There wasn’t much good to come out of the Baltimore Ravens performance on Sunday, a 22-19 upset loss to the Indianapolis Colts led by Gardner Minshew II at home. It’s a game mired in sloppiness from Baltimore just one week after they were at their best. After a loss like that, you look for anything positive to see out of it. Anything to see that can carry over to the following week. For Baltimore, it was the play of second-year safety Kyle Hamilton. Watching him on Sunday, you would’ve thought he was Ronnie Lott out there, and he might be a frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Week.
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Kyle Hamilton Was The Ravens Best Player In Week 3
The Kyle Hamilton Blitz
In the first half of the Ravens’ loss, Hamilton did something unprecedented for a player in his position. It’s something that’s usually reserved for outside linebackers and defensive ends. He sacked Minshew not once, not twice, but three times. Even more incredible was defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald sent him on a blitz for each of them. The Colts never picked him up either time, leaving Hamilton completely untouched with a free shot at the quarterback. Per Baltimore Ravens.com‘s Ryan Mink, it is the first time since 1996 that a Ravens defensive back accomplished this feat. It was last done by Bennie Thompson, who sacked Mark Brunell three times. Also, Hamilton never had a sack at Notre Dame and had two all last season.
Macdonald was aggressive all game, especially with Hamilton and passing situations. He would blitz him consistently, and it even got to a point where the Colts decided to double-team him. When was the last time any offense decided to double-team a blitzing defensive back? It only happens sometimes, especially nowadays in the league. It was a testament and a show of respect to how disruptive Hamilton was to the Colts’ passing attack. The passing game wasn’t the only place where Hamilton made his mark on this game.
What a half for Kyle Hamilton 🔥
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 24, 2023
🟣 9 tackles
🟣 3 sacks
🟣 1 forced fumble #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/ZlvIl3YxQc
Hamilton Stopping The Run
While the Ravens did give up some big runs, especially to Zack Moss, Hamilton was far from the reason for it. He was just as disruptive, stopping the run. He made several tackles at the line of scrimmage and some excellent open-field tackles. Again, Macdonald also used him in blitzing packages to stop the run. They were using Hamilton’s speed to his advantage.
Clowney Gives Hamilton A Nickname
Overall, Hamilton had the best game of his career with nine total tackles, three sacks, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble, and one pass defended. For the moment, Hamilton now leads the Ravens in sacks this season after Sunday’s outing. He was all over the field, and you could see #14 on every play. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was just as impressed and came up with a nickname for Hamilton: The Avatar. We’ll see what Hamilton does for an encore and how he progresses in his second year in the NFL. So far, general manager Eric DeCosta has hit a home run with this 2022 first-round draft pick.
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Main Photo: Tommy Gilligan – USA Today Sports
