I was going to call this article “Random Thoughts At The Quarter Pole” but thanks to the endless greed of the NFL, we have a 17th game and the perfect sports schedule has been ruined; but I digress.
Taking stock after a month’s worth of games always seems like a good spot to do so. Many fans and experts expected the Ravens to be sitting at 3-1 after 4 games but I think most of us would admit that we didn’t expect them to get there in this way. From a macro level, the biggest surprise was the come from behind win over the Kansas City Chiefs at M and T Bank Stadium in Week 2. On the other hand, the biggest disappointment was the failure to hold double digit leads on the road in Vegas and Detroit. Albeit, Justin Tucker came to the rescue at Ford Field with a 66 yard field goal as time expired.
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As the Ravens prepare for a stretch of 3 straight home games, I had a few observations to share:
- Over the last 2 weeks, Lamar Jackson has attempted 68 passes with an average completion rate of 55.8%. While you don’t love the completion percentage (albeit, it would’ve been better without some big drops), you have to like the yards per attempt average of 8.86. Lamar’s yards per attempt prior to this season was 7.5. Although I’m not a huge fan of the increased attempts, I like the fact that Jackson is attacking down the field. Also, the intermediate crossing routes to Mark Andrews have been daggers for the opposition and a boon to the yards per attempt average.
- Juxtaposed to the increased production of the passing game, is the decrease in production from the running game. An obvious reason for the overall decrease in rushing yards is a function of Lamar staying home and throwing the ball more. Jackson had 7 rushing attempts in each of the last 2 contests. The larger concern is the lack of productivity from the running back position thus far….also known as the 2016 Pro Bowl crew. Latavius Murray is averaging a paltry 3.4 yards per carry and has already been tackled behind the line of scrimmage more times in 4 games than Gus Edwards had in 3 years (more on this in a minute). Devonta Freeman has a deceptive 6.8 yards per carry average but that was buoyed by his initial carry as a Raven, which went for 31 yards. His subsequent 5 carries have gone for a meager 10 yards combined. Unless Freeman has been amazing in pass protection, I can’t understand why he’s on this roster. He looks slow and indecisive, which are two things a running back cannot be. Le’Veon Bell may still be a bit rusty or simply no longer effective but I believe he needs more touches before that determination can be made. Meanwhile, Ty’Son Williams and his 6.1 yards per carry and 5 receptions were a healthy scratch last weekend. The rationale was the coaches are trying to find the right mix at running back. That’s fine but the “right mix” shouldn’t be a backfield consisting of 3 guys that haven’t been consistently good in years. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nate McCrary get a shot on the active roster at some point soon.
- I will say the lack of production from the veteran running back crew isn’t necessarily all on them, particularly Latavius Murray. Color commentator and former Raven Obafemi Ayenbadejo made a remark during Sunday’s radio broadcast that was quite telling and confirmed what I’ve been seeing. To paraphrase, Femi said that the Ravens haven’t been running “their” offense. From a schematic standpoint, if you look at the rushing attack the last 2 games versus the game against Kansas City, the differences jump out. The last 2 weeks has been more single back, straight ahead, iso/power type running. The result was negative plays when the backs were being swarmed on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage, failure to convert in short yardage and even a couple of punts on 4th and short around midfield. As opposed to what we saw against the Chiefs; pulling offensive lineman, motion, RPO plays, etc. Williams had 13 carries in the Chiefs game for 5.92 yards per rush. Also in that game, Lamar had 16 carries at 6.68 per rush. Has the schematic change been a function of personnel? Both in the backfield and because of the unsettled situation on the offensive line? Was it simply a product of week to week game planning and how the coaching staff wanted to attack a particular opponent? Or are the Ravens playing the long game and putting this deep passing game on film, only to break out the more “Roman” offense in November and December?
- The rushing game has struggled in short yardage situations so far this year. On the season, there have been 29 plays with 1-3 yards to go for a 1st down; of the 29 plays, the Ravens have rushed the ball 26 times for a total of 102 yards good for 3.9 yards per attempt. Now, this doesn’t tell you the whole story as there could be long gains in short yardage situations to lift that average. Or, if you only need a yard and you get 2, it negatively impacts your average but the rush is still effective. With that said, in the same scenario in 2020 (1-3 yards to go) the Ravens averaged 7.2 yards per carry on 109 attempts. Of course, the sample size is still small but I think this comparison can give us a glimpse into the struggles on 3rd down and the inability to sustain those signature, double digit play, backbreaking drives of the last couple years.
- The defense put together a pretty complete game on Sunday for the first time this season. There was certainly a “here we go again” moment of trepidation after the Broncos lone TD drive, which featured Marlon Humphrey getting an impromptu piggy back ride from rookie running back Javonte Williams. However, there would be no further defensive breakdowns at Mile High. After the Broncos took a 7-0 nothing lead, their ensuing 8 offensive possession ended in 7 punts and an interception. Of course, it’s a week to week league and the opponent/matchup will have a big impact on performance but there are some things to take away from last week’s effort that bodes well moving forward. Notably, the continued growth of Odafe Oweh, Justin Madubuike and Anthony Averett, the impact of a healthy Jimmy Smith and the overall play of safety Chuck Clark.
The Ravens will now get to enjoy 3 weeks’ worth of home cooking prior to a Week 8 bye. They’ve managed to weather the storm of injuries and sit tied atop the AFC North. The good news, help is on the way; Miles Boykin and rookie Rashod Bateman may play this Monday night, Nick Boyle and Ronnie Stanley should play at some point in the not too distant future and Derek Wolfe will have an opportunity to return after the bye week. The return of injured wide receivers could create a numbers crunch at the position and potentially cut into snaps for Duvernay and Proche but it’s always better to have more quality players at your disposal than less.
Just a few weeks ago, in the wake of a devastating run of injuries, combined with a disappointing Week 1 loss to Las Vegas, the season seemed to be teetering on the brink of disaster. However, a 3 game winning streak, fueled by some well-timed big plays, a record breaking field goal and the overall best performance of the year has brought the young season back from the precipice.
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.