Some Facts and Opinions After The Ravens Lose In New York

After a disappointing 24-20 loss to the Giants in New York, the Baltimore Ravens have fallen to 3-3 overall.

In homage to the retired John Eisenberg, here are some Facts and Opinions as Week 6 ends.

Fact: The Ravens outgained New York 406 yards to 238. The Ravens had 23 First Downs, to the Giants 18. Saquon Barkley was held under 100 yards rushing. Daniel Bellinger led the Giants with 38 yards receiving.

Opinion: Barkley has exceptional ability. The Giants have some talent in their Defensive Front 7. While acknowledging the Giants are now 5-1, and in good position to reach the post-season; they looked like who we thought they were before the game. That being a team without a whole lot of players who scare you. This was a game the Ravens should have won.

Fact: Today was the 4th consecutive game that JK Dobbins was active. He had 9 touches (carries and receptions) Sept. 25th vs. New England. That was followed by 17 touches Oct. 2nd vs. Buffalo. Last week vs. Cincinnati the touches dropped to 8. Today he was limited to 7 carries, and just 15 total yards.

Opinion: Kenyon Drake had a strong game today, and ESPN’s Jamison Hensley has reported that Dobbins knee tightened up (maybe amplified by the Field Turf at MetLife Stadium). While understanding those factors, I have trouble envisioning the Ravens getting where they want to go this year, without Dobbins touching the ball more often, and producing.

Fact: Rashod Bateman was inactive again today with his foot injury. He was limited to 12 games last year as a Rookie.

Opinion: His availability and consistency during the remainder of the year will be telling. Mark Andrews will remain the Ravens best pass catching weapon; but you need Bateman showing up weekly and leading the wide receivers.

Fact: Depending on the site you looked at, Lamar Jackson entered today 3rd or 4th overall in the NFL MVP betting odds. Site 1. Site 2.

Opinion: Seems about right to me. Not sure anyone is asked to do more for his team than Jackson is asked to do for the Ravens. Still, if he’s going to get all the (deserved) credit when things go right, he’s going to deservedly get the blame when things go wrong. There were some drops from his available receivers today which didn’t help, but the bottom-line is that Jackson didn’t play well. That 4th Quarter pick was an unfathomably bad decision. There were also a number of passes he failed to make today. That includes the 3rd down drop down prior to Justin Tucker’s missed 56 yard attempt.

An awful lot is asked of Jackson, but if you want the largest contract in the game, and you want most / all of it guaranteed; you have to post up each week. Jackson always shows heart, and in my opinion is always ready to play. There is zero issue with his competitiveness or preparation, and obviously we all know about his athletic gifts. One reasonable complaint about Jackson in my opinion is that the mechanics can be inconsistent and it costs him sometimes. Another reasonable complaint in my opinion is that he can occasionally hurt himself by trying to do too much. I can’t get on him too much there, because again in my opinion so much is asked of him. If you regularly need him to wear the cape and play like Superman to win, you may have to live with the occasional lapse when it feels like he’s trying to do too much.

Fact: Today was the 3rd loss of the season.

Opinion: Each of the losses have been brutal. The Dolphins 4th Quarter. Losing another lead vs. The Bills. Dropping today’s game against what felt like an inferior Giants team.

Fact: Entering today, the Ravens were 3rd overall in Football Outsiders DVOA Rankings. That 3rd overall ranking included being 1st in Special Teams, 2nd in Offense, and 14th in Defense.

Opinion: No metric is perfect or tells the whole story; but DVOA provides a good snapshot of where teams stand. And each week as the input increases, the value of DVOA increases. Just by the eye test, I think the numbers above matched what we had seen entering today. The Special Teams had been great. The Offense was 3rd overall in Points before today. The Defense was middling, but seemed to be improving.

Looking beyond the Ravens, and just at the league as a whole; I don’t see any great teams. Sure, the Chiefs, Bills, Eagles look like the current cream; but I don’t think any of them have the look of a juggernaut.

Fact: Pittsburgh had a surprising win today vs. Tampa Bay. The Steelers are 2-4. Cleveland lost their 3rd consecutive game today, dropping a 38-15 decision to New England. Cincinnati rallied in New Orleans, beating the Saints 30-26 to improve to 3-3.

Opinion: Tomlin will find a way to steal a few more W’s this year, but it would be pretty surprising to see them get back into the playoff race. They also lost their Rookie QB Kenny Pickett to a concussion today. I’ll go all ‘Denny Green‘ again today, and say the Browns are who we thought they were. They’ve got ability, but they’re starting Jacoby Brissett at QB. They’ve dropped a few would-be swing games, and by the time Deshaun Watson returns, they might be out of the division race. Also you have to wonder where Watson will be production wise, after the time he has missed. We saw the defending AFC Champion Bengals first hand last week. My takeaway there is that they remain a talented group, but their inability to block for Joe Burrow is limiting. The Ravens got the head-to-head at home, so Baltimore remains the current Division favorite, but it’s pretty even. I would expect Cincinnati to win 7, possibly 8 of their remaining 11 games. Seems likely in my opinion that the Ravens and Bengals are playing for the North title in Cincinnati Jan. 8th.

Fact: Gus Edwards, Tyus Bowser, and David Ojabo are each practicing. There has to be a decision on Edwards by Oct. 26th, and a decision on Bowser and Ojabo by Nov. 2nd.

Opinion: I have no idea what to expect from this trio, but I’m excited by the prospects of them becoming active. I can envision the running game really taking off as Dobbins finds his legs, and Edwards works his bigger body between the tackles. Bowser can help the defense with his ability to line up at multiple positions. He can help the defense vary their looks, and get attention from opposing offenses which should in-theory help Odafe Oweh, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Justin Houston get home vs. QBs. Same with Ojabo. If he gets on the active roster, there isn’t going to be anything asked of him beyond going after QB’s.

Fact: The Ravens drafted Kyle Hamilton 14th overall this year out of Notre Dame.

Opinion: There is a lot of chirping locally that Hamilton has not lived up to draft status. That seems like a tough charge to make to me, given that today was his 6th NFL game. Where I will agree with people though, is that after the Marcus Williams injury; you want to see Hamilton’s snap count greatly increased. Time for some extensive game action, and on-the-job training. What you want to see is week-to-week, month-to-month improvement.

Fact: In addition to Hamilton, and Ojabo, other picks in the 2022 Ravens Draft class were Tyler Linderbaum, Travis Jones, Daniel Faalele, Jayln Armour-Davis, Charlie Kolar, Jordan Stout, Isaiah Likely, Damarion Williams, and Tyler Badie.

Opinion: I think you’ve got to be encouraged by what we’ve seen from this group so far. Linderbaum looks like a long-term starter. Jones had a sack today, and has some plus athleticism. Faalele didn’t embarrass himself when called upon at LT. Armour-Davis has a chance to help as a Dimeback. Stout is handling the punting. Likely was the camp hero, and has shown signs the last two weeks of finding his legs. ‘Pepe’ Williams is helping the Secondary.

Fact: Devin Duvernay was limited to 1 catch for 14 yards on 5 targets today.

Opinion: Today was the first week this year where Duvernay didn’t positively impact the game. He’s had a very productive 2022, and if Bateman can get back and perform as he should, and Likely can continue to emerge as the 2nd TE; then Duvernay has a chance to put together a really strong year as the 2nd WR.

Fact: Justin Madubuike was a 3rd Rd selection in the 2020 Draft.

Opinion: He’s taken a step forward here in Year 3, and is playing at a pretty strong level weekly.

Fact: The Ravens remaining schedule is 10/23 vs. Cleveland, 10/27 @ Tampa Bay, 11/7 @ New Orleans, 11/20 vs. Carolina, 11/27 @ Jacksonville, 12/4 vs. Denver, 12/11 @ Pittsburgh, 12/18 @ Browns, 12/24 Atlanta, 1/1 Pittsburgh, 1/8 @ Cincinnati.

Opinion: I said above, I think 3-3 Cincinnati would win 7 or 8 of their remaining games, and that it feels to me the Ravens and Bengals will be playing for the Division at Cincinnati Jan. 8th. If that’s the case, the Ravens also have to win 7 or 8 of their remaining 11 games. That’s certainly doable with the remaining schedule, but as we also said previously – parity abounds. Each week is largely about individual matchups, and health. Beyond that the separation level between winning and losing is minimal. Who steps up and makes a play? Who makes the unforced error? Do you kill yourself with penalties?

Three times so far in these early weeks of the 2022 season, the Baltimore Ravens have lost games they could have (probably should have) won. That’s frustrating for sure. If you are glass half-empty you’ll say they are finding ways to lose. If you are glass half-full, you’ll say those losses are frustrating because you should have won. And if you ‘should’ have won, that’s telling about who you are overall.

Both arguments have merit, because they are both valid points.
The Ravens are finding ways to lose.
The Ravens do have potential – especially in a league of parity, without any overwhelming giants.

I can look at the remaining schedule and maybe see 7 or 8 more wins.
You might look at the remaining schedule and believe the wheels are going to come off.

It doesn’t matter what we feel either way.

What we should be able to agree on, is that if we feel like the Ravens are beating themselves right now; then the takeaway going forward is it’s less about the remaining competition and more about the Ravens themselves.

Either way, the Ravens get to prove who they are.