Patrick Queen didn’t mince words when talking about the Ravens’ defense.
“We play a brand of football that people don’t want to play,” the inside linebacker said. “Everybody wants to be out here [being] cute, playing basketball on grass and stuff, and we [are not] with all that. You can do all that stuff; we’re just going to hit you in the mouth every play, honestly.
“We couldn’t care less about all the pretty stuff you do, gimmick stuff. You still have to line up and play football. You still have to get touched, so that’s our mindset. That’s how we want to come out and just hit people in the mouth.”
The 49ers found out the hard way about the ferocity of the Ravens’ defense, which helped pave the way for a 33-19 victory on Monday night.
Baltimore recorded five interceptions — two by safety Kyle Hamilton and one each by cornerback Marlon Humphrey, safety Marcus Williams and Queen. The offense scored 17 points off those takeaways.
The five interceptions tied for the most in a single game in franchise history, matching a performance on October 14, 2007 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“[We were] really just flying to the ball,” Humphrey said. “One of Kyle’s [interceptions], he went to go rush the quarterback and then got a pick – so stuff like that, just running to the ball. ‘B-Steve’ [Brandon Stephens] tipped it up. A lot of things kind of bounced our way tonight, but it was a full team effort, just running to the ball, hustling, trying to take fire to fire.
“That team … I think everybody’s a little sore. There are a lot of teams that want to be physical. That team is a real-deal, physical team [and] a really good team, so for us come out and kind of put on a show was really good for us.”
The Ravens also posted four sacks — two by defensive end Brent Urban, and one each by outside linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy. The Ravens have 54 sacks this season, which ranks No. 1 in the NFL and trails only its 2006 team (60) for the most in franchise history.
The Ravens’ 35 consecutive games with a sack also marks the NFL’s longest active streak.
“We were the underdogs knowing what we’ve been through, 11-3,” Clowney said. “It felt good to be the underdogs for the first time in a long time. I think that put a little chip on our shoulders. We were coming in here to do our job and play hard and physical and play together, and we did that today.”