The 2nd pre-season game is now in the books and the Baltimore Ravens have tied the Lombardi Packers with a record 19 straight pre-season victories. The latest of course, was last night’s win over the Carolina Panthers by a score of 20-3. With that record of pre-season triumphs and $3 you can get a small coffee at Starbucks but nonetheless, anytime you play a game, it’s more fun to win than lose. So hats off to Harbaugh and the coaching staff for getting a collection of young players, long shots and veterans just trying to get through the game to continue to find ways to win. Even if the pre-season is a formality for the established talent, I believe there’s lessons to be learned for the fringe guys. Grinding out these exhibition wins can certainly pay dividends for the guys that make up the back end of the roster.
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The initial and prevailing takeaway from this game may fall under the Captain Obvious category but it has to be said; Wink Martindale’s defense is damn good. Carolina was able to make a couple of big plays against the Ravens’ starters but when it mattered most, in the red zone, the Baltimore defense rose to the occasion.
After the opening possession for the Ravens’ offense was snuffed out on a tipped ball that turned into an interception, the defense faltered initially by quickly allowing Carolina to get into a goal to go situation. However, once the Panthers were knocking on the door, the defense stiffened. On successive plays from the 1 yard line, the defensive line stood up and stymied the Carolina offensive line. On 3rd and goal, Patrick Queen filled and along with DeShon Elliott, they stuffed Chuba Hubbard for no gain. Then, on 4th and goal, a well-timed blitzed forced Hubbard to bounce outside where he was met by Elliott, who brought him down short of the goal line. The goal to go series was vintage Ravens defense.
It was an impressive evening for DeShon Elliott, he had 4 total tackles (3 solo) and a sack. Fellow starting safety Chuck Clark added 3 solo tackles and a forced fumble. Overall, even though they were without all world corner Marlon Humphrey, the secondary had a good showing. The surprise performance of the evening was Nigel Warrior, who showed no fear in attacking downhill and making some tackles in open space. Warrior also flashed some good instincts by adding in a couple of pass breakups. The secondary is especially deep and it’s going to make things harrowing as the roster gets pared down over the next couple of weeks.
At the other levels of the defense, it was good to see extended action from rookie edge rushers Odafe Oweh and Daelin Hayes. Although they were quiet on the stat sheet, they flashed near the quarterback a few times and displayed some athleticism by dropping into coverage on occasion. Throughout the off season, the edge spot was universally viewed as the weak link of the Ravens defense. However, the addition of Justin Houston and the potential of the rookie duo has the edges looking as if they may become a strength.
The sole disappointment for Martindale’s defense was seeing LJ Fort go down with what is speculated to be a serious”knee injury. If the MRI reveals what is feared to be a ligament tear, the depth at inside linebacker will be tested. The Ravens will have to lean on special teams standouts Chris Board and Kristian Welch; as well as have 2nd year linebacker Malik Harrison solidify himself as a starting caliber player.
Flipping to the offensive side of the ball, the first play from scrimmage was rather eye opening. After what can only be described as an abysmal performance from the offense line last week (albeit it was with many of the reserves), Baltimore was able to field 3/5 of their potential Week 1 starting line. Bradley Bozeman, Kevin Zeitler and Alejandro Villanueva were together on the opening series. On the afore mentioned first play for the Ravens’ offense, Villanueva got great push and Zeitler sealed off the edge, which allowed JK Dobbins to cut back for a 6 yard gain. Granted, a 6 yard rush is nothing to write home about but to see what this offensive line can be capable of was encouraging. After not seeing any daylight in pre-season Week 1, Dobbins almost looked stunned for a moment as the cutback lane opened up. Then, on a 3rd and short, Gus Edwards did some Gus Edwards things; he found a crease in the A gap and took off for 14 yards.
Those few early plays were enough to quell some concerns about the offensive line as we draw close to the regular season. Combine that with encouraging news on Ronnie Stanley and Ben Cleveland’s health and it looks like we could see the starting five linemen at least make a cameo next week in Landover.
Another development on offense is the battle for the 3rd tight end spot. If snap count and targets are any indication of things to come, it appears that Josh Oliver is in the lead. He saw 10 targets and hauled in 7 of them for 50 yards. Despite an overall solid evening, he did have one drop and Harbaugh was clearly miffed about his redzone fumble that ended the Ravens 3rd offensive series of the evening. Still, it looks like Oliver is showing enough that he can lock down a roster spot and perhaps have an increased role for a few weeks should Nick Boyle’s return be delayed because of his knee cleanup procedure.
The other interesting scenario shaping up is a battle for the 3rd running back spot. The incumbent, Justice Hill, who has excelled on special teams and in blitz pickup was not able to suit up for last night’s game, which left the door open for Nate McCrary and Ty’Son Williams. The unheralded duo shined at Bank of America Stadium, combining for 111 yards on 25 carries and both backs reached the end zone. Williams had the offensive play of the game when he took a handoff at the 20 yard line, hit the hole, cut back, shed a couple of would be tacklers and stumbled his way to the end zone. Much like the depth at secondary, the Ravens’ stable of running backs is going to make for some difficult decisions come cutdown day. Personally, I’m not a fan of Justice Hill and I think that either McCrary or Williams would be better fits for this offense. With that said, a 3rd running back needs to contribute on special teams, especially on a John Harbaugh coached team. Are McCrary or Williams up to that challenge?
Mercifully, the NFL pre-season comes to a close after only 3 games this year. The Ravens will travel down the road to Landover for their final tune up before the season opener in Las Vegas. The goals for that game should be self-evident; get out of Dodge with health intact, get Lamar some snaps behind the projected starting five offensive line and bring clarity to some back end of the roster position battles.
Jamie has been a Baltimore sports fan since he can remember. He grew up in Gwynn Oak and currently resides in Hampstead with his wife and 2 kids. He graduated from UMBC with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He’s currently employed at Verizon Communications in Hunt Valley.