NFL Monday night: Kenyan Drake paces Ravens past Saints

Kenyan Drake ran for two touchdowns as the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New Orleans Saints 27-13 on Monday night.

Drake entered the game with one rushing touchdown in the 2022 season, but the former Alabama standout carried the football into the end zone from 1 yard out with two minutes left in the first half as the Ravens went ahead 14-0 and from 3 yards outs as Baltimore went up 27-6 with 6:55 left to play.

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Drake’s fifth NFL game with at least two rushing touchdowns was his first since Nov. 29, 2020, when he ran for two in the Arizona Cardinals’ 20-17 loss to the New England Patriots.

Drake also had the ninth 100-yard rushing game of his career and second of the season – until his final carry of the game. Drake had 23 carries for 100 yards until a sweep on the Ravens’ final offensive snap of the game lost 7 yards.

Baltimore ran for 188 yards, with quarterback Lamar Jackson adding 82 on 11 carries to Drake’s 93, while the Saints had 48 rushing yards.

The Ravens ran for 132 yards in the second half, when, Drake told Westwood One Sports after the game, the Ravens were “really just playing big-boy ball.”

Drake also caught two passes for 16 yards.

In addition to Drake, three other players from Alabama high schools and colleges got on the field at Caesars Superdome during the Baltimore-New Orleans game:

· Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (St. Paul’s Episcopal, Alabama) played but did not record any stats. The rookie played for the first time since Sept. 25.

· Ravens linebacker Josh Bynes (Auburn) was designated as a game-day inactive. He was listed on the injury report with a quadriceps injury.

· Saints running back Jordan Howard (Gardendale, UAB) played but did not record any stats in his first appearance of the 2022 season. New Orleans elevated Howard from its practice squad to make him eligible to play on Monday.

· Marlon Humphrey (Hoover, Alabama) started at cornerback for the Ravens. Humphrey led Baltimore with seven tackles, recorded his first sack since the 2020 season and broke up a pass. Humphrey sacked Andy Dalton for a 9-yard loss on a third-and-4 snap at the Baltimore 10-yard line, causing New Orleans to settle for a field goal that reduced the Ravens’ lead to 17-6 with 1:25 left in the third quarter.

· Saints running back Mark Ingram (Alabama) was designated as a game-day inactive. Ingram sustained an MCL sprain in New Orleans’ previous game.

· Saints safety Smoke Monday (Auburn) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

· Ravens linebacker Jeremiah Moon (Hoover) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce (Daphne, Samford) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

· Saints quarterback Jameis Winston (Hueytown) dressed for the game but did not play. Winston started the first three games of the season for New Orleans before being sidelined by back and ankle injuries. Winston has been a full participant in practice for the past two weeks, but the Saints have stuck with Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback. On Monday night, Dalton completed 19-of-29 passes for 210 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Dalton connected with tight end Juwan Johnson on a 41-yard touchdown pass with 4:13 remaining in the game. The big-gainer was aided when some of the Ravens stopped because they thought Johnson had stepped out of bounds.

With its third straight victory, Baltimore improved to 6-3, putting the Ravens one game ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North. New Orleans dropped to 3-6, but that’s one game out of the lead in the NFC South, a division topped by the 4-5 records of the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Baltimore won’t play again until Nov. 20, when the Carolina Panthers will visit M&T Bank Stadium, as it enters its bye week. The Saints visit the Pittsburgh Steelers at noon CST Sunday.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.