon Stephens, who starts opposite of Humphrey, continued to his breakout season helping limit D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He finished with a pair of solo tackles and was also lockdown in coverage.