Lamar Jackson lasted one offensive play. He left with a right thumb injury. Tyler Huntley followed in the second quarter with a right toe injury, and Joe Fagnano played the rest of the way. He was the first emergency third quarterback used by any team this season, per Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet).

At this point there is no pressure on the Ravens the rest of this season.

If Jackson can get back in time, maybe they can still fight for the 7th spot.

But zero expectations.

EDIT: @jeffzrebiec Minter said thumb injury is potentially season ending for Lamar Jackson.

What Happened

Buffalo scored on its first possession. Josh Allen hit Khalil Shakir for 26 on third-and-6 and 18 more to the 5, a replay review took a Shakir touchdown back to the 1, and Allen scored from there. It was 7-0 with 10:10 left in the first quarter.

Jackson’s first pass, short right for Zay Flowers, fell incomplete, and he was hurt on the play. Huntley finished the drive, a three-and-out. Tyler Bass kicked a 56-yard field goal for 10-0.

The Ravens got even on the defense’s first takeaway. Broderick Washington intercepted Allen at the Buffalo 17, Derrick Henry ran 12 yards to the 5, and after an encroachment penalty Henry scored from the 2. It was 10-7 with 3:18 left in the first quarter.

Buffalo turned it over on downs at the Ravens 37 to open the second quarter, but two plays into the Ravens’ next drive, Cole Bishop strip-sacked Huntley, and Buffalo recovered at the Ravens 20. Huntley did not take another snap. The Ravens held at the goal line, with Allen losing 3 on third-and-goal from the 1, and Bass kicked a 22-yarder for 13-7.

Fagnano came in with 9:39 left in the half. Rasheen Ali returned the kickoff 59 yards, and Fagnano completed passes of 15 to Josh Cuevas and 13 to Ja’Kobi Lane to the Buffalo 7. He was sacked for 9 on the next play, threw two incompletions, and Tyler Loop’s 34-yard try hit the left upright.

Roquan Smith forced a DJ Moore fumble at the Ravens 21 at the two-minute warning, and T.J. Tampa recovered. Three plays after an offside penalty gave the Ravens a first down, Igbinosun intercepted Fagnano’s pass for Flowers and returned it to the Ravens 33. Bass kicked a 51-yarder with 9 seconds left. It was 16-7 at the half.

The Ravens opened the third quarter with their best drive. Fagnano found Rashod Bateman for 22, Ed Oliver added 15 for roughing the passer, and a low block on Buffalo put the ball at the 28. Henry ran 10 yards for a touchdown, but Ronnie Stanley was called for holding, and Loop kicked a 26-yard field goal instead. It was 16-10.

Buffalo answered in six plays. Allen threw 49 yards to Moore to the Ravens 5, and James Cook scored. Allen hit Dalton Kincaid for 40 early in the fourth quarter and Moore for an 11-yard touchdown, his 259th career touchdown pass including the playoffs, which moved him past Jim Kelly for the franchise record, per the Bills (@BuffaloBillsPR); the two-point try failed. After the Ravens went for it and missed on fourth-and-3 at their own 44, Allen found Kincaid for 23 yards and a touchdown, 36-10 with 5:58 left. The Ravens’ last drive ended on an aborted snap by Fagnano at the Buffalo 48.

The Offense

Three quarterbacks threw 26 passes for 68 net yards, the Ravens’ fewest since the 2017 London loss to Jacksonville. Jackson was 0 for 1 on his only snap. Huntley was 2 of 4 for no yards, was sacked once and lost a fumble. Fagnano was 10 of 21 for 91 yards with an interception, was sacked three times and lost the fumble on an aborted snap. The Ravens turned it over three times.

Flowers was targeted five times and didn’t catch a pass. Justice Hill caught 4 of 8 targets for 20 yards; Bateman’s 22-yarder was the longest completion, and Mark Andrews caught 3 for 14.

The run game was the one part that held up. Henry ran 11 times for 53 yards, 4.8 a carry, and scored, and the Ravens averaged 4.0 a carry as a team. Henry’s 10-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter was wiped out by Stanley’s holding penalty, and the Ravens kicked a field goal instead.

They converted 3 of 13 third downs and missed on their only fourth down. In the red zone they scored one touchdown in three trips: Henry’s run, Loop’s miss off the upright, and the field goal after Stanley’s hold.

Andrew Vorhees started at right guard next to Cam Jurgens, with Emery Jones Jr. inactive. The Ravens allowed four sacks, one of Huntley and three of Fagnano. Carson Vinson reported as an extra eligible lineman once, on a 1-yard Henry run in the second quarter.

The line play wasn’t good, but I’m not sure how you directly evaluate anything with the QB injuries

Ioane getting healthy would obviously help.

Jurgens didn’t look particularly good, but he’s a 2x Pro Bowler that just turned 27.  Presumably he’ll be better.

Stanley is 32 with a lot of games behind him. Where does he rank amongst LT’s at this point?
Rosengarten is in his 3rd year.  You’d like to see him finish strong, and not believe RT is an issue going forward.

The Defense

For a half, the defense kept the Ravens in it. Buffalo had 16 points but one touchdown: the Ravens took the ball away twice, stopped a fourth down at their 37, and held from the 3-yard line to force a field goal. Washington’s interception and Smith’s forced fumble, recovered by Tampa, were the Ravens’ first takeaways in a loss this season.

The second half went the way of the last two. Buffalo scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions, on drives of 77, 65 and 43 yards. Allen’s three longest completions all came after halftime: 49 yards to Moore, 40 to Kincaid and the 23-yard touchdown to Kincaid.

Allen finished 21 of 34 for 289 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and ran seven times for 30 yards and a touchdown. Kincaid caught 4 passes for 86 yards, Moore 4 for 82 and Shakir 5 for 64. Cook ran 21 times for 80 yards and a touchdown, which extends the streak Jamison Hensley cited coming in: 22 straight games without a 100-yard running back against the Ravens.

The Ravens sacked Allen once, a sack split by Mike Green and Nnamdi Madubuike. Smith led the team with 11 tackles and Malaki Starks had 10. Tampa, back from injured reserve, made three tackles along with the fumble recovery.

Generally the Ravens defense was fine today given who they were facing and their own QB injuries.
Buffalo’s a high quality offense. The Ravens defense was always going to need help from their offense to help contain the Bills offense.
Jackson’s injury immediately eliminated any real offensive help.

The Ravens gave up 426 yards, but that’s going to happen when you’re giving Allen that many chances.
The Ravens did hold Buffalo to 4 of 14 on 3rd down – unfortunately Buffalo was 4 of 5 on 4th down.

Penalties And Special Teams

The Ravens were penalized seven times for 38 yards, Buffalo ten times for 87.

• Ravens: Stanley’s false start and his holding call on Henry’s touchdown run; Flowers’ false start at the Buffalo 5; Humphrey’s and Madubuike’s defensive holds, the second adding 4 yards to Cook’s fourth-down conversion at the 11; and K’Von Wallace’s illegal block on the final kickoff of the half.
• Buffalo: Oliver’s roughing the passer and Terrel Bernard’s low block set up the Ravens’ field goal drive; James Cook’s chop block cost Buffalo 15 yards before the half.

Loop made 1 of 2 field goals, missing from 34 off the left upright and making from 26. His opening kickoff went out of bounds, giving Buffalo the ball at its 40 for the first touchdown drive. Bass made all three of his tries, from 56, 22 and 51.  Loop is now 13 of 17 on the year.  He’s 5 of 5 from 50+, and he’s 4 of 8 from 30-49 yards.

Ryan Eckley punted five times for a 49.8 average, two inside the 20. Rasheen Ali returned five kickoffs for 147 yards, including a 59-yarder that set up Fagnano’s first drive; he muffed one in the third quarter and recovered it.

The Questions Coming In

Leadership. The week after Cincinnati was about who leads this team. Minter said the Ravens were still working through who grabs everyone on the sideline when a game turns, asking, “Who is that person? Who are those players?” per Ravens.com. Derrick Henry said he hadn’t done a good enough job leading, and Ronnie Stanley said he needs to be more vocal, per FOX45. Leadership doesn’t show up in a box score. What does show up is whether the Ravens held together when Buffalo made its run. In Buffalo, it was 16-10 early in the third quarter, and the Bills scored three touchdowns in their next four possessions. Leadership matters, but generally I think it’s one the of things people point to when things don’t go right between the lines.  Jackson had missed the previous couple of games, and was out of this game after his first snap. The O-Line has been in-flux. The D-Line has regularly got pressure this year, but hasn’t gotten to opposing QBs enough. The Secondary has been burned several times. Are these examples of a lack of leadership and/or character, or are they examples of not enough talent on the roster? For what you can glean (not much) through watching a team through TV, I thought the Ravens continued to compete today even when it was clear what direction this game was headed. That points to some level of cohesiveness and ‘leadership’ in my opinion.

The second half. The Ravens came in plus-65 in first halves and minus-70 in second halves, and without a second-half point in two weeks. Buffalo’s defense came in allowing 1.5 touchdowns per fourth quarter, the worst rate for any defense since at least 1977, per ESPN. Today put one team’s late-game problem against the other’s. The Ravens scored 3 points after halftime, their first second-half points in three games. Buffalo scored 20, 13 of them in the fourth quarter. Again, given the QB injuries, how do you evaluate anything from today?  The next time the Ravens are ‘healthy’ and have a 2nd half lead, we can review how they perform.

The defense. The Ravens had three interceptions in seven games coming in, and no takeaways in their three losses. BSL Ravens Analyst Jamie Sieck asked this week whether Minter’s defense is too passive and too reliant on zone in big spots, and whether calling the defense as a first-year Head Coach is too much. Two pregame markers from ESPN: Baltimore was first in EPA allowed on play-action, against a Bills offense that uses play-action at the fourth-highest rate (Week 8 preview), and the Ravens hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in 21 straight games, per Jamison Hensley. In Buffalo the Ravens got two takeaways, Allen threw for 289 yards with an interception, and Cook was held to 80 yards. As I said above, I think the defense was fine today given the circumstances around them. Regarding Jamie’s question about Minter calling games as the Head Coach? I brought this up as a question in our season previews, but found after review that a HC calling plays was more prevalent league wide than I had anticipated. This is supposed to be his strength, I wouldn’t run from it, unless you (the Ravens Front Office) thought it was so tasking, that it was causing Minter to have errors in judgement with situational calls, or his defensive play calling.

Jackson. Since 2019 the Ravens are 76-35 with Jackson and 7-14 without him, and this season they scored 14 touchdowns in his 14 quarters and five in the 14 without him, per ESPN. Entering today, he was averaging 10.1 yards a pass to Huntley’s 6.9. In Buffalo he lasted one snap, an incompletion, and left with the thumb injury. I’ve seen Ravens fans online again calling him soft.  I presume he either broke his thumb or tore a ligament. I’m not sure why anyone would expect him to stay in the game with those injuries to his throwing hand.  I saw one person on X with a decent size following suggest the injury was an example of what happens to a running QB with his cumulative amount of carries. That’s a ridiculous comment as there is no correlation between this freak occurrence of hitting his hand on a DL’s helmet with him also having a history of running.

Buffalo at home. The Bills had beaten the Ravens three straight times in Buffalo, and Josh Allen came in 8-0 in his career after a bye, per Ravens.com. Make it four straight, and Allen 9-0. This was the Ravens first visit to the Bills new Stadium. The Bills are a Super Bowl caliber team, even with their defensive questions. It felt like the Ravens had an opportunity today, even with their QB injuries. Presumably Buffalo lost some focus / intensity when Jackson went out. Maybe they would have won regardless. It feels like the Ravens would have had a reasonable chance to win today had Jackson stayed available.

Week 9: Jacksonville At Baltimore

The Ravens host Jacksonville on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 8:15 p.m. ET at M&T Bank Stadium, on Prime Video, four days after Buffalo. As of Sunday morning, before the injuries, the Ravens were 3-point favorites at DraftKings, and ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gave them a 47.8% chance to win. Both numbers will likely move.

The Jaguars came into today 4-2, leading the AFC South by 2.5 games over Indianapolis and Houston, both 2-5, after their Week 7 bye. Tennessee is 1-6. They beat Indianapolis 42-7 on Sunday and are 5-2. Lawrence completed 10 of 14 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns, one to the recently benched Brian Thomas Jr., and Rayuan Lane returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown, per AP. Liam Coen is in his second season; Jacksonville went 13-4 last year and won its final eight regular-season games, per NBC News. Grant Udinski is the offensive coordinator and Anthony Campanile the defensive coordinator, per Jaguars.com.

In our Week 8 rankings the Jaguars were seventh overall and third in DVOA, with an 11-6 projection that wins the AFC South. The Ravens were 14th and 15th in DVOA, projected 9-8 and the first team out of the AFC field, tied with Cleveland.

How Jacksonville got to 5-2

Through six games, before today’s game against Indianapolis, Jacksonville had scored 154 points, eighth in the league, and allowed 104, third fewest, per Pro Football Reference. Both losses were one-score games. In the Houston loss, Trevor Lawrence threw four touchdown passes, and Travis Hunter caught a touchdown and intercepted C.J. Stroud; a too-many-men penalty was Jacksonville’s third straight week of costly flags, per our Week 6 review.

When Jacksonville has the ball

Entering today, Lawrence had completed 120 of 184 passes for 1,480 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions, and had been sacked 10 times, per Pro Football Reference. Fourteen touchdown passes in six games is a career first for him, per Jaguars.com.

Entering today, Parker Washington led Jacksonville with 26 catches for 416 yards and four touchdowns. Brenton Strange had 26 catches for 279 yards, and Jakobi Meyers 20 for 285. Bhayshul Tuten had run 94 times for 388 yards, 4.1 a carry, and Chris Rodriguez Jr. 39 times for 168. Travis Hunter had six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown on offense, and two interceptions on defense.

Entering today, Lawrence had completed 78% of his passes against zone coverage, with a 6.5% off-target rate, both best among 33 qualified quarterbacks, per ESPN Research.

Left tackle Anton Harrison is out for the season with a torn ACL, per Jaguars.com. Jacksonville’s offensive line is 11th on our numbers and amongst the first teams out of our top 8 because of his injury: 47% pass block win rate (22nd), 74% run block (ninth), a 5.2% sack rate, 2.0 points better than its opponents usually allow, and 4.1 yards a carry, 0.2 under what those defenses allow.

Baltimore’s defensive line is seventh: 54% pass rush win rate (seventh), 31% run stop (eighth), a 6.6% sack rate, 0.5 better than its opponents’ lines usually allow, and 3.8 yards a carry allowed. The defense as a whole is 17th in FTN’s defensive DVOA.

When Baltimore has the ball

Jacksonville’s front is 16th on our numbers, and its two halves don’t match. It is fifth in pass rush win rate at 57% but 30th in run stop at 26%, and it still allows only 3.2 yards a carry, 0.6 under what its opponents usually gain.

That front came out of Sunday banged up. Nose tackle DaVon Hamilton was carted off with a right knee injury in the second quarter and ruled out, and defensive end Travon Walker (ribs) and safety Eric Murray (elbow) were also hurt, per AP. On offense, right guard Ezra Cleveland hurt his ankle.

The results favor the run defense over its win rate: Jacksonville came into today first in EPA allowed per designed rush, per ESPN. The pass defense is softer. Entering today, it allowed 8.0 yards per pass attempt, also per ESPN, and had 11 sacks and seven interceptions in six games. Travon Walker had two sacks and Josh Hines-Allen 1.5; Foyesade Oluokun, Jourdan Lewis and Hunter had two interceptions each.

Entering today, Cam Little had made 10 of 12 field goals, 4 of 6 from 50 yards or more, with a long of 60.

Baltimore’s offensive line entering this weekend was 18th in our O-Line Rankings: 48% pass block (20th), 72% run block (21st), an 8.2% sack rate, 1.4 points worse than its opponents usually allow, and 4.7 yards a carry. Vega Ioane (knee) was ruled out for Buffalo. In Buffalo, Vorhees started at right guard next to Cam Jurgens.

The short week

We’ve seen repeatedly that NFL games on Thursday Night’s look like a different product.  Players are still recovering from their games just a few days prior, and we see teams look less prepared.

The Ravens get the benefit of being at home, but this already had the makings of an ugly game prior to the likelyhood of Fagnano making his first NFL start.

What comes after

After Jacksonville, the Chargers come to Baltimore on Monday, Nov. 16, at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN. Here is the rest of the schedule, with each opponent’s place in our Oct. 27th power rankings:

Four of the last five games are against the AFC North, where the Ravens are 0-2.

The Path To A 7 Seed

These numbers include Sunday’s early results; the late games (Chiefs at Broncos, Patriots at Dolphins, Chargers at Rams) use their pregame odds.

We’ll wait for the Ravens’ formal announcement on Jackson’s thumb. For our purposes, we’re assuming he misses four to six weeks. Because the bye falls in Week 13, that’s either three games, with Jackson back Nov. 29th at Houston, or four, with him back Dec. 13th against Tampa Bay.

Here’s how we built it. Each remaining Ravens game rates both teams by their place in our Oct. 27th power rankings, adds home field, and takes 6 points off the Ravens while Jackson is out, which is how far the line moved when he was ruled out against Cincinnati. Every other AFC team plays out its season at the pace of our Oct. 27th win projections. We ran the rest of the season 200,000 times and counted how often the Ravens got in.

Those numbers break ties at random. The Ravens are 0-2 in the division and already behind New England on conference record, so most ties would likely go against them. If they lose every tie, the chances drop to about 18% and 15%.

The 7th seed finished with 9 or 10 wins in almost nine of every 10 simulations. From 4-4, that means going 5-4 or 6-3 the rest of the way. The model’s most common Ravens finish is 8-9.

Thursday is the hardest game without Jackson. Jacksonville is seventh in our Power Rankings, and the model gives the Ravens about a 29% chance; ESPN had them at 47.8% before the injuries and results today. The Chargers, last in our rankings, and Tampa Bay at home are the likeliest wins.

The model doesn’t know who plays quarterback. Huntley and Fagnano were both hurt today, and the 6-point adjustment assumes a healthy backup.

The trade deadline

The deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10th, at 4 p.m. ET, per CBS Sports. That leaves the Ravens one more game, Thursday, and probably a diagnosis on Jackson’s thumb, before they decide.

Eric DeCosta has been a deadline buyer: Marcus Peters in 2019, Yannick Ngakoue in 2020 and Roquan Smith in 2022, per The Banner. This October he sent a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 fifth to Philadelphia for Jurgens, per Yahoo Sports. The last Ravens team to sell was Ozzie Newsome’s 2015 team, which made two depth trades.

The case for selling is next year’s cap more than this year’s. The Ravens are tight this season after restructuring Jackson’s contract in the spring, which cleared about $40 million, per The Banner. Over The Cap counts about $1.9 million in room this season. If DeCosta did sell, four veterans are the realistic names:

Figures from the Over The Cap calculator. A trade now leaves this season’s bonus charge on the Ravens’ books and moves the rest of a player’s bonus money onto the 2027 cap as dead money; the last column is what’s left over.

The league cap does rise. Projections for 2027 run from about $323 million to $352 million, up from $301.2 million this year, per Over The Cap and Spotrac. Even so, Jackson’ could be roughly a quarter of it. With 45 players under contract for 2027, Over The Cap has the Ravens at about $372.9 million against a $327 million cap, roughly $46 million over before filling out a roster. Spotrac’s estimate is about $52.8 million over.

The cap has climbed fast: $208.2 million in 2022, $224.8 million in 2023, $255.4 million in 2024, $279.2 million in 2025 and $301.2 million this year.

If the projections hold, the expected Lamar Jackson extension won’t be much of an issue. If the cap doesn’t grow that much, that would make thoughts on the likely extension more complicated.
He turns 30 in January, and obviously there have been times he has missed considerable time as we discussed last week.

Ravens On SI has argued for moving all four. The timing matters less than it sounds. Because it’s after June 1, a trade now puts the same dead money on the 2027 cap as a release or trade in March would; Smith counts $12.7 million in 2027 either way. What a trade now adds is the rest of this season’s salary, which carries over into 2027 as cap space, plus whatever pick comes back. For Smith, that’s about $8 million of his $16 million base salary at the deadline. The cost is losing him for the last nine games.

Of the four, only Smith frees meaningful 2027 space whenever he’s moved. Humphrey frees none: his contract voids after this season, and its $11.9 million 2027 charge is dead money either way. Andrews is the one where a trade beats a release. Five million dollars of his 2027 salary is guaranteed and would go with him in a trade, so trading him saves $3.5 million, while cutting him would cost $1.5 million, per Over The Cap.

The post Ravens At Bills Review, Jacksonville Preview appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Baltimore is 0-2 in the AFC North, its first 0-2 start in the division since 2007, per Jeff Zrebiec. Pittsburgh beat New Orleans 16-10 in Paris and Cleveland won 27-24 in Tennessee. The Browns and Steelers are 5-2, the Bengals 4-2, and the Ravens are last in the division.

Lamar Jackson missed his third straight game with a high ankle sprain, and Tyler Huntley made his third straight start. The Ravens were 3 point underdogs at DraftKings Sunday morning, with a total of 46.5, and ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gave them a 34.5% chance to win. They had been 3-point favorites with a 51.5 total in our Week 7 preview; the line moved 6 points once Jackson was ruled out.

A loss to the Bengals without Jackson was expected; but it makes the Week 2 home loss to New Orleans sting that much more.

Coming off oft these back-to-back division losses, the Ravens are now staring at a trip to Buffalo followed by Jacksonville just four days later.

We have not yet reached Halloween, and the Ravens are suddenly in a pretty precarious position.

What Happened

Baltimore scored on its opening drive, four plays and 65 yards. After Josh Cuevas caught a 16-yarder and Derrick Henry gained 1, Huntley hit Zay Flowers short to the right on third-and-9, and Flowers went 48 yards for the touchdown. It was 7-0 with 13:36 left in the first quarter.

Cincinnati punted on its first three possessions, and Ryan Rehkow pinned the Ravens at their 3 and their 6. From the 6, Baltimore put together an 18-play, 78-yard drive that took 11 minutes and crossed into the second quarter. Huntley converted four third downs on it, including a 20-yarder to Flowers on third-and-13. At the Cincinnati 11, Henry was stopped for no gain on second-and-1 and again on third-and-1, Matthew Hibner false-started on fourth down, and Tyler Loop kicked a 34-yard field goal. It was 10-0.

The next drive went 82 yards in 13 plays. A low-block penalty on Boye Mafe turned a third-and-1 stop into a first down, Rashod Bateman caught 18 on third-and-16, and Flowers caught 16 on third-and-6 to the Cincinnati 13. Huntley’s third-and-3 throw to Ja’Kobi Lane from the 6 fell incomplete, and Loop kicked from 24 with 50 seconds left. It was 13-0 at the half. The Ravens had the ball for 22:20 of the first 30 minutes and outgained Cincinnati 258 yards to 59.

The Bengals opened the second half with a nine-play, 66-yard drive, and Joe Burrow found Mike Gesicki for a 6-yard touchdown. Baltimore went three-and-out: Henry lost 4, and Cashius Howell sacked Huntley on third-and-11. Dohnte Meyers returned the punt 31 yards to the Baltimore 47, and six plays later Tee Higgins scored from 13. Cincinnati led 14-13 with 4:29 left in the third.

The Ravens answered with their best second-half drive, 10 plays to the Cincinnati 12, with Bateman catching 15 and Cuevas 19. On fourth-and-2 on the first play of the fourth quarter, Huntley’s pass over the middle for Cuevas fell incomplete.

Cincinnati then scored on three straight possessions. Higgins caught a 44-yarder, K’Von Wallace was called for interference at the 8, and Samaje Perine scored from the 1 with 11:14 left. After a Baltimore punt, Burrow hit Ja’Marr Chase for 30 and Higgins for 43, and Chase scored from the 2 on third-and-goal. On the next snap, Demetrius Knight Jr. intercepted Huntley’s pass for Flowers and returned it to the Baltimore 24. Three plays later Drew Sample caught a 16-yard touchdown. It was 35-13 with 6:21 left.

Baltimore’s last real possession ended on downs at the Cincinnati 48, when Huntley was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 after a Dexter Lawrence II sack.

The Offense

Baltimore gained 258 yards in the first half and 101 in the second, 19 of them on the final drive down 22. It went 0 for 3 in the red zone, with two field goals and a turnover on downs. Cincinnati went 5 for 5.

Huntley completed 23 of 34 for 298 yards, 8.8 a pass, with a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked four times: 1.5 by Mafe, one each by Lawrence and Howell, and a half by Bryan Cook. A week earlier in Cleveland he had 165 yards at 5.3 a pass. He threw for 215 yards in the first half, 120 of them to Flowers, and 83 after it.

The yards came on short throws. The play-by-play logs all 23 completions as short passes, and Huntley was 0 for 5 on throws logged as deep. The 48-yard touchdown was a short pass that Flowers turned upfield.

Flowers caught 8 of 11 targets for 137 yards. Cuevas had 2 catches for 35, Bateman 2 for 33 in his return from the shoulder injury, Justice Hill 3 for 26, Lane 3 for 25 on five targets, Mark Andrews 3 for 23 and LaJohntay Wester 1 for 15.

The early downs were better than in Cleveland. Six of Baltimore’s 16 third downs needed 8 yards or more, after 11 of 16 a week ago, and it converted three of them. Overall the Ravens converted 9 of 16, plus the first down on Mafe’s penalty.

The run game was not. Baltimore ran 27 times for 83 yards, 3.1 a carry, against a Bengals front that came in allowing 5.0, 0.7 worse than its opponents usually gain, per our line rankings. Henry ran 17 times for 45 yards. He had 32 on 13 carries in the first half and 13 on four after it. Huntley ran twice on scrambles for 12 yards.

Cam Jurgens made his Ravens debut at center Vega Ioane left in the first half with a knee injury, and did not return. Emery Jones Jr. replaced him. Minter had no update on Ioane afterward, per Jonas Shaffer.

The Ravens got about as much out of Huntley today as anyone could have reasonably hoped for.

They had to settle for FG’s on their 2nd Quarter drives, but they dominated possession, and were effective on 3rd down.

13 points was never going to be enough to win, but the Ravens defense couldn’t make a stop and get the ball back to the offense in the 2nd half.

Short Yardage

Henry converted one of his four carries with 1 or 2 to go. Over the last three games he has converted 2 of 10, not counting the tying two-point run in Atlanta.

Jeff Zrebiec called it “pretty telling” that the Ravens had to drop back to pass on a must-have third-and-2, and called the decline of the short-yardage run game striking.

The Defense

For a half, the defense held Cincinnati to 59 yards on four possessions: three punts and a four-play drive that ran out the half. The Bengals converted 2 of 6 third downs.

The second half was five straight touchdown drives: 66, 47, 88, 79 and 24 yards. Cincinnati gained 298 yards after halftime, converted 4 of 5 third downs and finished 5 for 5 in the red zone. The Bengals are the 10th team in NFL history to be shut out in a first half and score 35 or more in the second, per CBS Sports research via @johnbreech.

Higgins did most of the damage. He caught 6 of 7 targets for 148 yards and a touchdown, and all four of Burrow’s completions logged as deep went to him, for 19, 19, 44 and 43 yards. The 44-yarder set up Perine’s touchdown, and the 43-yarder set up Chase’s touchdown from the 2. Chase caught 5 for 62 and a touchdown, including a 30-yarder on a short throw. That’s 11 catches for 210 yards between them.

Burrow finished 22 of 30 for 292 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked once, by Mike Green with 31 seconds left in the first half, and hit six times. Trey Hendrickson, facing his former team, had two of the hits and no tackles.

Cincinnati ran 20 times for 73 yards, 3.7 a carry. Chase Brown had 39 yards on 11 carries.

Roquan Smith led the team with eight tackles; he was hurt on a fourth-quarter run and returned. There were no takeaways for the third time in the Ravens’ three losses.

As we said in the Offense section above, the Ravens Defense couldn’t make a stop in the 2nd half and get the ball back to the Offense.  A talented Cincinnati offense got hot in the 2nd half, and the Ravens had no answers.

Part of me wants to tip the cap to Burrow and his WR’s for how they finished; and part of thinks you have to at-least ding the Ravens Defense for their total collapse.

If you give someone like Burrow enough chances, at some point he’s going to make you pay.  That’s understood.  Giving up 5 TD’s on 5 straight possessions is a tough-watch regardless of opponent.

Penalties And Special Teams

Baltimore had 10 penalties accepted for 57 yards, a week after six for 29. Cincinnati had one, for 15.

• Offense (7): five false starts, two by Ronnie Stanley and one each by Andrews, Hibner and Roger Rosengarten; a delay of game; and a hold by Simpson that wiped out a 7-yard Huntley scramble on third-and-6.
• Defense (3): Keyon Martin’s offside on the Higgins touchdown, Kyle Hamilton’s hold that erased a 4-yard catch, and Wallace’s interference at the 8 on the Perine touchdown drive.
• Cincinnati: Mafe’s low block, which turned a third-and-1 stop into a Ravens first down.

Loop made both field goals, from 34 and 24. Ryan Eckley punted three times for a 48.3 average, none inside the 20, and Meyers’ 31-yard return set up the 47-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter. Rehkow put all four of his punts inside the 20; the Ravens started those drives at their 3, 6, 12 and 6.

LaJohntay Wester returned three kickoffs for 86 yards, the longest 38. Wallace forced a Meyers fumble on a kickoff in the second quarter, but Cincinnati recovered.

Jackson’s Availability

Jackson has now missed three straight games: Atlanta, Cleveland and Cincinnati. The Ravens are 1-2 without him. He was hurt Oct. 4 against Tennessee, when a diving defender’s shoulder landed on the inside of his left ankle as he planted his foot, per Ravens.com. He confirmed Friday that it is a high ankle sprain.

He was considered close to playing this week and is “likely to return” against Buffalo, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (@RapSheet). Jackson had publicly disputed Rapoport’s earlier description of the injury, saying his own staff told him it was a high ankle sprain.

Since he took over as the starter in Week 11 of 2018, here is how his availability has gone:

From 2019 through 2025, that’s 100 starts in 117 regular-season games. The 2021 and 2022 seasons ended with injuries in December; 2025 and now 2026 are absences during the season.

He is a two-time MVP, in 2019 and 2023. In 2024 he was the PFWA’s MVP and finished second in the AP vote to Josh Allen, 27 first-place votes to 23.

On Friday, Jackson tied his caution this time to last season, when he played hurt after the hamstring injury. “I was dumb a little bit,” he said, per Ravens.com, because he was trying to help the team without being close to his full capability.

When he plays 15 or more games, the Ravens are a contender. He’s a two-time MVP who probably should be a three-time winner. It’s understood the Ravens aren’t as good without him. And while everyone points to all of the time missed in ’21, and ’22, less credit is pointed to Jackson for staying available over ’23 and ’24.

If he plays out the remainder of this ’26 season, he will finish the year with 14 games played.
Will 14 Jackson-led games over a 17 game season be enough to reach the post-season?

Last Week’s Things To Watch

We listed seven. Here’s how each came out.

1. Jackson’s ankle. Ruled out Saturday, his third straight missed game, and Huntley made his third straight start.
2. The line. Jurgens cleared the protocol and debuted, with Ioane back at right guard until he left with the knee injury. Stanley played and had two of the five false starts.
3. Bateman’s shoulder. He played: 2 catches for 33 yards on four targets. Lane had 3 for 25 and Cuevas 2 for 35.
4. The run game. 3.1 a carry, worse than the 3.8 in Cleveland, against a front that came in allowing 5.0.
5. Chase and Higgins out of the bye. Higgins’ groin was no issue: 6 catches for 148 yards. Combined with Chase, the duo finished with 11 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
6. Hendrickson. Two quarterback hits against his former team, no sacks and no tackles.
7. The fourth quarter. It never became a close finish. Cincinnati led 14-13 entering the fourth and scored 21 in it.

Takeaways

The second half. For the second straight game, the Ravens shut out their opponent in the first half, scored themselves, then went scoreless after halftime while being outscored, per @BenjaminSolak. Cleveland was 10-0 and 0-13; today was 13-0 and 0-35. In all three losses this season, Baltimore has led. It was the second straight week they blew a double-digit second-half lead, and the 10th time since the start of 2022.. Through seven games, they have outscored opponents by 65 points in first halves and been outscored by 70 in second halves.

Flowers. 8 catches for 137 yards and the 48-yard touchdown, every catch on a throw logged as short. He made people miss, and made plays in space.

The red zone. Three trips, six points. The Ravens kicked two field goals and turned it over on downs at the 12; Cincinnati scored touchdowns on all five of its trips.

Fourth-and-2 at the 12. Down 14-13 on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Ravens passed up a field goal of about 30 yards that would have put them ahead, and Huntley’s throw for Cuevas fell incomplete. Didn’t end up being the difference, but I’d just assume take the points and the lead their with my backup QB.

Minter. He said the Ravens were “not good enough” and put it on himself: “Start with me, all the way down,” per Jonas Shaffer. He also called this a big point in the season to determine what team the Ravens are going to be, per Jamison Hensley.

Week 8: Ravens At Buffalo

The Ravens play the Bills next Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. ET at the new Highmark Stadium, on CBS. The Raves are given a 40.9% chance of winning per ESPN’s Match-Up predictor, and there is no current line.

The Bills are 5-1 and coming off their bye. Joe Brady is in his first season as head coach after Sean McDermott was fired; Buffalo went 12-5 last season. In our Week 7 rankings the Bills were third overall and fourth in DVOA, with a 12-5 projection and the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

How Buffalo got to 5-1

The last two wins were close. At the Rams in Week 5, Buffalo won 37-34 in overtime after Greg Rousseau blocked a field goal, and Josh Allen ran for 121 of his 331 total yards. In Las Vegas in Week 6 it won 33-30: Allen went 23 of 33 for 255 yards and two touchdowns, tying Jim Kelly’s franchise record of 258 touchdown passes, and James Cook ran for 95 yards and the go-ahead score with 4:43 left. It was Buffalo’s first game without a turnover after nine in the previous three weeks, per AP.

The defense is the question. Kirk Cousins threw for 313 yards against it, and Buffalo didn’t sack him.

When Buffalo has the ball

Buffalo’s offensive line was first in our rankings: third in pass block win rate at 59%, second in run block at 77%, and gaining 5.1 yards a carry, 0.9 better than its opponents allow. Spencer Brown played through his back injury in Las Vegas. Baltimore’s defensive line was seventh: 53% pass rush win rate (10th), 31% run stop (ninth), and a 7.1% sack rate.

DJ Moore (shoulder) and Ed Oliver (knee) have missed time, and Brady said the hope and intent is for both to return after the bye.

When Baltimore has the ball

Buffalo’s defensive line was 24th on the numbers: 28th in pass rush win rate at 44%, 15th in run stop at 29%, with a 4.3% sack rate, 1.4 points under what its opponents usually allow. Baltimore’s offensive line was 14th, and it has just lost Ioane to a knee injury with no update.

The Bills will be without safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, whose one-game suspension for spitting at Raiders players was upheld on appeal. Damar Hamlin and rookie Jalon Kilgore filled in after his ejection in Las Vegas, per Bills.com. Defensive back Sam Franklin Jr., a special teams captain, was also suspended for spitting and appealed. He won his appeal and his suspension was reduced to a fine.

Jackson against Buffalo

As a starter, Jackson is 2-4 against Buffalo, 0-2 in the playoffs, and the Ravens have lost three straight. In last season’s opener, Buffalo became the first team to win after trailing by 15 or more in the final four minutes, per CBS Sports. Results from Wikipedia and Fox Sports.

What comes after

Buffalo starts a run of five straight opponents that made last year’s playoffs. Jacksonville comes to Baltimore four days later, on Thursday, Nov. 5th, then the Chargers on Monday, Nov. 16th, before trips to Carolina and Houston. The bye is Week 13.

Things To Watch

1. Jackson’s return. The practice reports, and whether Rapoport’s “likely to return” holds.
2. The interior line. Ioane’s knee, and who plays next to Jurgens in his second game.
3. The second half. Two straight games without a second-half point, against a team that came back from 40-25 in the final four minutes last September.
4. Buffalo’s secondary. No Gardner-Johnson. How much do Hamlin and Kilgore play?
5. The run game. 3.1 a carry today, against a Bills front that is 24th on our numbers.
6. Moore and Oliver. Whether both are back from the bye.
7. The short week. Jacksonville is in Baltimore four days later.

I can’t get overly worked-up about losing to Burrow & the Bengals without Jackson; but it’s disappointing for the Ravens to be 4-3 all the same.

The post Bengals Blow Out Ravens In Baltimore, Ravens Travel To Buffalo Next appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

The Browns, Ravens and Steelers are all 4-2. Pittsburgh won 26-19 in overtime in Tampa, and Cleveland holds the head-to-head over Baltimore. Cincinnati, 3-2 and coming off its bye, is in Baltimore next Sunday.

The Ravens were 3-point favorites at DraftKings, with a total of 39.5, and ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gave them a 55.4% chance to win. The line had been 3.5 when we previewed the game.

Most NFL games are close, most Division games are a fight.

Winning on the road is difficult.  Winning on the road with your backup QB multiple weeks in-a-row is an even tougher ask.

This is a game where if Lamar Jackson is healthy, the Ravens likely win going-away.

Instead the Browns were just good enough to beat the Tyler Huntley led Ravens, and Baltimore loses they expected to win.

Not only do the Ravens lose the head-to-head division match-up, the Ravens lose a game which could have playoff seeding implications later.

237 Total Yards for the Browns, 235 Total Yards for the Ravens.

It’s not a devastating loss for the Ravens, but does feel like a missed opportunity.
It’s also worth noting that the Ravens schedule is going to get harder in the 2nd half of the year, and this is a 2nd loss for the year which feels like it should have been avoidable.

What Happened

Baltimore opened with 66 yards in 11 plays. Henry ran for 11 and 17, Ja’Kobi Lane converted a third-and-6, and Tyler Huntley scrambled 8 yards to the 1. Henry was stopped for no gain and then for a loss of 1. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Huntley found rookie tight end Josh Cuevas for his first career touchdown.

After a Calais Campbell sack forced a three-and-out, Huntley hit Cuevas for 29 yards, with Maliek Collins’ roughing penalty added on. Declan Doyle lined Cuevas up at left guard, off the line, and released him into the route. A direct snap to Henry gained 3, he lost 2, and Tyler Loop kicked a 34-yard field goal. It was 10-0 with 4:40 left in the first quarter.

The Ravens punted on their next six possessions. Huntley was sacked twice on one second-quarter drive, by Quincy Williams and Collins, and Rashod Bateman left in the second quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return, per AP. Cleveland’s best first-half drive reached the Baltimore 40 before a Jerry Jeudy false start, and Corey Bojorquez’s punt was downed at the 2.

Cleveland opened the second half with 10 plays and 42 yards, converted a fourth-and-1 from its own 37, and Szmyt kicked from 48. It was 10-3.

Baltimore’s best chance to stretch it came next. Zay Flowers caught a 31-yard pass on third-and-11 to the Cleveland 30. Huntley was then sacked for 9 by McGuire, recovered his own aborted snap, and on third-and-22 hit Cuevas for 11. Loop’s 49-yard try on the first play of the fourth quarter went wide left.

With 12:45 left, Henry ran for 5 on first-and-5 at the Baltimore 28. Carson Schwesinger forced the fumble and Tyson Campbell recovered at the 35. The Browns needed seven plays. KC Concepcion caught a 15-yarder on third-and-4, Keyon Martin was called for pass interference on third-and-6 from the 10, and Estime scored from the 2 two plays later.

Rasheen Ali muffed the next kickoff, recovered at the 2 and returned it to the 16. Baltimore went three-and-out. Cleveland drove to the Baltimore 29, where Nnamdi Madubuike’s strip-sack on third-and-8, recovered by Kyle Hamilton, was reversed on review to an incomplete pass. Szmyt missed from 48 with 3:44 left.

The Ravens took over at their 38. Cuevas caught a 2-yard pass, a throw to Flowers was incomplete, and Huntley scrambled 6 yards on third-and-8. A delay of game on fourth-and-2 at the 46 pushed it back 5 yards, and Ryan Eckley punted for a touchback with 2:08 left. Ronnie Stanley was hurt on the second-down incompletion.

Cleveland started at its 20 with 1:59 left and went 62 yards in nine plays. Deshaun Watson hit Jeudy for 33 yards on third-and-5 to the Baltimore 29, and the Browns ran three times to the 23. Martin blocked Szmyt’s 42-yard try with two seconds left, and Travis Jones recovered, but Martin was flagged for offside. Szmyt made it from 37 as time expired.

Without Jackson, Again

Baltimore gained 96 yards and scored 10 points on its first two possessions. On its last nine it gained 139 yards and scored nothing: seven punts, Loop’s miss and the fumble. The offense had 163 yards in the first half and 72 in the second, and by our count from the play-by-play Cleveland held the ball for about 20½ of the 30 second-half minutes.

Huntley completed 19 of 31 for 165 yards and the touchdown, with no interceptions, and ran five times for 28. He was sacked three times, by Williams, Collins and McGuire. The Ravens converted 6 of 16 third downs.

Henry ran 17 times for 58 yards. He had 41 on eight carries in the first quarter, 30 of them on the opening drive, and 17 on nine carries after that. Ravens.com noted before the game that he had at least 23 carries in every game but the Week 2 loss to New Orleans. As a team Baltimore ran 23 times for 87 yards, 3.8 a carry.

That’s the matchup our line rankings pointed to coming in. Baltimore’s offensive line was 13th, eighth in run block win rate at 74%, and gaining 5.1 yards a carry, 0.6 better than its opponents allow. Cleveland’s defensive line was seventh on the numbers and second in run stop win rate at 34%, held out of our top eight because Mason Graham and Mike Hall Jr. were hurt. Neither played Sunday, and the Browns still held Baltimore under 4 yards a carry.

On the other side, the protection numbers were the worry. Baltimore came in 21st in pass block win rate with a 7.4% sack rate, 2.1 points worse than its opponents usually allow. Cleveland’s offensive line was 32nd with an 11.3% sack rate. On Sunday the Ravens allowed three sacks and an aborted snap, and Cleveland allowed five.

Vega Ioane made his third straight start at center, as newly acquired Cam Jurgens remains in the concussion protocol. Emery Jones Jr. started at right guard with Andrew Vorhees inactive. The operation had problems. The offense took three delays of game, two of them on third down and one on fourth-and-2, and Huntley had the aborted snap in the third quarter. Andrews had a false start, and a first-quarter play drew both an ineligible-man-downfield and an illegal-formation flag, both declined.

Vinson reported as an extra lineman three times. Henry had two carries for 12 yards with him in.

Flowers caught 6 of 11 targets for 66 yards, including the 31-yarder on third-and-11. Lane, in his first game back from injured reserve, caught 4 of 5 for 40 yards, and three of those catches converted third downs. Cuevas had 4 catches for 44 yards and the touchdown. Mark Andrews caught 1 of 3 targets for 4 yards; the third-and-3 incompletion after the tie was thrown to him. Devontez Walker was 0 for 2, and Bateman 0 for 1 before he left.

I continue to like Huntley as a backup QB, but the limitations are clear.
Cleveland was able to review last week’s game footage vs. Atlanta, and make things harder for the Ravens backup QB.
Huntley didn’t have a strong game, and I don’t think the Coaching staff had him in a great position to succeed.
Huntley was continually facing 3rd and long situations, with the Ravens failing to maximize 1st and 2nd down.

Was good to see Ja’Kobe Lane have his first full day with the Ravens.  4 catches on 5 targets, moving the chains several times.

Short Yardage

Over the last two games Henry has converted one of six carries with 1 or 2 to go, not counting the tying two-point run in Atlanta. The direct snap to Henry showed up again, for 3 yards on first-and-10 at the Cleveland 17.

The Defense

For three quarters the defense did what it hadn’t in Atlanta. Cleveland had 107 yards after 45 minutes, per AP, and converted 1 of 9 third downs, a Watson sneak on third-and-1. Its only points in that span came after a fourth-and-1 conversion at its own 37.

The pass rush finished. Watson was sacked five times: by Campbell and Roquan Smith in the first quarter, Martin in the second, Tavius Robinson and Madubuike splitting one on the first snap of the second half, and Trey Hendrickson on a third-and-4 in the third quarter. Madubuike also had the strip-sack that was reversed on review.

Hendrickson was back after missing two games following finger surgery, and after the game he was waiting outside the X-ray room, per Jeff Zrebiec. Hendrickson called his health “an ongoing process.”

The fourth quarter went the other way. Cleveland gained 130 yards and converted 5 of 8 third downs, counting the interference. The touchdown drive started at the Baltimore 35, the next drive reached the 29 before Szmyt’s miss, and the last one went 62 yards in nine plays.

On the final drive, Estime converted a third-and-1, and Watson threw 33 yards to Jeudy on third-and-5. Malaki Starks made the tackle; the play-by-play doesn’t show who was in coverage. Jeudy finished with four catches for 69 yards, and Concepcion with four for 37 plus the 15-yard third-down catch on the touchdown drive.

Cleveland ran 29 times for 93 yards, 3.2 a carry, without Quinshon Judkins. Watson had eight runs for 29 yards, most of them scrambles.

Martin’s interference on third-and-6 from the 10 turned a fourth-down decision into first-and-goal at the 6. @ryanmink thought Martin played it perfectly and called it a tough call against the Ravens.

“That’s a game we believe we should have won,” Madubuike said, per Zrebiec.

Hamilton led the team with seven tackles. There were no takeaways.

The Ravens Defense had a good day.  They got to Watson, they held the Browns to under 240 Total Yards.
Some of that they deserve credit for, some credit goes to the general ineptness of Cleveland.
A great day for the Ravens Defense would have included a few more stops when absolutely needed.

Penalties And Special Teams

Baltimore had six penalties accepted for 29 yards, a week after five for 40. Two came on defense, after none in Atlanta.

• Offense: Andrews’ false start, and three delays of game, before a third-and-10 in the second quarter, a third-and-5 in the third, and the fourth-and-2 in the fourth.
• Defense: Martin’s interference on the touchdown drive and his offside on the blocked field goal.

Cleveland had six accepted for 45 yards, including Collins’ roughing penalty on the Cuevas catch and a holding call that wiped out a 14-yard McLaughlin run in the third quarter.

Loop made his 34-yarder and missed from 49 wide left, with Baltimore up 10-3. Szmyt made two of three, from 48 and 37, and missed from 48 with 3:44 left.

Eckley punted seven times for a 49.4 average, with three inside the 20. Martin downed two of them, at the Cleveland 4 and the 10. Ali muffed the kickoff after the tying touchdown, recovered it at the 2 and got it back to the 16.

Last Week’s Things To Watch

We listed five. Here’s how each came out.

1. Jackson’s ankle. Minter ruled him out Friday, and Huntley made a second straight start. His three-game winning streak as a starter ended.
2. Jurgens. Still in the protocol and inactive. Ioane started at center for the third straight week, with Jones at right guard. The operation had three delays of game and an aborted snap.
3. The protection. Three sacks and the aborted snap against a Browns front without Graham and Hall Jr.
4. Third downs on defense. Cleveland was 1 of 9 through three quarters and 5 of 8 in the fourth. The Ravens got to Watson five times.
5. Cleveland’s injury list. Graham was inactive, as Adam Schefter had reported, and so was Hall Jr. Concepcion played and had 4 catches for 37 yards.

Takeaways

Henry. 17 carries for 58 yards, stopped twice at the 1, and the fumble that started Cleveland’s comeback. He apologized to the team afterward, Huntley said, per Zrebiec.

Lane. Four catches in his first game back, three of them on third down. Looks like he presents a nice target, with a strong catch-radius. A couple of contested grabs.

Cuevas. His first career touchdown, and the 29-yard catch from the left guard spot. With Matthew Hibner inactive, he was the only rookie tight end available.

The pass rush. Five sacks with Hendrickson back, after three in Atlanta.

Loop. The 49-yard miss with a 10-3 lead, early in the fourth. Was a significant miss. Ravens had the opportunity to make it a 2 score lead.

Week 7: Cincinnati Comes To Baltimore

The Ravens host the Bengals next Sunday, Oct. 25, at 1 p.m. ET at M&T Bank Stadium. CBS has the telecast. The Ravens are given a 53% chance of winning per ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor, and their a 3.5 point favorite per DraftKings. It’s Cincinnati’s first Sunday afternoon game in Baltimore since 2021.

The Bengals are 3-2 and coming off their bye. Baltimore comes off a division road loss.

How Cincinnati got to 3-2

In the Week 4 loss to Jacksonville, Ja’Marr Chase left with a concussion in the first half and Joe Burrow threw for 428 yards with two interceptions. The Bengals ran for 23 yards. Tee Higgins caught 11 passes for 157 yards after Chase went out, per Ravens.com, and left on the final drive with an adductor injury.

In Miami, Chase cleared the protocol and caught six passes for 77 yards, including a one-handed 45-yard touchdown. Burrow threw four touchdown passes, and Jordan Battle intercepted Malik Willis on back-to-back second-quarter drives. Miami ran 34 times for 217 yards but didn’t sack Burrow.

In our Week 6 rankings the Bengals were 12th overall and fifth in DVOA, with a 10-7 projection and a wild-card spot. Burrow was fourth on our Oct. 6th quarterback list.

The record has had help. In Week 1, 24 of Cincinnati’s 33 points against Tampa Bay came off Buccaneers mistakes, and the defense forced four turnovers. Houston outgained the Bengals 374-267 in Week 2 and lost by 14, after a botched snap on a field goal and a short 58-yard try. In Pittsburgh, the Steelers gained 411 yards, Cincinnati’s special teams gave away 10 points, and Derrick Harmon’s strip-sack of Burrow ended the Bengals’ last drive near Evan McPherson’s range, per AP. Through five games Cincinnati has outscored opponents 128-109.

When Cincinnati has the ball

The offensive line was sixth in our rankings, first in run block win rate at 77% but 24th in pass block at 46%. It allowed a 4.5% sack rate, a point better than its opponents usually allow, and 3.6 yards a carry. Chase Brown had averaged 2.2 yards a carry over the two games before the bye.

Burrow has carried the offense through the air. Against Jacksonville he threw for 428 yards with 23 rushing yards behind him, and his two interceptions, one in the red zone, were the difference in a five-point loss, as we wrote in Week 5. In Miami he threw four touchdown passes and wasn’t sacked.

The line’s numbers don’t agree with each other. Our Week 5 rankings had it first in run block, with Dalton Risner first among interior linemen and Orlando Brown Jr. second among tackles, but running back Chase Brown has averaged 2.2 a carry over the last two games. In August we noted Cincinnati’s line allowed the third-lowest pressure rate in football last season, and that Burrow’s reluctance to give up on plays keeps his sack totals up. Baltimore had five sacks in Cleveland with Hendrickson back.

Obviously today’s bye should help Chase, Higgins and safety Bryan Cook. Higgins had a groin injury, and receiver Colbie Young (knee) and safety Kyle Dugger (quad) are week to week. Burrow and Chase is one of the league’s elite duo’s.

Zac Taylor said Chase and Higgins both played through injuries in Miami, per Cincinnati Bengals On SI. Taylor’s bye-week list, per Bengals Wire: linebacker Swayze Bozeman to injured reserve with a broken forearm, tight end Tanner Hudson with a pectoral injury from special teams, and Dugger still week to week.

Hendrickson of course signed with Baltimore from Cincinnati, and this is his first game against the Bengals since he signed. He returns to Cincinnati on New Year’s Eve.

When Baltimore has the ball

Cincinnati’s defensive line was 18th in our rankings. It was sixth in run stop win rate at 31%, but allowed 5.0 yards a carry, 0.7 worse than its opponents usually gain. Its pass rush win rate was 48%, 23rd, though its 9.2% sack rate was above expectation.

Cincinnati spent its offseason on this side of the ball. It sent the No. 10 overall pick to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence and added Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe, Bryan Cook and Dugger, with Cashius Howell in the second round. Our August preview named the linebacker room, graded a 4 by Mike Clay, as the weakness, and Bozeman’s injury thins it.

Al Golden’s plan showed in Houston. On the Texans’ first third down he sent eight, with Lawrence dropping into coverage and Cook coming free off the edge, per FOX19. Lawrence had dropped into coverage only twice since 2022 before that game, per NFL Pro data cited in that piece. Late in the half the Bengals showed seven rushers on third-and-13 and rushed four. Houston’s running backs gained 18 yards on 14 carries, and Cincinnati stopped 10 of 11 third downs of medium or long distance. Golden had cut his blitz rate to one of the league’s lowest last season after his pressures broke down.

It hasn’t held since. Pittsburgh’s rebuilt right side kept Lawrence quiet in Week 3, and Jaylen Warren ran for 127 yards. Miami ran for 217. After two weeks the front was tied for the league lead with eight sacks; going into Week 6 it was 18th in our rankings and 23rd in pass rush win rate.

That points the Ravens back to early downs. In Cleveland, 11 of their 16 third downs needed 8 yards or more, by our count from the play-by-play, and they converted three of them. Against a run defense allowing 5.0 a carry, first and second down are where Baltimore can stay out of the long third downs Golden’s pressure is built for.

Jackson has missed two games with his ankle. Matt Jergensen predicted last week that he’d be back for this one.

Last season

The teams split last season. Cincinnati won 32-14 in Baltimore on Thanksgiving, in Burrow’s first game back from a Week 2 toe injury. The Ravens turned it over five times, and the Bengals kicked four field goals off them. Baltimore won the rematch 24-0 in Cincinnati in Week 15. Burrow went 25 of 39 for 225 yards with two interceptions, and Henry ran 11 times for 100 yards.

Things To Watch

1. Jackson’s ankle. The practice reports, and whether Huntley makes a third straight start.
2. The line. Whether Jurgens clears the protocol, which moves Ioane back to right guard, and Stanley’s injury from the final possession.
3. Bateman’s shoulder. And how much of the passing game goes to Lane and Cuevas if he can’t play.
4. The run game. 3.8 yards a carry in Cleveland, against a Bengals front allowing 5.0, 0.7 worse than expected.
5. Chase and Higgins out of the bye. Both were hurt in Week 4, and Higgins’ groin is the one to follow.
6. Hendrickson. His first game against his former team, a week after the X-ray.
7. The fourth quarter. Cleveland gained 130 yards and converted 5 of 8 third downs in it. If this is a close game in the 4th, can the Ravens close?

It’s a Home Division Game.  You expect to win these games. Back-to-back Division losses wouldn’t have the Ravens in a ideal place within the AFC North.

The post Browns Edge Ravens At The Gun; Cincinnati Is Next appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

The kind of win that keeps you up at night afterwards grinning from ear to ear as you imagine what the Super Bowl parade will look like this time.

The Baltimore Ravens’ 30-23 overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night was one of those victories.

For much of the night, Baltimore looked like a team that was going to let an opportunity slip away. Lamar Jackson was unavailable. The offense struggled to find its rhythm for stretches. Atlanta had the game in its hands late in the fourth quarter.

And then the Ravens did what good teams must do.

They found a way.

Tyler Huntley led a late touchdown drive to get Baltimore back into the game, Derrick Henry powered in the two-point conversion to tie it, and Huntley finished the job in overtime with a rushing touchdown capping an almost eight-minute drive. Kyle Hamilton then sealed the victory with an interception.

For a fan base that has been used to 4th Quarter meltdowns over the past few seasons, it’s been a welcome change so far to see this team win games in exciting fashion. And now the Ravens sit atop the division at 4-1 in a crowded AFC North with two old foes scheduled in consecutive weeks in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

But before we start talking about how far this team can go, let’s take a closer look at what Sunday night told us.

• Snoop Huntley – Nobody wants to see Lamar Jackson on the sideline. He’s the engine that makes this offense go, and any time he’s unavailable, Baltimore loses something that can’t simply be replaced by any other player.

But Huntley deserves a lot of credit for what he did last Sunday.

He didn’t panic when the Ravens were trailing late. He didn’t try to become something he isn’t. Instead, he kept the offense moving, made the throws when they were there and delivered when Baltimore absolutely needed him to. His touchdown toss to Devontez Walker in the final minute of regulation gave the Ravens a chance to tie the game. His touchdown run in overtime put Baltimore ahead for good.

His experience and calm demeanor under center helped propel the Ravens to another victory and helped remind many that he is the next best option if Lamar isn’t available. My timeline on Sunday night was littered with so many that were calling for rookie Joe Fagnano to get the call. Sure, he had a nice pre-season against backups, but I doubt he would have been ready for a Prime-Time game on the road.

Still, let’s keep things in perspective. The Ravens are a different team when Jackson is healthy. His ability to extend plays, threaten defenses with his legs and create explosive opportunities changes the entire equation. Huntley is limited in some ways but if the game plan leans into his strengths he is a more than capable backup.

• The King Sets the Tone – Derrick Henry is a special player. When so many of his age start to decline at the running back position he continues to thrive.

When Baltimore needs to settle things down, establish physicality or take control of a game, handing him the football is always a good idea. Especially with Lamar on the sidelines, the offense rightfully ran through him and the run game. Justice Hill also was featured at times as well and he’s also a player that can play a role on third down and out of the backfield to provide a different look or just give him a break.

What I appreciate most about Henry is that his impact isn’t limited to his statistics. He affects how a defense approaches the game. Defenders have to account for him, which can create opportunities for Jackson, Huntley and the passing game and it’s always fun to watch defensive backs try to stop him in the fourth quarter and in this case Overtime. They want no parts of him and who could blame them.

I also must mention Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle here as well. As the young OC continues to develop as a play caller I thought he had a fantastic game plan and was creative with getting his best players the ball. He used misdirection and put Huntley in positions to succeed. Over a long season it’s important to establish your identity and Baltimore has often been about being able to run the ball and impose your will on a defense. It was great to see that Sunday night.

• The Defense Did Just Enough – Head Coach Jesse Minter’s tagline this season has been “Playing our best, when our best is needed” and his defense has certainly lived up to that on Sunday.

Tavious Robinson’s bone crushing hit on starting quarterback Michael Penix knocked him from the game, while Kyle Hamilton sealed the game with an interception from backup Tua Tagovailoa.

While it was exciting to end the game with a turnover, this unit is still looking to find consistency in its play. They are still looking to find it’s pass rush and having Trey Hendrickson sideline for a second consecutive week didn’t help. They are giving up almost 24 points a game, while allowing a third down conversion rate of 41%.

There have been growing pains to be sure, but this team needs to get more sacks, and turnovers as we move forward.

This week the Ravens travel to Cleveland, a venue where they’ve been 2-3 over the past five years. Divisional games always have a different feeling, and it will be interesting to see how the Browns react coming off a loss to the Jets in a crowded AFC North race.

Here’s What I’m Watching:

1) Lamar Jackson’s Status –The biggest storyline is always his availability. If he isn’t ready though it doesn’t feel as dire coming off Huntley’s performance in Atlanta. Still, I think Lamar won’t return until the Cincinnati game back at home.

2) Ravens Defense Must Step Up – The Browns are coming off an uninspired loss to the Jets, a game where they surrendered eight sacks. Baltimore only has ten in five games. A returning Trey Hendrickson should help but I’m also watching Mike Green who seems to be starting to show signs of a real breakout.

3) Ravens Secondary – Speaking of players that are starting to shine, Malaki Starks had his best game as a professional, with ten tackles and a nose for the football. He needs to continue his upward trend as the Ravens must contend with young receivers Harold Fannin and Denzel Boston, who have six touchdowns combined.

The post Ravens Finding Ways to Win – Divisional Test Ahead in Cleveland appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

For 18 years, we heard plenty of John Harbaugh catch phrases and cliches. When the Ravens decided to move on from Harbaugh, they brought in a disciple of both Harbaugh brothers in Jesse Minter. In Harbaugh-esque fashion, Coach Minter imported a new catch phrase into the Ravens locker room:

Be at your best when best is needed.

As we reflect back on the first 5 weeks of the 2026 season, it’s difficult to argue with a 4-1 record and 1st place in the AFC North. Along the way, the Ravens have dealt with injuries to Zay Flowers, Trey Hendrickson and Lamar Jackson. They’ve also had to manage a rash of injuries along the offensive line that has forced 1st round pick Vega Ioane out of position, sliding him to center. Furthermore, GM Eric DeCosta had to go to the trade market early and swing a deal for Eagles center Cam Jurgens.

The biggest factor in the hiring of Jesse Minter was to restore the legacy of the Ravens defense, which has suffered the last 2 years under former DC Zach Orr and has blown the most double digit leads in the league over the last 8 years.

Last night’s 3rd down defense certainly left quite a bit to be desired. The Falcons went 9 for 17 on 3rd down conversions, including 4 that were double digit yards to go. To Minter’s credit, he did take responsibility for the poor calls on 3rd down that contributed to the Falcons extending drives. Last night especially, it was clear that Atlanta QB Michael Penix Jr was pretty flustered when the Ravens brought any kind of pressure and Minter still leaned on a 4 man rush in many 3rd down scenarios. At the end of regulation, Minter called a 3 man rush and fortunately for the Ravens, edge rusher Mike Green absolutely dominated left tackle Jake Matthews and forced Penix into a bad throw.

I would like to see Minter adjust quicker to the flow of the game. Hopefully, the double duty of play calling and head coaching isn’t too much for the rookie coach.

On the flip side, the Ravens kept all world running Bijan Robinson in check for most of the night. While Robinson did average a little over 5 yards per carry overall, the majority of his 86 rushing yards came on 2 carries (where he gained 58 yards). To Minter and Weaver’s credit, they employed a more traditional 7 man front (4 down linemen, 3 linebackers) on several occasions, which contributed to a rather pedestrian evening by Robinson’s standards.

Also worth noting, while the defense did allow the Falcons to move into the redzone on 3 drives, they did deny Atlanta the end zone on 2 of those 3 occasions.

While the defensive renaissance hasn’t been entirely evident to this point, there have been moments.

In another example of being at your best when your best is needed, hats off to OC Declan Doyle for putting together an outstanding gameplan on Sunday night. Knowing that his backup quarterback, Tyler Huntley, does not have the arm talent or vision that former MVP Lamar Jackson has, he seemingly put his coaching ego aside and set Huntley up to succeed. First, he utilized presnap motion and misdirection to create space for Derrick Henry to get downhill in the running game. Next, he did some tendency breaking personnel groupings and formations; particularly, the 3rd and 1, fullback dive to Justice Hill that went for 43 yards.

Also, the utilization of Zay Flowers is fun to watch. The opposing defense can never know exactly where Flowers will line up. Even on a night where the diminutive wide receiver didn’t light up the stat sheet, he can still impact the game.

While the Ravens weren’t able to finish off drives in the 1st half (no thanks to some drops), there was enough success in the running game that allowed Tyler Huntley to thrive in the passing game in the 4th quarter and overtime.

Everyone knows that Huntley will not push the football down the field and that runs counter to how Doyle wants to attack opposing defenses. Instead, Huntley was smart with the football and Doyle created safe throws and screens for the majority of the evening. Despite dealing with various pressures and stunts from the Falcons defensive front, the makeshift offensive line acquitted itself well, especially in crunch time.

We all know the NFL is a week to week league and momentum is only as good as your next matchup and the health of your roster. However, in the course of any season there can be character building wins and Sunday night certainly looked like one of those wins for the “new” Baltimore Ravens.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention that there’s work to be done, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. With that said, on the road in Atlanta, the Baltimore Ravens embodied the slogan of their new head coach. Offense, defense and special teams were certainly at their best when their best was needed

The post It Wasn’t Pretty, It Wasn’t Perfect appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Cleveland lost 17-12 to the Jets in the rain, so Baltimore is alone in first place in the AFC North. Cincinnati won 31-24 in Miami and Pittsburgh beat Indianapolis 34-22, which leaves the other three teams at 3-2.

You win a game in the NFL, you feel good.

You win a game in the NFL with your backup QB, on the road; that feels like a bonus.

It was a rough night for Mark Andrews, and the Ravens Defense continues to be too passive.

Still, the ultimate story is being able to leave Atlanta with a win.

What Happened

Baltimore opened with 62 yards in 10 plays and had first-and-goal at the 8. Henry ran 7 yards to the 1, lost 2 on a direct snap, and Huntley threw incomplete to Mark Andrews on third down. Tyler Loop kicked a 21-yard field goal.

Two possessions later Andrews caught a 9-yard pass, Sydney Brown knocked the ball loose, and Jessie Bates III returned it 36 yards for a touchdown. Michael Penix Jr. was 0 for 4 on Atlanta’s first three possessions, per AP, and the Falcons punted on all three.

Loop hit from 51 to make it 7-6. Atlanta then went 78 yards in nine plays, with Penix 5 for 5: Drake London for 25 on third-and-3, Jahan Dotson for 36 on third-and-6, and Kyle Pitts for the 5-yard touchdown on third-and-goal. Loop’s second 51-yarder ended the half at 14-9, after a Bateman false start had pushed the kick back 5 yards.

Atlanta received the second-half kickoff. Bijan Robinson ran 38 yards to the 3, and the defense held from there: Robinson lost 2, Penix threw incomplete to left tackle Jake Matthews, who had reported eligible in his 200th straight start, and then to Dotson. Folk kicked from 23.

Baltimore answered in five plays. Justice Hill ran 47 yards on third-and-1, and Huntley found Henry for an 18-yard touchdown. The two-point pass to Andrews was incomplete, and it was 17-15. Atlanta went for it on fourth-and-2 at the Baltimore 39 and Penix’s throw to Woerner fell incomplete.

The fourth quarter belonged to Atlanta until the last two minutes. The Falcons held the ball for 8:23 on a 16-play drive that spanned the quarter break, kicked a field goal, forced a three-and-out, and kicked another from 48 with 2:31 left to lead 23-15.

The tying drive started badly. Emery Jones Jr.’s hold made it first-and-20 from the 19, then Xavier Watts was called for interference on a deep ball to Zay Flowers, a 29-yard penalty. Huntley went short from there: Bateman for 11, Flowers for 4, Bateman for 7, Andrews for 3, and Bateman for 20 to the 7. Walker caught the touchdown on the next play. Henry ran around left end for the two points.

Atlanta got one more chance. Penix hit Dotson for 18, then Tavius Robinson sacked him and forced a fumble that Atlanta recovered. Penix was hurt on the play, Tagovailoa came in for one snap, and the Falcons punted with 8 seconds left.

Baltimore received in overtime and drove 68 yards in 14 plays, using 7:03. Andrews converted a third-and-3, Flowers a third-and-6, and Henry ran for 11 and 7. Huntley scored on second-and-goal from the 1. Atlanta still got a possession. Tagovailoa hit London for 20, and Hamilton intercepted the next throw at the Baltimore 40.

Without Jackson

Last week I wrote that if Jackson couldn’t go, the plan should start with feeding Henry and look for quick throws to the weapons. That’s the game Declan Doyle called.

Baltimore ran 35 times for 208 yards. Henry had 24 carries for 102, and Hill had 73 on four carries, including 21 on third-and-3 and 47 on third-and-1. Huntley completed 24 of 32 for 201 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. His longest completion went 20 yards, and he averaged 8.4 yards per completion.

The third-down number is the change from last week. The offense converted 8 of 15, after going 2 of 10 against Tennessee and 1 of 6 with Huntley in the second half.

The extra lineman showed up five times: Vinson reported as eligible four times and Edoga once. Henry had four carries for 23 yards with Vinson in. In last week’s Takeaways I asked for additional blockers and larger sets.

Henry’s carries came in two bunches. He ran 9 times for 49 yards in the first quarter, 8 times for 21 over the next three, and 7 times for 32 in overtime. Between his touchdown catch late in the third quarter and the tying drive, the offense had two possessions, six plays and 5 yards, while Atlanta held the ball for more than 15 of those 19 minutes.

Huntley was sacked three times, by Ivey, Kendal Daniels and Ebukam, and Flowers went down once on a throw of his own. Daniels, the rookie linebacker we flagged last week, was also in on four Henry tackles.

Flowers caught 8 of 9 targets for 53 yards and ran once for 13. His longest play didn’t count in his line: Baltimore took the 29-yard interference penalty on the tying drive over his 26-yard catch, as Bill Barnwell pointed out.

“There’s not a locker room in the NFL that has more confidence in their backup quarterback than we have in Snoop,” Jesse Minter said after the game.

On our board, everytime Huntley starts a game there is lots of consternation about his limitations.  It’s understood there is no arm strength, and that certainly is an issue.
But I think you have to appreciate him for what he provides.  If Jackson was down for any length of time, the Ravens wouldn’t be able to get past that. Huntley certainly wouldn’t hold-up as a starter week-in, week-out.
But to come in for a Week or two at a time, and give the team a chance, he’s proven he’s capable of that, and that has real value.  Atlanta did a lot blitzing late, and he handled that well.

OC Declan Doyle continues to impress. He’s had a strong five weeks to begin his Ravens career.  Loved him going right at backup corner Mike Ford as soon as he came in.

TE Josh Cuevas had 2 grabs for 26 yards. As we get into the middle part of this season, it feels like he and fellow Rookie Matthew Hibner are going to have to be increasingly involved.

Going back to Flowers, he’s been terrific this season. Despite missing the Week 2 game vs. the Saints, he’s on pace for 88 catches and nearly 1,400 yards. He’s averaging 15.6 yards per catch.
Most importantly he’s electric with every touch. I said before the season I didn’t view him as a true #1.  I guess my thinking was I appreciated him as a playmaker, was glad he had extended; but felt he was more ideally suited as an elite 2nd WR on a championship team. I did say you could win with him as your best WR, and that was all that matters – but overall my take was bad. How many WR’s would you take over him at this point? There are probably 5-7 guys you would prefer if you could have one vs. the other, but beyond that group he compares favorably vs. anyone else. He’d be further helped if Jakobi Lane can get healthy, and give defenses something else to pay some attention to opposite of him.

Short Yardage & The Rushing Offense In General

Last week we said short yardage had improved, with Henry converting five of seven carries with 1 or 2 yards to go. This week he converted one of four, and the quarterback did the work.

Both direct snaps to Henry came on the first two drives, and both failed. The first came at the 1, and that drive ended in a field goal.

The tying two-point run worked. The play-by-play lists it only as Henry around left end. AP says he took a direct snap, and @devpanchwagh describes an offset Wildcat with Flowers next to Henry and rookie tight end Matt Hibner in front, with the fake to Flowers slowing the defense on Henry’s side.

Huntley went 3 for 3 on his own carries with 1 to go, including the overtime touchdown.

Going beyond the short-yardage rushing, the ground attack had a strong night.

208 rushing yard for the Ravens against a Falcons defense which had been stingy against opposing rushers so far this year. Atlanta was 6th overall in run stop win rate entering the weekend, and led the NFL in run defense.

Henry finished with 102 yards on 24 carries, and Justice Hill had 73 on his 4 attempts – including the long of 47.

Penalties

Baltimore was flagged five times for 40 yards, a week after 13 for 131. The defense had none accepted, after six for 90 against Tennessee.

• Offense: Ronnie Stanley’s hold on an incompletion late in the first half, Bateman’s false start before the halftime kick, Jones’ hold on the first snap of the tying drive, and a delay of game before a punt.
• Special teams: Trenton Simpson’s hold on a kickoff return.

Atlanta was flagged seven times for 67 yards. Watts’ 29-yard interference call was the biggest, on the tying drive, and it gave Baltimore its only first down by penalty.

The Defense

Atlanta scored one offensive touchdown and none after halftime. Its other 16 points came on Bates’ fumble return and three field goals. The Falcons were 1 of 3 in the red zone, the defense had three sacks, and Hamilton’s interception ended the game.

Third down is where it went wrong. Atlanta converted 9 of 17, and all four of its third downs needing 10 yards or more.

London caught seven passes for 118 yards on 11 targets. Five of those catches converted third downs, for 86 yards, and four came on the 16-play drive that took 8:23 at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth. The play-by-play shows who made the tackle on those catches, not who was in coverage.

“I don’t think we played good, for real. The third down stuff was crazy,” Hamilton said, per Jeff Zrebiec. Minter blamed himself for some of the third-down problems.

Robinson ran 17 times for 86 yards. Two runs, of 20 and 38 yards, account for 58 of them; his other 15 carries gained 28. The 38-yarder put Atlanta at the 3, and the Falcons kicked a field goal.

The three sacks came after one in each of the previous two games, again without Trey Hendrickson. Mike Green had one in the second quarter, Trenton Simpson one in the third, and Tavius Robinson the strip-sack that hurt Penix with 27 seconds left. On Penix’s last throw of regulation, Green beat Matthews and forced the throwaway, per @ColeJacksonFB.

Marlon Humphrey played after returning to practice Friday, and the play-by-play credits him on the fourth-and-2 incompletion that gave Baltimore the ball in the third quarter.

Minter was questioned repeatedly for not bringing more pressure and for playing big, soft zones.

Anytime the Ravens had pressure, Penix looked uncomfortable.
Anytime he had time to throw, there were easy completions to be made.

Was good to see Green active. T. Robinson continues to make plays.
Nnamdi Madubuike had a QB hit, as did Travis Jones; but I thought it was a quiet night for Jones.

Malaki Starks was credited with 6 solo tackles, and 2 tackles for loss.

Roquan Smith had 5 tackles, but you didn’t feel him making an impact.

Hamilton bails the Ravens out repeatedly.
He needs a couple of his teammates to show up a bit more consistently around him.

I feel Minter could help with that, but installing a more aggressive mindset for the Ravens Defense.
This is my own bias showing, but I feel defensive players are generally more effective when their movements are instinctual vs. reactionary.
Go to the ball. Hit someone.

There is too much talent (and percentage of the Ravens salary cap) on the defensive side to not ask for more.
It’s only been a few weeks overall. Maybe that improves naturally with increasing continuity.

Last Week’s Things To Watch

We listed six. Here’s how each came out.

1. Jackson’s ankle. He didn’t practice and was ruled out Friday. Huntley started.
2. Humphrey’s calf, and who covers London. Humphrey played. London had 118 yards.
3. Right guard. Andrew Vorhees was inactive, and Jones made his first career start. His hold came on the tying drive.
4. Robinson on early downs. Fourteen first-down carries for 84 yards, but 26 yards on the 12 that weren’t his two long runs.
5. Penalties. Five for 40.
6. Finishing. This time Baltimore scored with 40 seconds left. The defense then stopped Atlanta’s last drive of regulation and its overtime possession, after allowing two fourth-quarter field-goal drives.

Takeaways

Huntley. 24 of 32, two touchdown passes, no interceptions, and the winning score himself. He moved the chains on third down and threw short all night, which is what the game plan asked of him.

Bateman. Six targets, five catches, 62 yards. Three of the catches came on the tying drive, for 38 yards.

Loop. Three of three on field goals, two from 51, a week after the miss from 40.

Hamilton. The interception to end it, in the city where he grew up.

Andrews. Not a good night. Dropped a TD, had the fumble that led to Atlanta’s first score, dropped the 2 point conversion. For his career he’s averaged 12.1 yards per catch. That dropped to 8.8 last year. It’s 8.0 this year through 5 games. He’s had 30 targets through these 5 games. He’s going to be out there plenty, but feel like the rookie TE’s are going to start eating into the targets. Likely followed Harbaugh to the Giants because he wanted to be the guy. The Ravens extended Andrews last year because they couldn’t get Likely to lock in. It feels like the Ravens should have told Likely he’s was going to be the lead option at TE.

Minter.  It ended well enough, but I was surprised the Ravens elected to receive in OT.  I’d like to hear more about that decision. Presumably the intent was to keep a tired Falcons defense on the field. Atlanta certainly looked tired of tackling Henry at that point. One reason it surprised me was that even if the Ravens scored as they did, the Falcons would have their opportunity to score, knowing they had 4 downs to play with every series. Hamilton’s quick interception ended things. Was great to see the Ravens dominate the ball, and impose their will there on that OT drive.

Week 6: At Cleveland

The Ravens play the Browns next Sunday, Oct. 18th, at 1 p.m. ET on FOX at Huntington Bank Field. DraftKings has Baltimore as a 3.5-point favorite with a total of 40.5. ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gives the Ravens a 65.8% chance to win.

The Ravens vs. their former Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken.

Cleveland hired Monken after his three seasons running Baltimore’s offense. It’s his first NFL Head Coaching job, and his second stint in Cleveland after a year as offensive coordinator in 2019. He replaced Kevin Stefanski, whom we saw last night in Atlanta.

Monken brought a Raven with him. His Offensive Coordinator is Travis Switzer, who spent nine seasons in Baltimore and was its run game coordinator. The defensive coordinator is Mike Rutenberg; Baltimore native Jim Schwartz resigned after being passed over for the head job.

How Cleveland got to 3-2

The three wins came by four, three and three points, and Cleveland has been outscored 112-93. At 3-1 the Browns were still 19th in our rankings and 24th in DVOA. Watson won the job over Shedeur Sanders in camp and is starting for the first time since tearing his Achilles twice.

The Browns are 3-2 after losing 17-12 to the Jets in a steady rain. Watson was sacked eight times, three by rookie David Bailey.

Cleveland led late. Watson’s 29-yard touchdown to rookie Denzel Boston made it 12-10 with 6:15 left, though Andre Szmyt hit the upright on the extra point. Carson Schwesinger then forced a fumble that Adin Huntington recovered. The Browns went three-and-out, a high snap got past punter Corey Bojorquez, and Braelon Allen scored from 22 yards three plays after the Jets recovered.

When Cleveland has the ball

The Browns came out of the game hurt. Rookie first-round receiver KC Concepcion was knocked out by a Minkah Fitzpatrick hit on his second drive, and Monken assumed he was in the concussion protocol. Running back Raheim Sanders (hip) and right tackle Tytus Howard (knee) left in the fourth quarter.

The line was young before the injuries. Cleveland started two rookies in Week 1, first-round pick Spencer Fano at left tackle and third-round pick Austin Barber at right guard, with Teven Jenkins out with a back injury, per Newsweek. Jenkins and center Parker Brailsford were both inactive in New York.

The run game hasn’t carried them. Quinshon Judkins had 33 yards on 12 carries in Jacksonville and 21 on 12 in Tampa. Watson led the team in rushing in Week 1 and ran 11 times for 45 yards against Carolina. In New York he had a 20-yard scramble and an 11-yard run, per Dawgs By Nature.

Watson’s biggest throws have gone to rookies and tight ends. Boston has touchdowns of 55 yards in Tampa and 29 against the Jets. Fannin caught both touchdowns against Carolina, including the winner. Concepcion was the 24th pick out of Texas A&M, and in camp the Akron Beacon Journal’s Chris Easterling compared Monken’s plans for him to how he used Flowers in Baltimore, per TheOBR. If Concepcion can’t go, Watson’s targets are Boston, Isaiah Bond, Jerry Jeudy and Fannin.

In Atlanta, Baltimore allowed four third-down conversions needing 10 yards or more.

When Baltimore has the ball

Cleveland’s pass rush is the concern. In Week 4 the Browns sacked Aaron Rodgers five times and hit him 10 times, using five-man pressure with man coverage, as Mike McCarthy described it. In New York, Quincy Williams forced three fumbles, and Maliek Collins, Huntington, Sam Kamara and Schwesinger all got to Geno Smith, per Dawgs By Nature.

It’s a different front from the one Baltimore saw last year. Cleveland traded Myles Garrett to the Rams for edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second and a 2029 third. Garrett had a record 23 sacks last season. Verse made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons with the Rams.

Mason Graham led the Browns with four sacks, six tackles for loss and five quarterback hits through three games, then sprained his MCL and ankle against Pittsburgh. The team calls him week to week, per Browns.com. He missed the Jets game, as did Mike Hall Jr., who sacked Rodgers in Week 4. Graham’s status for Sunday is open.

In the secondary, safety Ronnie Hickman ended the Carolina game with an interception and recovered a fumble in New York. Grant Delpit broke up a third-and-12 throw to Garrett Wilson.

Baltimore’s line allowed three sacks of Huntley in Atlanta. Cam Jurgens is expected to make his debut this week, per Ravens.com, after the trade from Philadelphia, if he clears the concussion protocol.

Things To Watch

1. Jackson’s ankle. The practice reports on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and whether Huntley makes a second start.
2. Jurgens. Whether he clears the protocol, and who moves when he plays center. Ioane had a tough night snapping.
3. The protection. Cleveland’s pressure got to Rodgers 10 times in Week 4, and Huntley was sacked three times in Atlanta.
4. Third downs on defense. Atlanta converted 9 of 17. The Jets got to Watson repeatedly yesterday, you’d like to see the Ravens do the same.
5. Cleveland’s injury list. Graham, Howard and Concepcion.

The post Ravens Rally Past Atlanta In Overtime; Cleveland Is Next appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

It wasn’t pretty after halftime, and it doesn’t have to be. As we remind ourselves weekly, this is a week-to-week league and the Ravens are 3-1.

The win ends a four-game losing streak at M&T Bank Stadium that dated to last season. It also keeps Baltimore level with Cleveland, which beat Pittsburgh 27-24 on Thursday to get to 3-1. Cincinnati lost to Jacksonville 22-17, so the Bengals and Steelers are both 2-2.

Jackson’s ankle is the biggest question coming out of the game. Given that he was on the sideline in pads for most of the 2nd half, I wouldn’t think there is extended concern.
Still, we have to see if he plays next Sunday night, and if he’s compromised at all if he does.

What Happened

Tennessee’s second play was an interception. Trenton Simpson caught Cam Ward’s throw over the middle, with Mike Green pressuring Ward, and returned it 24 yards to the Titans’ 37. Five plays later Derrick Henry scored from the 5 on fourth-and-1. A week ago the Ravens went for a fourth-and-1 from their own 30 and didn’t get it. This one was at the other team’s 5.

The Titans answered with a 10-play, 70-yard drive and a 3-yard Pollard touchdown. Carnell Tate’s 22-yard catch was the big play, the first of nine.

Baltimore then scored on two long drives in the second quarter.

• 81 yards in six plays. Henry ran for 4, 14 and 11. Jackson hit Matthew Hibner for 25 and Zay Flowers for the 19-yard touchdown.
• 98 yards in eight plays. It started at the 2 and went backward a yard on a false start. Jackson found Andrews twice to get out, Bateman for 28 and Flowers for 52, then Andrews for the 3-yard score.

Between those drives, Tennessee had first-and-goal at the 8 and came away with nothing. More on that below.

The last minute of the half changed the game. Kyle Hamilton stripped Tate at the end of a 33-yard catch and Starks recovered at the Baltimore 35. Jackson moved the offense to the Tennessee 41. Jermaine Johnson II sacked him with 12 seconds left, and Jackson was hurt on the play. Loop came on at third down and hit from 64 yards. It drizzled all day in Baltimore, with temperatures in the low 60s.

That kick is the longest in the history of the stadium, per Jeff Zrebiec. Justin Tucker’s 58-yarder in 2022 was the old mark. It’s the second-longest in team history behind Tucker’s 66 in Detroit.

The second half belonged to Tennessee. The Titans kicked a field goal on their first drive, the teams traded six punts, and Loop missed wide left from 40. Ward then went 70 yards in two minutes, hit Wan’Dale Robinson for a 3-yard touchdown and found Helm for the two-point conversion with 1:12 left. Starks recovered the onside kick and Tyler Huntley knelt twice.

Without Jackson

Jackson’s half: 15 of 20 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions and two sacks. That’s 11.1 yards per attempt. The offense had 268 yards and 24 points at the break.

After the break it had 116 yards and no points.

Huntley completed 8 of 9 for 63 yards. Nothing was thrown downfield, and Tennessee sat back in zone and let him throw short. His longest completion was an 18-yarder to Bateman on third-and-5, and it was the only third down the offense converted in six tries with him at quarterback. Henry carried 14 times after halftime for 34 yards.

The five real possessions with Huntley:

1. Punt. An Andrews false start made it first-and-15 before the first snap.
2. Punt. Flowers lost 6 on a third-and-4 catch. Durham Smythe was hurt on this drive.
3. Punt. Henry converted a third-and-1 with a 7-yard run to the Tennessee 36. A hold on Walker brought it back, and the third-and-11 throw was incomplete.
4. Punt. An illegal shift wiped out a 4-yard run, Henry lost a yard on third-and-2, and Keondre Jackson’s false start on fourth-and-3 moved it back before the punt.
5. Missed field goal. Eleven plays, 53 yards, and Loop wide left from 40.

Three of the five crossed midfield. Three of the five had a Baltimore penalty. With a two-score lead and a backup quarterback, running Henry and throwing short is the reasonable plan. It still has to produce a first down on third-and-2, and the penalties turned manageable downs into long ones.

Zrebiec reported Jackson walked to the locker room late with a limp. That’s all we know currently.

Short Yardage

In Rio, Henry’s five fourth-quarter short-yardage carries lost 5 yards and converted nothing. We asked at what point you adjust.

Against Tennessee, Henry had seven carries with 1 or 2 yards to go. He converted five.

A sixth conversion, the 7-yard run on third-and-1, came back on the Walker hold. Both failures came after halftime, with Huntley at quarterback and the threat of Jackson keeping the ball gone.

Henry finished with 23 carries for 73 yards, 3.2 per carry, with a long of 14. He had 9 for 39 in the first half.

The context is who was blocking. Vega Ioane made his first start at center with Jovaughn Gwyn, Ethan Pocic and Danny Pinter all on injured reserve. Andrew Vorhees started at right guard, a spot he said he hadn’t played since his sophomore year at USC, per Ravens.com. Vorhees left with a foot injury and Emery Jones Jr. replaced him. Ronnie Stanley was active after the toe injury.

Across from them was Jeffery Simmons. “He has the ability to wreck the game,” Jesse Minter said during the week. Simmons was in on four stops of Henry for a combined 4 yards and batted a pass. He did not have a sack. Tennessee’s two sacks went to Jacob Martin and Harris, who split one, and Johnson.

Ioane had one bad snap, with Huntley in the fourth quarter. Huntley recovered it, and a Tennessee offside wiped out the play.

The fourth-and-1 touchdown came from a different look than the one Dallas kept stopping, with Henry taking the handoff already moving downhill. That’s the adjustment we asked about last week. On the ones that failed, Tennessee had defenders in the backfield before Henry got started, and that’s a blocking problem more than a play-calling one. Declan Doyle has shown he’ll change the picture. At some point this line also has to beat the man across from it. Obviously that’s a harder proposition with guys in and out of the lineup. Maybe if they can build some consistency, that will have a chance to improve.

Penalties

Baltimore was flagged 13 times for 131 yards. Tennessee was flagged five times for 32. The Titans had 21 first downs, and six came by penalty. The Ravens had none by penalty.

Last week the problem was the offensive line, with six flags in Rio. This week the line had one, a Rosengarten false start at the 2 that cost a yard. The other 12 came from everywhere else.

Four of them changed drives.

• Hamilton’s unnecessary roughness came after an incompletion on third-and-10. It would have been fourth-and-10 at the Baltimore 35. Instead Tennessee had a first down at the 20.
• Awuzie’s interference was 39 of the 76 yards on Tennessee’s field-goal drive.
• Sarratt’s hold cut a 29-yard Jackson scramble to a net of 7. Baltimore punted two plays later.
• Walker’s hold took back Henry’s third-and-1 conversion at the Tennessee 36. Baltimore punted after one more snap.

Three Baltimore penalties gave Tennessee 35 yards on one second-quarter drive. That drive ended at the 2 without points.

The Defense

The numbers are good. Tennessee gained 297 yards at 5.1 per play, ran for 85 on 26 carries, and went 2 of 10 on third down. Pollard had 16 carries for 48 yards. The defense forced two turnovers and the offense turned both into points, 10 in all.

The best sequence was at the goal line in the second quarter. Tennessee had first-and-goal at the 8 and gave it to Pollard four straight times: 3 yards, 2, 1, and nothing. Madubuike made the stop on the fourth-down direct snap at the 2. Baltimore went 98 yards the other way for a 21-7 lead.

Then there’s Tate. The rookie caught nine passes for 145 yards on 12 targets, a week after his previous career highs of six for 58. Marlon Humphrey left with a calf injury and Awuzie replaced him. Hamilton spent a lot of the day around Tate, with a pass breakup, the forced fumble and an interference call all coming on throws his way.

And there’s the last drive. A week after allowing go-ahead and tying drives in the fourth quarter in Rio, the defense gave up 70 yards in two minutes with a 14-point lead. It had the drive stopped. Ethan Burke’s sack and a 5-yard catch left Tennessee at fourth-and-11 with 1:51 left. Ward threw to Tate for 33 to the 3.

The pass rush had one sack for the second straight week, this time without Trey Hendrickson, who was ruled out with the finger. Burke got it in his first game with defensive snaps, per Ryan Mink. Green, starting in Hendrickson’s place, was credited with pressure on three throws, including the interception. Ward came in having been sacked five times in three games, per Ravens.com, and he ran four times for 27 yards, 22 of them on the last drive.

How Tennessee moved the ball is what will bother people. Ward got the ball out fast and threw underneath most of the day, which keeps a rush from getting home no matter who is rushing. If you’re going to give up the short throws, you have to tackle and you have to take the ball away. Baltimore did take it away twice. It also let a winless team with one of the league’s lowest-scoring offenses move the ball more easily than it should have, and this was supposed to be the game where the defense got right. It won the game at the goal line and with two turnovers. It still hasn’t played four good quarters.

In 2026, we’re told NFL teams don’t spend much time in pads and tackling in Training Camp.
So you get games in the first Week or 2, where teams look unready for actual game conditions.

Okay, that’s just how it is.

But this was the fourth game of the year, and we’ve entered October.
I’m not saying the Ravens Defense was unprepared to play today. That would be hyperbolic.
I am saying, we’re still waiting to see better tackling, and just overall physicality from this group.
There is talent at all 3 levels of the defense, but they feel like their still searching to find their identity.

There are multiple ways to play the game.
I think the best defenses are built when they think less, and attack more.
Go hit someone.

To be fair, lots of successful defenses are of the bend but don’t break variety.
It can work, especially with a complimentary offense.
But it does leave me wanting more, and missing all of the great defenses of years past that simply imposed their will vs. seemingly being comfortable with being dictated to.

Last Week’s Things To Watch

We listed six. Here’s how each came out.

1. Who snaps the ball. Ioane, with one bad exchange that didn’t count.
2. Short yardage. Better. Five of seven for Henry, including a fourth-down touchdown, against none of five in the fourth quarter in Rio.
3. Whether Baltimore has the ball. It did: 33:08 to 26:52, and 61 plays to 58.
4. The interior rush and Madubuike. Madubuike made the fourth-and-goal stop and was credited with pressure on two throws. The team had one sack.
5. Offensive line penalties. One, for a yard. Everyone else had 12.
6. Whether they put Tennessee away. They controlled the game with Jackson on the field. With him off the field, it became a one score game with 1:12 left.

Takeaways

Jackson. Fifteen of 20 for the second straight week, this time for 222 yards in a half. The offense scored 24 with him and none without him. Now we wait and see what his availability for next week looks like.

Flowers. Eight catches for 118 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. Six of the catches and 119 of the yards came from Jackson. Music City Miracles expected Alontae Taylor to draw him. He left briefly in the fourth quarter and returned. At-least three of his eight grabs were really high-caliber. He’s been excellent so far when available here in 2026.

Loop. He won the game in Rio from 56 and set the stadium record today from 64. Then he missed from 40 with a chance to make it a three-score game, which gave back some of the trust the 64-yarder earned.

The injury list. Jackson (ankle), Humphrey (calf), Vorhees (foot) and Smythe (Achilles) all left this game, per Mink. That’s on top of Hendrickson’s finger and three centers on injured reserve. The line that finished the game had a rookie guard at center and Jones at right guard.

The young rushers. Green started for Hendrickson and Burke played on defense for the first time. Burke had the sack. Green pressured Ward on the interception. The team total was one sack for the second straight week.

Trenton Simpson & Teddye Buchanan. Simpson had the early pick. Was good to see Buchanan back in-action and have a tackle.

Hibner and Andrews.  Combined for 61 yards and a score. Andrews isn’t done, and Hibner having 2 catches for the second straight week is encouraging. Smythe was the best blocking TE, losing him is a blow.

Bateman. With Flowers out against the Saints, Bateman had 7 catches for 88 yards. In the 2 games since, he has 4 catches for 83 yards.  Glad to see him have have a couple of catches again today, but I’d like to see him get more targets.  Flowers and Henry are the primary weapons. Andrews remains the safety valve. To me, Bateman reaching his ceiling is what would make the offense that much harder to defend. Jakobi Lane could return in a few weeks. Bateman needs to take advantage of the opportunity available now.

The O-Line.  Of course all of the weapons can only be at their best if the line in-front of them is giving them a chance. As we said above, when evaluating we have to factor in all of the injuries so far. I think for the next Month, I just want to see the group gain some continuity. Hopefully avoid any further injuries. Let guys get some snaps under their belt together. Hopefully then their play can improve. Would say that all Lineman typically love run-blocking. You want this group to get more comfortable, and look more physical? Lean on the running game.  Also give them some help with additional blockers and larger sets.

Week 5: At Atlanta

The Ravens play the Falcons next Sunday night, Oct. 11th, at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. DraftKings has Baltimore as a 6-point favorite with a total of 49.5. ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gives the Ravens a 70.9% chance.  EDIT Oct. 6th: Falcons -3, total 43.5. ESPN gives Baltimore a 51.8% chance of winning.

We are writing this before Atlanta plays tomorrow. The Falcons are 1-2 and at New Orleans on Monday night. In our Week 4 preview we picked the Saints. Whatever happens, Atlanta will be playing next Sunday on a short week.

Two different Falcons teams

Cooper Rush started the first two games and the offense did not run a red-zone play in either. Michael Penix Jr. came back in Week 3 from last November’s ACL tear, and the Falcons won 35-14 in Green Bay. They fell behind 7-0, scored 27 straight and outrushed the Packers 242 to 17.

Bijan Robinson ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Drake London caught nine passes for a career-high 194. After a slow first quarter, Penix completed 16 of 18 for 234 yards and a touchdown, per The Falcoholic, with career highs in snaps under center and throws between the numbers. Kevin Stefanski is in his first season as Head Coach.

When Atlanta has the ball

Robinson is the first problem. Baltimore held Tennessee to 3.3 yards per carry on Sunday, but it gave Javonte Williams 98 yards on 19 carries in Rio.

London is the second. A rookie receiver just had 145 yards against this secondary after Humphrey left. If Humphrey’s calf keeps him out, the job falls to Awuzie and Wiggins.

The Falcoholic wrote that Atlanta got the ball out of Penix’s hands quickly against Green Bay, partly because the line has been suspect in protection. A quick passing game makes that harder, with or without Hendrickson.

Look to see what Kyle Pitts does tomorrow vs. the Saints. He’s going into that game with just 2 catches in 3 games, after 88 receptions last year.

When Baltimore has the ball

Who’s under Center for the Ravens?

Atlanta’s secondary is thin. A.J. Terrell is on injured reserve. CJ Henderson allowed 40 yards on 11 targets against Green Bay, while Mike Hughes gave up five catches on six targets for 89 yards and a touchdown, per The Falcoholic. If Hughes is still starting, Flowers against him is the matchup to find.

Up front, Baltimore goes on the road with Ioane at center for a second week and a right guard still to be settled. The Ravens signed veteran center Andre James during the week, though he is coming back from a high ankle sprain.

Former Raven Za’Darius Smith has 2.5 sacks.  The Falcons are high on their 2026 4th Round pick Kendal Daniels who is starting at LB out of Oklahoma.

2nd year Safety Xavier Watts was a 2x All-American at Notre Dame.

Fellow Safety Jessie Bates is the star of the Atlanta Defense. He’s a 3x 2nd team All-Pro.

EDIT: October 6th:  We have the Falcons 4th overall amongst DL’s. They are Third in pass rush, with Maason Smith first and Brandon Dorlus third among tackles. Za’Darius Smith entered the concussion protocol on Monday night.

Things To Watch

1. Jackson’s ankle. The practice reports on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are the story of the week. Does he practice? Does he play if he doesn’t practice?
2. Humphrey’s calf, and who covers London if he can’t go.
3. Right guard. Vorhees’ foot, Jones, or someone else next to Ioane.
4. Robinson on early downs. Atlanta ran for 242 in Green Bay. Baltimore can’t let the Falcons live in second-and-short.
5. Penalties. Twenty-two flags for 209 yards over the last two games.
6. Finishing. Dallas tied it with seven seconds left in Rio. Tennessee scored with 1:12 left on Sunday.

If Jackson ends up not playing next week, I hope we find that out earlier in the week. Forget the subterfuge about giving the Falcons multiple things to prepare for.
If Jackson isn’t able to play, my focus is on what game plan can Doyle operate with Huntley to best give the Ravens an opportunity to win.
Clearly it would start with feeding Henry, and since Huntley can’t push the ball down the field; you are looking for quick hitters to your weapons.

The post Ravens Hold Off Tennessee; Head To Atlanta appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Here’s what we learned in Week 3.

The (pass) defense still needs work

Make no mistake: if anything is holding this Ravens team back, it’s their defense—particularly, their 4th-quarter pass defense.

Way too often, thought they’re not perfect, the Ravens’ offense has given the defense plenty to work with, especially given injuries to Ronnie Stanley, Zay Flowers, and Ja’Kobi Lane. Though it’s early, Baltimore’s defense has still yet to click. They’re not bad, obviously, but if they don’t get their 4th-quarter (pass) defense corrected soon, the good vibes from yesterday will fade away in a hurry.

Through three games, Baltimore’s defense has given up an average of 321.3 yards per game, ranking 14th in the league. Not bad. Certainly, good enough to win on any given week.

But when it comes down to crunch time, and both teams know they other offense is going to pass, the Ravens have not found a good enough answer yet. The fact that every one of their defensive back starters are 1st round picks, and the Raven are still getting gashed is borderline embarrassing. It’s simply not good enough.

So far this season, the Ravens have allowed an average of 100.0 passing yards per game in the 4th quarter alone. Between Daniel Jones, Tyler Shough, and Dak Prescott, opposing quarterbacks have combined to throw for 300 yards on 25-for-34 passing (73.5 percent completion), 2 touchdowns, and zero interceptions.

Put differently, those 300 pass yards allowed in the 4th quarter account for 31.1 percent of all yards allowed by Baltimore so far this season. Just imagine what Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes will do to this defense if these mistakes aren’t fixed. Also, this pass rush is as fortified now as it has been in years, so you can’t blame them either.

That said, I’m not a fan of identifying a problem and not a solution. If I was in charge, I would immediately stop putting Kyle Hamilton as an edge defender or middle linebacker in late-game passing situations. At least twice yesterday, he was literally standing still after the snap, watching the play develop—which was not his fault. That was just his role on a particular play.

Instead, I’d like to see Baltimore’s best defensive player be mobile. Cover George Pickens man-to-man. Go to a 3-high-safety look with Hamilton over top of the other team’s best defender. Do something that doesn’t involve him potentially being a spectator.

To be fair, even Mike Macdonald struggled in the beginning of his tenure as Ravens defensive coordinator to find the right mix of personnel and play calls, so this is not a knock on Jesse Minter. I think Minter is the right man to lead the Ravens, period. I’m confident he will get things right, but if everyone is being honest, this 4th quarter (pass) defense is just not sustainable. Kyle Hamilton said it himself after the game yesterday: “Guys had their moments on defense, but it is unacceptable for us to keep putting ourselves in this position in the fourth quarter,” Hamilton said. “They should not have to go out there and score 30 points for us to win. It is unacceptable to be saying we are a ‘Ravens defense’ or whatever that means at this point and be going out there and doing that. Obviously, we have a new staff in, so it is on the players. We have to get it fixed as players and do right by these guys to put us in better positions.”

Mark Andrews and Ronnie Stanley haven’t started the way they (or we) would’ve hoped

Mark Andrews and Ronnie Stanley are Ravens Ring of Honor candidates. They’re multiple time Pro Bowlers and still have a lot of good football left. That said, this season has not started the way I’m sure they envisioned.

Through three weeks, Stanley (59.7 percent) and Andrews (65.0 percent) have played less than 2/3 of Baltimore’s offensive snaps. For Stanley, the snap count percentage is more telling, as tight ends aren’t always used on every play.

Stanley’s injury history has been documented, and now in his 11th season, he’s given Baltimore sufficient value on the whole of his contracts. His cap number will go from $9.85 million in 2026 to $24.1 million in March of 2027. So even if, when he returns, he doesn’t play to 100 percent of his capability, what value he does give should be plenty for the Ravens offense to stay on track.

As for Andrews, his cumulative stat line in 2026 is as follows: 13 receptions on 18 targets (.722 reception rate), for 122 yards (9.4 yards per reception) and no touchdowns. So, like Stanley, not bad per se, but not exactly what he or we have come to expect from him. Obviously, Andrews’ job includes blocking, too. Pro Football Focus currently ranks him 8th in the NFL in tight end performance (75.1 grade).

The good news is that the Ravens host the Titans this week. Andrews is three receptions away from becoming the 18th tight end all-time to reach 500 career receptions, and given

his current form, he should certainly reach that mark on Sunday. This is the perfect opportunity for Andrews to break out and announce to the rest of the league that he is still a high-caliber player.

Penalties are still an issue

Through three games, here’s the breakdown of penalties assessed to the Ravens:

· 10 for 86

· 7 for 34

· 9 for 78

At an average of 66 penalty yards per game, the Ravens are essentially giving the opposition a touchdown via penalties, given that touchbacks bring the ball to the 35-yard line now. This team is not yet good enough to afford the opposition those kinds of extra chances and still win on a regular basis.

This group has a lot of collective courage

Tyler Loop. Enough said.

As Lamar said in the locker room after the game yesterday, “This is the start of the season right here.”

That was exactly the kind of ending to a game the Ravens needed to ignite their focus. The talent has been and still is there. The focus has waned, but because of their collective courage, they got the job done.

Looking forward…

Entering Week 4, the Ravens are in a good place. They have a winning record, are tied for 1st place in their division, but also have also made mistakes recently enough that they should be locked in from start to finish this Sunday. The Titans are currently 0-3, and since the beginning of 2022 until now, they’ve only won 19 games (.268 winning percentage).

Given that Week 2 happened and Derrick Henry is set to face the team that drafted him for the first time, I don’t think Baltimore will overlook Tennessee. Hopefully, the Ravens start fast and finish strong this week, and are able to rest some starters toward the end of the game. Sunday’s forecast calls for a high of 70 degrees with a 35 percent chance of rain; perfect weather to run the rock, force the Titans into pass-only situations, and have our defense score it’s first touchdown of the 2026 season.

Prediction: Ravens 27, Titans 13

The post What We Learned: Week 3 appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Baltimore beat Dallas 34-31 at the Maracanã on Tyler Loop’s 56-yard field goal as time expired. A week after losing a fourth-quarter lead at home to New Orleans, the Ravens fell behind 10-0, scored 24 of the next 27 points, and lost the lead again in the fourth quarter. This time they got it back. They did it with Ronnie Stanley inactive, two centers injured by the final drive, and rookie guard Vega Ioane snapping the ball on the go-ahead touchdown and the winning kick.

This game could have gone either way.  It was a true swing game.  The Ravens found a way to win. Not only is it a more enjoyable 9 hour flight home, it’s the type of game that a team can build off of.

Between the lights of RIo, and playing ‘America’s Team,’ this felt like a big game.

Losing another tough game late would have been deflating.

Winning a game like that makes you hope the Ravens have now effectively exorcised their 4th Quarter Demons.

10-0

Dallas opened with an 11-play, 57-yard drive. Williams had six carries for 44 yards on it. Roquan Smith came untouched on a blitz and sacked Dak Prescott on third and goal, and Dallas kicked a field goal.

LaJohntay Wester muffed the ensuing kickoff and recovered at the 21. Three plays later, Baltimore faced fourth and 1 at its own 30 with 6:12 left in the first quarter. Minter went for it. Derrick Henry went up the middle, and Caleb Downs stopped him for no gain. Dallas needed five plays to score, helped by Trenton Simpson’s face mask on a 3-yard completion, and led 10-0.

Last week we defended Minter’s fourth down punt. This was a different decision: first quarter, his own 30, with his defense already having spent more than five minutes on the field. It cost seven points.

24-3

Baltimore answered with 24 of the next 27 points.

Brandon Aubrey’s kickoff went out of bounds, and Baltimore started at its 40. Lamar Jackson ran 21 yards on a designed run behind a good block from Mark Andrews. Zay Flowers caught his first pass since Week 1 for 22. Henry scored from the 4 on a direct snap with Emery Jones Jr. reporting as an extra lineman.

The next drive went 89 yards, and 68 of them came on two Dallas pass interference calls: DaRon Bland on a deep ball to Flowers, and Markquese Bell on a deep ball to Devontez Walker on third and 11. Henry scored from the 3 a play later. Per NFL+, Henry passed Eric Dickerson during the game and moved into ninth on the NFL’s career rushing list.

Dallas went for it on fourth and 1 at its own 44 in the second quarter and was stopped. Baltimore got Loop’s 27-yard field goal out of it after a third-down pass to Flowers fell incomplete at the 9.

In the third quarter, Trenton Simpson recovered Jake Ferguson’s fumble at the Baltimore 25. Keondre Jackson blocked Aubrey’s 59-yard try. Baltimore took the ball after the block and went 51 yards: Henry 29 around right tackle, his longest run of the season; Justice Hill 11; Jackson 12; and Jackson to Chris Moore for a 4-yard touchdown. That made it 24-13 with 3:44 left in the third quarter.

Flowers finished with five catches for 84 yards, plus a 20 yard jet sweep, in his first game back from the hamstring. Moore caught a touchdown the week after the third-and-1 deep ball.

The Defense

Against New Orleans, Baltimore had no interior pass rush; all three sacks came off the edge. Nnamdi Madubuike played for the first time in more than a year. The interior showed up. Calais Campbell had three quarterback hits. Travis Jones had two tackles for loss, including the stop that opened the second half. Madubuike was in on three tackles, two of them in the two-minute drill. He was also flagged for roughing the passer on a third-down completion that set up Dallas’ second touchdown.

At the end of the first half, Dallas reached the Baltimore 20 and kicked a field goal. On the third-down stop, Shaffer noted Trey Hendrickson complaining he’d been held, and Baltimore got home with a four-man rush.

Kyle Hamilton was again the best defender on the field, with eight tackles and two passes defensed. One breakup came on third down, and the other on a blitz where he got his hands up. He was evaluated for a concussion in the third quarter and returned the next series. Roquan Smith led the team with nine tackles and the sack. Trenton Simpson had seven tackles, two for loss, and the fumble recovery.

Dallas ran 71 plays in regulation to Baltimore’s 57, and CBS had Dallas at 35 plays in Baltimore territory by late in the third quarter. The Cowboys were 5 of 13 on third down, better for Baltimore than New Orleans’ 8 of 15. Williams finished with 19 carries for 98 yards.

Then came the fourth quarter. After the goal-line stop below, Dallas went 96 yards in seven plays. CeeDee Lamb caught a 49-yard ball on second and 9 from the Dallas 5, and KaVontae Turpin ran 9 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. On Dallas’ last drive, down 3 with 1:30 left, it went 60 yards to the Baltimore 2. Three completions went out of bounds, and Nate Wiggins’ pass interference took it from the 22 to the 2. Lamb finished with seven catches for 112 yards, and George Pickens had seven for 82.

From there the defense held. Wiggins broke up a pass to Pickens. Roquan Smith brought down Prescott after he escaped a sack. Luke Schoonmaker false-started, Prescott threw incomplete on third down, and Dallas kicked the tie from 23 yards. Holding them to a field goal is what the situation required, but letting them get to the 2 is part of the story too.

Short Yardage

I understand the plan. You have Derrick Henry, and when you need a yard, you line up and make the defense stop him. Early on it worked. Henry scored from the 4 with Jones as the extra lineman, and from the 3 on the next drive.

The fourth quarter went differently:

Five carries, minus 5 yards, no conversions. Jaishawn Barham, the rookie who played at Maryland before transferring to Michigan, made the stop on three of them and finished with seven tackles, two for loss. Dallas knew what was coming, and the extra lineman told them.

So at what point do you adjust? Jackson ran six times for 50 yards. Flowers went 20 on a jet sweep. When Baltimore finally used Jackson on a short-yardage down, on third and 1 at the Dallas 38, he ran for 12, and Carson Vinson’s illegal formation took it away.

In the moment, I wanted Baltimore to go for it on fourth and goal. They did, and it was stopped. Dallas then went 96 yards to take the lead, and Baltimore got the ball back down 4 instead of down 1. A field goal there would have meant needing only another field goal. Instead, Baltimore needed a touchdown. I’d have made the same call, but a reminder that decisions have consequences.

The adjustment came on the last drive. After Henry was stopped for no gain at the 2, Jackson threw on second and third down. The third-down throw went to Matthew Hibner for the touchdown.

The Finish

Down 28-24 with 5:45 left, Baltimore went 64 yards in 11 plays and 4:15. Jackson opened with a 17-yard scramble, then went 4 of 5 for 40 yards: Andrews for 10 on third and 6 after a catch short of the marker, Flowers for 14 twice, and Hibner for the touchdown. Along the way, Bell drew his second pass interference, and John Simpson had his third false start. It was 31-28 with 1:30 left.

Dallas used its last timeout with 14 seconds left, threw incomplete on third down, and kicked with 7 seconds remaining. That was enough time for one play.

Jackson hit Flowers over the middle to the Dallas 39. Per Brett Kollmann, Reddy Steward played it expecting help inside that wasn’t there. Baltimore used its last timeout with one second left, and Loop made it from 56.

Jackson finished 15 of 20 for 186 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, plus six carries for 50 yards. Henry had 26 carries for 89 yards and two touchdowns. The passing volume was low, but Jackson averaged 9.3 yards per attempt, and Baltimore ran for 5.1 a carry. The Week 3 piece argued this offense’s problem was snaps, not effectiveness. Time of possession was roughly even, and Baltimore scored 34.

Penalties And Calls

Baltimore was flagged nine times, and six were on the offensive line: three false starts by John Simpson, two ineligible-downfield penalties on Jovaughn Gwyn, and Vinson’s illegal formation that erased Jackson’s 12 yard run. With Rosengarten’s against New Orleans, that’s three ineligible-downfield flags in two weeks.

Three calls drew objections from the CBS booth. Jim Nantz and J.J. Watt thought Bland’s pass interference should have been offensive interference on Flowers. Gene Steratore would have ruled Ferguson’s fumble incomplete, though replay upheld it. In the final minute, Watt and Steratore both thought Wiggins’ interference on Lamb, which moved Dallas from the 22 to the 2, should have been offensive interference. Steratore explained afterward that it started as mutual hand-fighting, but Lamb’s arm lock at the end looked to him like offensive interference.

Two went Baltimore’s way and one didn’t. You win calls, you lose calls, and different people watching the same replay saw different things.

Injuries

• Stanley was inactive. Vinson started at left tackle.
• Gwyn left with an ankle injury.
• Ethan Pocic replaced him at center, hyperextended his knee on a helmet to the knee with 3:11 left, and was carted off.
• Ioane moved from guard to center for the final two drives.
• Andrews (hand) left in the first half and returned.
• Hamilton was evaluated for a concussion and returned.

Takeaways

Loop. You have to feel good for him. He entered the season with extended pressure on him. Hitting a 56-yarder game winner in Rio as time expired has to do wonders for his confidence. Also for the fanbase believing in him.

Jackson late. Through three quarters he had thrown 13 times. In the fourth he went 6 of 7 for 72 yards and a touchdown, and the one miss was the high throw to Bateman at the goal line. He opened the go-ahead drive with a 17-yard scramble, converted 3rd and 1 with a 12-yard run that Vinson’s penalty erased, and with 7 seconds left found Flowers over the middle to set up the kick.

Pressure, but one sack. Baltimore hit Prescott seven times: three from Campbell, two from Hendrickson, one each from Roquan Smith and Tavius Robinson. The only sack came on Smith’s untouched blitz on the opening drive. The four-man rush got stops, including the one before halftime, but it didn’t finish plays, and Prescott ran four times for 19 yards, including escaping a sack on the tying drive. How Baltimore gets home more often is an open question. Some of it may come as Madubuike’s snaps build after his first game in more than a year. Some of it depends on Hendrickson, who is playing with a cast on a broken finger and spent Sunday telling officials he was being held. And some of it is a choice for Minter about how often to blitz.

A healthy Flowers. Five catches for 84 yards on six targets, a 20-yard jet sweep, a 19-yard pass interference drawn, and the catch that set up the winning kick. He also had a drop on 3rd and 6 at the 9 that would have been right at the first-down marker. In Week 2 without him, Chris Moore started opposite Bateman nine days off the practice squad. Sunday, with Flowers back, Moore played a smaller role and caught a touchdown from the 4.

The rest of the room. Hibner caught two passes for 23 yards: a 21-yarder that answered Dallas’ two-point conversion and the go-ahead touchdown. Josh Cuevas’ 14-yard catch on a well-designed play set up the second-quarter field goal. Walker didn’t catch a pass, but his one target drew Bell’s 49-yard pass interference on 3rd and 11. Bateman and Andrews combined for five catches and 61 yards, including Bateman’s 31-yarder late in the third and Andrews’ conversion on 3rd and 6 after coming back from the hand injury. Justice Hill ran five times for 33 yards, including a 7-yard conversion on 3rd and 5 and an 11-yarder on the Moore touchdown drive.

Week 4: Tennessee Comes To Baltimore

Sunday, October 4th, 1:00 p.m. ET, M&T Bank Stadium. Ravens -11.5, total 43.5. ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gives Baltimore an 82.1% chance to win.

Tennessee

The Titans are 0-3 after losing 12-7 to the Giants in New York. We had them 30th in our Week 3 power rankings and projected them at 5-12.

We took Tennessee in that game because Jaxson Dart is out for the rest of the season, and the market moved the same way: the line went from Giants -6 to -2.5, and the total dropped from 40.5 to 37.5. The Giants won anyway, with Jameis Winston at quarterback. Their defense played without Banks and Adebo, lost Hood during the game, and saw Brian Burns helped off with his ankle.

Tennessee’s first half produced one first down, 54 yards and no points. Dike fumbled the opening kickoff. The Giants never reached the end zone; Zvada kicked four field goals, and New York was flagged 10 times for 88 yards. Ward finished 23 of 36 for 181 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and was not sacked. He overthrew an open Carnell Tate in the end zone, then hit Wan’Dale Robinson for four yards with 5:39 left to make it a one-score game. The last drive, starting with 3:13 left, came up short. Tennessee outgained New York 262 to 238, sacked Winston three times, and lost time of possession 34:26 to 25:34.

Week 1 was a 23-10 home loss to the Jets: 195 total yards and 11 first downs, with the only touchdown in garbage time.

Week 2 was the Titans’ best game of their 3 so far. Philadelphia opened with three straight drives of 11 or more plays in 98-degree heat, and Tennessee still led 20-17 with 1:56 left. Amani Hooker intercepted Jalen Hurts in the end zone and returned it 92 yards to set up the first touchdown. Marcus Harris’ interception set up Joey Slye’s go-ahead field goal. Hurts then covered all 65 yards on the winning drive and hit Darius Cooper with nine seconds left. He converted nine third downs at an average of 7.9 yards to go, and Philadelphia held the ball 36:25.

Tennessee has scored 10, 20 and 7. It has lost time of possession by more than eight minutes in each of the last two games. Its defense has kept every game within a score.

Saleh And Daboll

Robert Saleh is in his first season as Head Coach and hired Brian Daboll as Offensive Coordinator to develop Ward. After Week 1, Daboll said the offense wasn’t good enough and that it started with him. Three games in, it still isn’t.

Cam Ward

Tennessee leans on bunch formations. Per Next Gen Stats via Turron Davenport, Titans receivers have lined up bunched 22.0% of the time this season, fourth in the league, after leading the NFL at 25.1% last year. Ward averaged 5.9 yards per attempt throwing to bunch receivers in 2025. Through two games he’s at 13.4, on 67 yards, about five throws.

The 2nd year QB is in a tough situation where he doesn’t have a ton of surrounding talent, and there are also questions about his own development.

Things To Watch

Who snaps the ball? Gwyn’s ankle, Pocic’s knee and Stanley’s toe. Baltimore finished Sunday with a rookie guard at center.

Short yardage. Does Baltimore keep going to Henry with the extra lineman, or has Sunday changed the plan?

Does Baltimore have the ball? In Week 2, we predicted a big Henry game off Detroit’s tape against New Orleans, and he ran for 68. Tennessee’s offense hasn’t sustained drives, which should mean more Baltimore possessions. Check that before assuming a big day on the ground.

The interior rush. Madubuike’s snap count in his second game back, and whether Campbell and Travis Jones keep getting home.

Offensive line penalties. Six on Sunday. Would like to see that cleaned up.

Do The Ravens take care of business?  KC was pushed by Miami into the 4th Quarter today.  Washington beat Seattle.  The Bills found a way to win despite having 5 turnovers, and trying to give that game away to LA.  Today feels like a big win for the Ravens, but it’s only significant if they build on, starting with not allowing an inferior Titans team to hang around next Sunday. There isn’t a ton of talent around Ward, Tony Pollard, Calvin Ridley, and Carnell Tate isn’t nothing. Take the Titans out of the game early, and don’t give them a chance to hang around.

Our Pick: Ravens big.  27-7.

The post Ravens Win In Rio, Tennessee Comes To Baltimore appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Baltimore had a 14-6 lead at halftime, and a 17-9 lead entering the 4th Quarter, but were not able to make it hold up.

A Week 2 loss doesn’t change the expected trajectory of the season, but it’s disappointing all the same.

The Fourth Quarter

Baltimore was outscored 15-0 in the fourth.

The Ravens led 14-6 at halftime and 17-9 with just under four minutes left in the third. From there: a punt, a punt, and an interception on the final snap. New Orleans scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie it, then went 16 plays and 68 yards over 6:38 to win it.

The closing drive is the game. Sixteen plays, and Baltimore had four chances to end it. New Orleans converted two third downs and two fourth downs – Shough sneaking for a yard at the Baltimore 44 with 5:41 left, and then going for it on fourth-and-goal from inside the one rather than taking the chip shot that would have given them the lead. Tyler Shough scored on a keeper. The play was reviewed and the ruling on the field stood; the CBS broadcast crew said on air they believed he was short.

Third Downs

New Orleans converted 8 of 15.

The distances are what make that number bad. Baltimore stopped almost nothing in the 8-to-13 range. Shough converted a third-and-7 to Devaughn Vele in the first quarter, a third-and-13 by stepping up through interior pressure for 29 more to Vele, a third-and-8 to Chris Olave for 11 with Kyle Hamilton showing at the line and Roquan Smith actually rushing, a third-and-13 to Juwan Johnson for 25 in the third quarter, and a third-and-16 to Johnson for 10 that still left New Orleans short.

In our season preview we wrote that this scheme gives a quarterback a clean look, rushes four, concedes the underneath throw and dares an offense to be patient. New Orleans was patient for sixty minutes. Shough finished 27-of-34 for 252 yards. That is a 79 percent completion rate against a defense that was not, by design, trying to stop those throws.

Hamilton was the exception everywhere. He is in on tackles from one end of the play-by-play to the other, and on the 16-play drive that decided the game he is credited on seven of them — Etienne twice, Olave, Vele, Kamara, and both Shough runs inside the 5, including the third-and-goal stop that forced New Orleans into going for it on fourth down.

The Interior Rush

Baltimore had three sacks – Hendrickson, Tavius Robinson and Mike Green. All three came off the edge.

Nothing came from inside. Jonas Shaffer put it plainly afterward: the Ravens need Nnamdi Madubuike back, and there was not much from their interior rush today. That is two straight games without him. Travis Jones generated push early – he beat his man on a second-and-15 that held New Orleans to two yards — and the pocket was clean enough the rest of the afternoon that Shough completed 27 passes.

Hendrickson and Green are both on the board, which is what we asked for last week. Michael Fast predicted Hendrickson’s first sack as a Raven would come Sunday, and it did. His other call — Malaki Starks’ first home interception – did not, though Starks did make the tackle that kept Juwan Johnson out of the end zone on the final drive and forced New Orleans into fourth-and-goal.

Hendrickson did it with a cast on his hand; Ian Rapoport reported Sunday morning that he broke a finger into several pieces this week and was expected to play. Rod Woodson’s explanation for the Week 1 zero — that Indianapolis slid protection to him, brought tight ends over and bumped him off the line — held up as far as it went, and the finger was a second reason we did not know about when we published.

The pass rush question we posed last week was whether pressure was enough or Baltimore needed sacks. The answer was sacks. Baltimore generated pressure on Shough repeatedly and he stepped through it for conversions, and the drives that actually ended were the ones where the rush finished — Robinson on New Orleans’ first possession, and Hendrickson and Green on the same third-quarter series.

New Orleans punted three times. Baltimore’s three sacks came on two of those drives.

Bateman And Andrews

Both of them answered.

Rashod Bateman caught 7 of 9 targets for 88 yards and a 22-yard touchdown at the end of the first half. He had zero catches in Week 1. He converted on the first drive of the second quarter, caught the touchdown in a two-minute drill, and dug Baltimore out of a first-and-21 with an 18-yard deep out that required timing and protection at the same moment.

Mark Andrews caught 6 of 7 for 49 yards. The incompletion was a third-and-6 on Baltimore’s opening three-and-out. After that he converted third-and-5, third-and-4 and third-and-3, opened the third-quarter field goal drive with an 8-yard catch, and picked up 14 on third-and-3 on the final possession. He was the third-down offense.

In the season preview we said Andrews and Bateman both needed to get back toward their 2024 production. They did it in the same game, on the afternoon Zay Flowers was inactive.

Matt Jergensen wrote last week that with Flowers out, Bateman should be in line for a much bigger role and that the time for him to step up was now. He got nine targets and delivered. Jergensen also said Andrews needed more than the four catches for 49 yards he had in Indianapolis; Andrews got six for 49, which is more work at the same yardage, in higher-leverage spots.

The one question Jergensen asked that has an uncomfortable answer is whether Chris Moore was really a player who could and should get an expanded role. Baltimore started him. He caught the deep ball that wasn’t there on third-and-1, held on a play that erased a first down, and nearly lost a kick return. None of that is an indictment of Moore. It is what happens when a team asks its fifth receiver to be its second.

Devontez Walker, who has 7 career catches, caught one for 47 on his second target. Ja’Kobi Lane is on injured reserve with a fractured wrist and is out at least four games — our Week 2 piece treated him as week-to-week, and that was wrong. LaJohntay Wester caught a 15-yard screen. Chris Moore started opposite Bateman nine days after being elevated off the practice squad.

The Offensive Line

Baltimore gained 312 yards a week after gaining 506.

Ronnie Stanley left the game and Carson Vinson replaced him at left tackle. Jeff Zrebiec reported before kickoff that Stanley was dealing with a toe injury, and that Emery Jones Jr. was active over Andrew Vorhees in part because Jones can play tackle. When Stanley went out, it was Vinson. There has been no further word.

Chase Young got him for 11 on a second-and-10 at the New Orleans 28, a play on which Andrews was chipping and the CBS broadcast called a scheme error. Young and Nathan Shepherd split another for 12 on third-and-10 at the New Orleans 19, which turned a red zone trip into a 49-yard field goal. He went down again after Vinson came in.

Roger Rosengarten was flagged for being illegally downfield on a shovel pass to Andrews that had gained 11.

Derrick Henry

Sixteen carries, 68 yards, one touchdown. Five of those carries came in the second half.

New Orleans did not stop him. He averaged 4.3 a carry, moved the chains on third-and-2 and third-and-1 on the touchdown drive, and ripped off an 8-yard run to the 1 to set up the score. The touchdown itself was the best play of the day schematically – second-and-goal from the 1, Carson Vinson reported eligible, direct snap to Henry, in the same red zone where Week 1 produced a holding penalty that erased a touchdown and a failed fourth-and-goal from the three.

The issue was volume. After Loop’s 49-yarder made it 17-9 with 3:23 left in the third, Baltimore ran six offensive plays before its final possession. Two three-and-outs, both of which ended with Jackson on the ground. You cannot hand it to Henry when you are not on the field.

That matters more with him than with most backs. Henry’s afternoons are built on accumulation. Carry after carry, defenders getting tired of putting a shoulder into him, arm tackles starting to appear in the second half, and the runs getting longer as the game goes on. Sixteen carries does not get a defense to that point. Neither does five in a half.

Jonas Shaffer noted that Jahmyr Gibbs had a run of explosive carries against this same New Orleans defense last week behind a banged-up Detroit line. Detroit also ran it 33 times and held the ball for nearly 37 minutes. That is the difference, and it isn’t about the back.

The premise was everywhere this week, including here. Michael Fast wrote that the best thing Baltimore could do was look at what Gibbs and the Lions did to the New Orleans run defense, and predicted 150-plus yards and two touchdowns for Henry. We wrote that New Orleans would not be able to slow Henry and Jackson. Neither of us was wrong about the matchup. We were both assuming the Ravens would have the ball.

Third And One

Tied at 17, 8:14 left, third-and-1 at the Baltimore 37. The Ravens threw deep to Chris Moore. Incomplete, and they punted.

Punting on fourth-and-1 from your own 37 in a tie game is defensible. You are backed up, and you want your defense to come up with a stop and improve your field position. I can also understand those that would have preferred to see the Ravens aggressively go for it there. I’m not focused on the 4th down decision.

The third-down call is the one that annoys me.

One yard, with the game tied, in the fourth quarter. Make New Orleans stop Henry. Put a front that had been on the field for most of the afternoon in a position where it has to hold up against Henry with a yard to gain. If they do, fine — you punt from the same spot you were always going to punt from, and you have learned something about this offense. If they don’t, the drive continues and the clock keeps moving.

Instead the down came off the board on a low-percentage throw, and the punt team came on anyway.

There is a second coaching decision to log. Minter challenged a three-yard completion in the second half and lost, costing a timeout. Zrebiec flagged it while the Saints were driving. Baltimore spent its remaining two timeouts on the goal-line sequence and took over with 1:21 and none, which forced a spike at the New Orleans 37 and left them two plays from the 37 with 20 seconds instead of three.

Tyler Shough

What we published about him held up: the league’s worst pressure-to-sack ratio last season, 56 attempts in Week 1 that led the NFL by 14, 410 yards against Detroit. What we never mentioned was that he runs. Shough carried nine times for 23 yards today — more carries than Travis Etienne — scrambled 11 yards on third-and-14 in the second quarter to set up a field goal, and scored the winning touchdown on a keeper from inside the one. Both fourth-down conversions on the final drive were his legs.

He also took hits and kept throwing, which Bill Barnwell and others noted after the Detroit game. Baltimore got pressure on him all afternoon and he completed 79 percent of his throws.

Two of his receivers beat Baltimore’s best coverage players. Olave caught 8 of 10 for 86 and the touchdown, converting three times on the drive that tied it, including a catch behind the line of scrimmage on third-and-2 with Marlon Humphrey in coverage that he turned into a first down. We called Nate Wiggins against Olave the best individual matchup on the field. Olave won it. Vele added 5 for 64, Johnson 4 for 66 on four targets.

Alvin Kamara was not on a pitch count. He touched it ten times in the first half and finished with nine carries for 15 yards. We wrote that if he played, he was probably on a snap limit; instead New Orleans made him the lead back and got 1.7 yards a touch, while Etienne — the one who was actually productive in Detroit — carried eight times. New Orleans kicked field goals on three straight possessions in the middle of the game rather than finishing them, and the run game is a reasonable place to look for why. Etienne scored the two-point conversion that tied the game.

Special Teams

This was the strength a week ago and it was a problem today.

Carl Granderson blocked a 49-yard Tyler Loop attempt in the second quarter, on a drive that had reached the New Orleans 28 before Young’s sack. Loop later hit from 49. The kickoff after Bateman’s touchdown was returned to the Baltimore 44 with 15 seconds left in the half, and New Orleans turned it into a 47-yard field goal. Moore fumbled a kick return in the third quarter; replay ruled him down by contact.

Moore started at receiver, returned kicks, drew the drive-killing holding penalty and was the target on the third-and-1 deep ball. That is a lot to ask of a man who was on the practice squad nine days ago, and it is a depth problem rather than a Moore problem.

The Penalties

Seven for 34 yards. New Orleans had five for 35.

The count is not the story. Four of the seven arrived on plays that changed the game: Moore’s hold erasing a Jackson first down, Rosengarten illegally downfield wiping out 11 yards, a defensive holding call on Jaylinn Hawkins that gave New Orleans a second attempt at the tying two-point conversion after Trenton Simpson had brought Shough down on the first, and the roughing call on Hendrickson during the final drive.

Pete Gilbert had it in real time — penalties and third downs. He is right about both, and the penalty version needs the qualifier that the volume actually improved.

Thoughts Two Weeks In

Total yardage was 312 to 298. This was not a game where Baltimore got run off the field. It was a game where New Orleans held the ball for 32:45 and converted third downs at long distances – 8 of 15, at an average distance around eight yards.

New Orleans had eight possessions: punt, punt, field goal, field goal, field goal, punt, touchdown, touchdown. Baltimore’s three sacks account for two of the three punts – Robinson ending New Orleans’ first possession, Hendrickson and Green on the same third-quarter series.

Over the course of this season, the Ravens are going to need consistent production from Bateman and Andrews. Their performance today was encouraging; the next step is getting that with regularity.

It was also good to see Walker stretch the field with his 47 yard grab.

Not having Flowers and Lane available today changes the offense.

What really impacted the offense was the defense allowing several long possessions, and not giving Jackson more attempts. Further aided by the Ravens offense not converting that 4th Quarter 3rd and 1.

Hard for Henry to rack up carries, when the Ravens offense doesn’t have the ball.

Madubuike has now missed the first two games. The obvious hope is that he gives the Ravens an interior pass rush when he becomes active.

We noted last week that the first seven opponents all missed the playoffs last season, and that everyone expected a quick start. Baltimore is 1-1 with a home loss to one of them.

Look at the rest of the conference while that sits there.

Buffalo is 2-0 and has looked strong.

Cincinnati is 2-0 and now owns a head-to-head win over Houston, another expected AFC threat, in Houston.

Kansas City looked a bit better in Week 1 than many people anticipated.

The Ravens have post-season aspirations. You have to reach the post-season first, and dropping games you should win is how you end up not winning divisions or having your seeding impacted.

The Ravens were extremely difficult to beat at home for years, but weren’t able to defend M&T last year and have now started the ’26 campaign with another loss at the Bank.

The Ravens’ struggles with leads in the 4th Quarter over the last 5 years is well documented. For there to be a Coaching change, and to see that same storyline continue with Minter in his Ravens home-debut, is a bit deflating.

Our Call, Scored

We said Ravens 31, Saints 20. Baltimore wins and covers. Take the over on 46.5.

Wrong three times. Baltimore lost outright as a home favorite — the line had moved from -7.5 at publication to -8.5 by kickoff. The game finished at 41 combined points, under the total. Not a near miss on any leg.

The reasoning was that New Orleans would not be able to slow Henry and Jackson, and that if the Saints loaded the box it would create one-on-one chances outside. Baltimore did win that part — Bateman got his one-on-ones and won them. What we did not account for was Baltimore’s inability to get off the field on third down, or that Henry would finish with 68 yards.

Box score

Week 3: Ravens at Cowboys, in Rio de Janeiro

Sunday, September 27th, 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS, Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro. Ravens -3, total 52.5.
ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gives Baltimore a 60.2% chance to win.

Dallas is the designated home team. Baltimore is the visitor. The Ravens are not giving up a home date, and this is a normal Sunday afternoon kickoff rather than the Friday or Saturday that international games sometimes get, 5:25 p.m. local time in Rio.

The Field

There is a real chance this game is not played in Brazil.

Mike Florio reported Saturday that the grass at the Maracanã is in poor condition, citing Mauricio Rodriguez of AtoZSports. The complaints are coming from the soccer players who play on it. Flamengo goalkeeper Agustín Rossi said both penalty areas are in bad shape and there are bumps everywhere, and noted that an NFL game was coming. Midfielder Giorgian De Arrascaeta said the field keeps getting worse and it is getting harder to control the ball. Fluminense’s Guga said on September 5 that he could not recall playing on a field as bad anywhere in Brazil.

Tony Lombardi at Russell Street Report laid out the stadium’s side. Maracanã’s management attributes the wear to heavy rainfall, high temperatures and a heavy run of matches. Stadium CEO Fred Nantes acknowledged the field is not at the quality the stadium wants while saying the venue has not been negligent. Crews are working overnight, and the administration contacted the people who run the São Paulo venue to learn what was done there after the NFL games in 2024 and 2025. Maracanã is studying a full replacement of the field after the NFL game.

The precedent is real. In 2018 the NFL moved a Chiefs-Rams game from Mexico City to the Los Angeles Coliseum over field conditions, six days before kickoff. If this one moves, it moves to Arlington, because Dallas is the home team. As of Saturday afternoon the NFL had not announced any change.

The precedent that matters more is what happened in São Paulo. Players slipped repeatedly during the 2024 game at Arena Corinthians, and afterward multiple players told theScore it was among the worst surfaces they had played on. The NFL spent a reported $1 million on that field to prepare it.

We are publishing this without knowing where the game will be played. Flamengo hosted Bragantino at the Maracanã on Sunday, and the league’s read on the field after that match is the thing to watch.

Dallas

Dallas beat Washington 37-20 at home on Sunday and is 1-1.

Dak Prescott went 26 of 31 for 279 yards and four touchdowns, and passed Tony Romo for the franchise record in touchdown passes. Romo’s mark was 248; Prescott tied it on his second scoring throw to Jake Ferguson and broke it with a fourth-quarter strike to CeeDee Lamb. Lamb finished with 8 catches for 153 and two scores, 19.1 a catch. Ferguson had 4 for 43 and two touchdowns. George Pickens caught 6 for 40. Javonte Williams ran 12 times for 30.

Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow on the final play of the first half and was carted off. Everything after that was Dallas playing Marcus Mariota. Washington actually outgained Dallas 389 to 332 and ran for 182 yards. Mariota wasn’t bad, but the game changed when Daniels went out.

Dallas lost 28-20 at the Giants in Week 1. Dak Prescott went 22-of-34 for 175 yards with two touchdowns – to CeeDee Lamb and Javonte Williams – and an interception just before halftime. Williams ran for a score. George Pickens had drops. Brandon Aubrey missed an extra point after a taunting penalty moved it back. Safety Malik Hooker left with a forearm injury and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown left in the fourth with a hamstring.

The Matchup

In Week 1 the Cowboys allowed 9 of 11 third-down conversions, missed seven tackles per Next Gen Stats, gave up 165 combined rushing yards and let the Giants hold the ball for nearly 37 minutes. Jaxson Dart finished 23-of-29 with three touchdowns and ran for 54 himself. In a Blogging The Boys roundtable, four Dallas linebackers – Winters, Overshown, Houston and Lawrence – were noted as grading between 34 and 42 at PFF.

Christian Parker was calling his first NFL game as defensive coordinator. Dallas allowed the most points in the NFL last season at 30.1 a game, and Quinnen Williams pointed at the third downs afterward, saying they had a lot of them and didn’t get off the field.

Two weeks in, the pattern holds. Washington went 6 of 8 on third down in the first half before Daniels got hurt. Add the 9 of 11 the Giants managed and Dallas has allowed 15 of 19 third-down conversions against starting quarterbacks – 79 percent.

The quarterback runs are the specific problem. Jaxson Dart ran for 54 on 11 carries in Week 1. Daniels had 69 on seven before the injury. That is 123 yards on 18 attempts over six quarters, 6.8 a carry, which is Joe Hoyt’s number and the most relevant statistic in this preview. Marcus Mosher’s read is that Dallas is playing light boxes against heavy personnel and getting run on, which makes it a stated choice rather than a personnel failure. Nick Harris described the third-quarter forced fumble as the Dallas defense’s first big play of the season, in Week 2.

Now the counterweight, and it is the pivot of this game rather than a footnote.

Dak Prescott is a better quarterback than any Baltimore has faced, and on Sunday he did to Washington what Shough did to the Ravens – efficient, unhurried, converting. Twenty-six of 31. Baltimore has gone two weeks without an interior pass rush.

The Giants ran for 165 on the Cowboys while holding the ball nearly 37 minutes. Baltimore had the ball 27:15 on Sunday and handed Henry sixteen carries. A defense that cannot tackle is only a matchup if you are on the field long enough to make it one.

Availability

Madubuike has missed two games with the neck. He was described as “really, really close” before Week 2 and did not dress.

Teddye Buchanan has also missed two with the knee.

Zay Flowers sat Sunday with the hamstring to try to avoid this becoming a lingering or more serious issue.  If this game moves to Dallas, it’s fun to picture his speed on the turf.

Ronnie Stanley left with what Zrebiec reported as a toe injury. No update yet.

Ja’Kobi Lane is on IR with a fractured wrist obviously, and will miss a few more weeks.

Hendrickson is playing with a cast on a broken finger.

For Dallas: Safety Malik Hooker and LB DeMarvion Overshown both left the Giants game early and were confirmed inactive against Washington, along with linebacker James Houston, cornerback Caelen Carson, running back Tyler Goodson, guard Ajani Cornelius and receiver Camden Brown. Overshown and Houston are two of the four linebackers whose Week 1 grades drew attention, and Overshown is the player you would want spying Jackson. Whether any of them are back for Rio is a question for Dallas’ Wednesday report.

The linebacker room is reshuffled rather than empty. Rookie Jaishawn Barham – Michigan, and Maryland before that – forced the fumble that Dee Winters recovered at the Washington 13 to set up a Ferguson touchdown. Winters is himself one of the four who graded poorly in Week 1.

Olave had a strong game today vs. the Ravens. Have to imagine Lamb, and Pickens are excited about their chances to do the same.

Things To Watch

Does Madubuike play, and does it change the interior rush? Three sacks against New Orleans, all from the edge, and a quarterback completing 79 percent.

Can Baltimore get off the field on third down? Eight of 15 allowed, at an average distance around eight yards.

Does Baltimore run it? Sixteen carries for Henry, five after halftime, against a defense that gave up 165 on the ground in Week 1. Dallas has been showing a lot of light boxes. You have to make them pay for that.

Is Stanley available? .If he’s available, how effective is he?

Does Jackson run? Daniels ran for 69 yards in the 1st half today.

Does Bateman build off his outing vs. NO? Seven catches for 88 and a touchdown, with a week for Dallas to plan for it. If Flowers is back, the room looks entirely different.

Where is the game being played?

Our Call

The Ravens have a better roster than New Orleans (even with those inactive today), but the Saints left Baltimore with the win.
Baltimore is supposed to have a better roster than the Cowboys, but Dallas has darkhorse Super Bowl aspirations.

The defense has given up long, patient drives in both games. Dak Prescott is a different problem than Daniel Jones or Tyler Shough.

Dallas allowed the most points in the NFL last season, its defensive coordinator is calling his third NFL game, it has given up 15 of 19 third downs to starting quarterbacks, and it is playing light boxes against heavy personnel.

The case against against Baltimore is that Prescott is not Shough. Four penalties at the worst moments, a special teams unit that gave away points, a line that could not keep Jackson upright in the fourth quarter, and no interior pass rush to bother the best quarterback on the schedule so far.

If the game is played in Rio: Ravens 24, Cowboys 21. Neither team has a home crowd (maybe more Dallas fans with their name recognition?), and a questionable surface tends to shorten games and punish precision more than power, which favors Henry and a defense that can win rushing four. The problem is everything around the game. This is a nine-hour trip to an unfamiliar facility, in the middle of a week of league events, on a field nobody has practiced on. Dallas makes the same trip, but the Cowboys have been building their week around this since April as the home team. Baltimore is a guest at someone else’s event.

If the game is moved to Arlington: Ravens 24, Cowboys 23. A relocation hands Dallas a genuine home game it was not supposed to have, on a fast indoor surface that suits Prescott, Lamb and Pickens, against a defense that has not gotten off the field on third down in two weeks. The counterweight is that for Baltimore, Arlington is a normal road game. Short flight, familiar building, ordinary routine, home that night. Whatever the Ravens lose to the crowd they get back in not having to do anything unusual.

Which is why the two numbers end up in the same place. The version of this game I would least want as a Baltimore fan is the one where they fly to Brazil on a short turnaround after a loss, play on a field the professionals who use it say is unsafe, and try to fix a third-down defense in a hotel ballroom.

Either way I have Baltimore at 2-1.

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