Level Par

Relativity is an incredible thing.

Back in early September, if someone told you that the Ravens would have a 4-5 record heading into their Week 11 matchup at Cleveland, you would probably be in full blown panic mode.

Therein lies the beauty of relativity. When the team endured a rash of injuries and a run of inexplicably maddening poor play that anchored them at the bottom of the AFC North with a 1-5 mark, the ensuing 3 game winning streak to put them at 4-5 (along with the Steelers coming back to the pack at 5-4) paints a pretty good picture, all things considered.

Now, this is not to say that the everything is fine in Baltimore or the Ravens have returned to the level of AFC favorites but it certainly a vast improvement on where things stood not that long ago.

In the leadup to last week’s win over the Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore had enjoyed their healthiest roster in recent memory. Unfortunately, that very small run of great health hit a snag. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman suffered an ankle sprain that has him in a walking boot and he could force him to miss some time. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey had a minor finger surgery that will keep him sidelined for at least week. Justice Hill, Isaiah Likely, Malakai Starks and Jay Higgins also appeared on Wednesday’s injury report.

Then, there was Lamar Jackson’s absence from practice on Wednesday.

Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh provided an update on Jackson, saying that, “…he should be okay.” Even though it’s grown very difficult to take Harbaugh at his word, especially when it comes to the health of his players, Jackson did make his way back to the practice field on Thursday.

And Baltimore exhaled.

Provided that Lamar will be ready to go on Sunday, the Ravens will be heavy favorites in Cleveland. With that said, the Ravens have not swept the Browns since 2020. That sweep required some major heroics from Lamar and the offense. Jackson emerged from the locker room, just in the nick of time, to turn a 4th and 5 into a 44 yard go ahead TD and then put together a 28 yard drive to set up a game winning field goal with 2 seconds remaining.

Since that season sweep in 2020, the Ravens have suffered losses to Baker Mayfield, Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston.

It’s imperative that Baltimore does not let rookie Dillon Gabriel join that list.

For the Ravens to continue their winning ways and achieve their climb back to .500, there are 3 keys:

1. Continue the recent run of takeaways….

This author has discussed the impact of Alohi Gilman’s arrival in Baltimore and how that translated to a nearly instant return to credibility for the defense. The Ravens have taken the ball away at least once in each of their last 4 games; good for 8 total turnovers. They’ve won the turnover battle in each game of their modest, 3 game winning streak. The defense must make the Browns’ rookie signal caller uncomfortable and force him into some bad decisions.

2. Find consistency in the running game.…

The struggles of the offensive line, particularly along the interior may make rushing yards difficult to come by. Especially in the early part of games. Last week vs Minnesota, Derrick Henry had a rather pedestrian 75 yards on 20 carries; 12 of those carries were for 3 yards or less. Henry did find a little bit of success when he bounced his run to the outside, so perhaps Monken should add in some off tackle or toss sweep plays to get the King away from penetrating defenders. Keaton Mitchell saw some action, tallying 31 yards on 4 carries. (Although Monken did go to Mitchell on 3 straight plays and the 3rd carry resulted in a 2 yard loss, which short-circuited a promising drive) It would be beneficial to get Mitchell some carries earlier in the game (his first touch came at the 4:25 mark of the 2nd quarter). Maybe there’s a personnel package that could feature Henry and Mitchell in the backfield together to really keep Cleveland guessing on defense? Either way, finding efficacy and consistency in the running game will lead to more favorable down and distances for Lamar and the offense.

3. Better success in the red zone….

Taking a simplistic view, the Ravens red zone TD rate in 2025 (50%) is down significantly from last year’s league leading 73.97%. If you remove the time where Lamar was out, the red zone TD success rate does improve somewhat (60%) but it’s still nowhere near where this offense should be. Especially considering the array of skill position talent and the best dual threat quarterback in NFL history, the productivity in the red zone should be much better than it’s been thus far. Something that is hard to believe, DeAndre Hopkins has seen just 2 attempts come his way inside the 20 this year. Given Hopkins size and incredible hands, perhaps Monken could scheme something up to get the him some looks in the red zone. Also, in goal to go situations, it would be worthwhile to consider more play action on 1st down; especially when Henry is in the backfield. We know that opposing defenses are still loading the box to try to stop Henry (the King is seeing 8+ defenders in the box nearly 41% of the time), therefore, the Ravens could easily exploit that aggression and go over the top of the defense after a hard play fake. Bottom line, going just 2 for 5 in the red zone in a game (as they did last week) with any regularity will not cut it as the season wears on.

The scheduling gods have certainly done the Ravens a favor after a fairly brutal opening month. Not that any game in the NFL is an easy win, particularly, a third straight road game against a division foe that always seems to be a thorn in the Ravens’ collective side. However, Baltimore has always thrived against rookie signal callers and their rapidly improving defense should certainly make life difficult for Dillon Gabriel.

The Ravens are now just win shy of getting back to a place that was almost unthinkable a month ago; level par.