Knee-Jerk Reactions

Ravens Hold Off Bears in HOF Game 17-16

by RSR Staff

August 3, 2018
3:45 am

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The Ravens held off a late rally by the Chicago Bears in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night, winning by a final score of 17-16. RSR staff react to what we saw here…

Adam Bonaccorsi

Correa was a STUD tonight… against the backups. But honestly this is progress from his ‘side of the milk carton’ appearance last season so I’ll take the baby steps heading in the right direction.

But let’s take a second to talk about the real GOAT: Kaare Vedvik. Dude has a BOOT for days & despite no chance in hell he finds a home in Baltimore? Don’t be shocked when he’s the next in a long line of Ravens developed kickers in the NFL. A few other notes:

-Bob Griffin was solid.

-LJ looked like a rookie in his first live action in the NFL.

-Hayden Hurst has unreal hands.

-DeShon Elliott had a good day.

-John Harbaugh badly needs to grow a beard a la Brian Billick in his lame duck season..

Best part for me was the injuries… nada! Healthy results are all that truly matters right now, so cheers to that Ravens fans!

Carey Stevenson

Levine looked really good, played fast and had a couple really nice tackles in space. Should play a lot in the DIME!!! *yells* defense.

RG3 was impressive, poised, accurate with calm feet. Hayden Hurst is a little bit quicker than I expected. Tough w/strong hands. He feels like such a great fit for this offense.

The ball really jumps out of Lamar Jackson’s hand. Saw the expected variance in his game as he gets up to speed.

Lawrence Taylor, I mean Kamalei Correa was active all night.

Wish we would have seen more De’Lance Turner. I’m very intrigued by his potential.

Brandon Portney

I was really hoping that Tyus Bowser would show up this season and make an impact rushing the passer, but I’ll take Kamalei Correa! He looked like a different player tonight at his natural position as an outside backer, where he should have been all along. It seems to finally be clicking for KC, and what a pleasant surprise he could end up being this season.

Props to De’Shon Elliott too. The pass defense as a whole didn’t look good to me, but at least they came away with some interceptions.

Offensively, I was impressed by Gus Edwards. He’s a guy I’m gonna be keeping an eye on throughout the preseason. Hayden Hurst also impressed. His blocking was solid and he caught a TD. Receivers were quiet tonight, but Tim White showed a little something. Orlando Brown Jr. played well, but the rest of the offensive line was bullied all night, and Lamar Jackson couldn’t get comfortable back there. Breshad Perriman picked up where he left off, with a ball sailing right through his hands for the interception. For what it’s worth, he recovered to make a couple catches.

One last takeaway: This whole unnecessary roughness thing is gonna spiral out of control quickly. So many bad flags tonight thanks to these terrible new rules.

Derek Arnold

First off, how amazingly poetic was it that the first pass attempt of 2018 for the Ravens bounced off Breshad Perriman’s hands…for an interception! You can’t write this stuff.

As others have said, Correa was a monster. Hopefully this is what he can do when Dean Pees isn’t insisting on playing him out of his natural position. I hope to see similar improvement from say, Tony Jefferson.

Lamar Jackson looked…well, like a rookie, run-first quarterback. Which is fine! Because that’s what he is. It’s not the kid’s fault that the “Start Lamar!” hype train has been chugging along since the draft, led largely by national types who have absolutely zero interest in the Ravens actually winning ballgames, but who instead just want to see a jaw-dropping highlight or two every week.

I don’t think Joe has much to worry about for the foreseeable future.

Lastly, man, this new tackle rule is some NONSENSE. The NFL is going to be dealing with some major backlash once the preseason games/flag fests get rolling. We overreact about new rules every season, and then just get used to them, but if tonight was any TRUE indication? This time around they may have just gone a bit too far.

Mitchell Wolfman

As far as meaningless preseason games go, this one was pretty entertaining. Solid win for the Ravens tonight and a great showcase of impressive performances from a handful of young players (some of which were pretty surprising).

Lamar Jackson was slightly above average in his preseason debut, but fans should be happy considering how poorly it could have gone. He’s a smooth runner and you can really sense his natural tendency to make people miss. Jackson threw some darts on the money during his second drive, had a really quick release on his TD to Hurst. But naturally, some throws sailed too high, and his lone interception was the result of poor timing. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of good to build off here and we’ll see how he fares throughout preseason.

Other players that caught my attention:

-BLOWN AWAY by Correa! Displayed monstrosity as a pass rusher and flashed his versatility in pass coverage with a nice pick. This dude is taking Albert McClellan’s job, who oppositely had an ugly night.

-Hayden Hurst’s performance can be summed up in one word – dependable. He has very solid hands and did a really nice job at fighting off contact on some catches. He also made a nice adjustment on his TD from Jackson.

-Orlando Brown, Jr. looked like a fortress out there – his size is insane. Pretty solid performance, hopefully he continues to stack games.

-DeShon Elliot had a nice break up and an even prettier peanut punch for a fumble. I sense that he’ll be a fan favorite one day.

-Tim White fielded the majority of punts tonight and also returned a kick. His special teams value will earn him a roster spot.

-No idea why Matt Judon had so many snaps but that man was all over the field tonight. Great tackling from him.

-Kenny Young displayed some nice anticipation tonight and blew up a couple of running plays.

-RG3 played solid and continues to make the case to keep three QBs on the roster

Bonus notes: The landscape of football is changing as we speak. What used to be textbook tackles are now considered 15-yard penalties thanks to the NFL’s new targeting rule. Not sure how the league expects these players to adjust their tackling form; a lot of these penalties looked incidental with the intention to lead with the shoulder.

Defenses are going to be so handicapped, especially secondaries. I’m all for maintaining the safety of players, but I would be lying if I told you that some of those penalties weren’t weak.

And can we take a moment to appreciate Ray Lewis narrating Lamar Jackson’s entire first NFL drive? All of this anticipation to finally watch Jackson, and instead we’re treated a motivational speech that nobody wanted to hear. But if anyone had to do it, I’m glad it was 52. A huge congrats to the greatest Raven of all time.

Todd Karpovich

— Lamar Jackson had an uneven performance in his first live NFL action. He threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to fellow first-round pick Hayden Hurst. Jackson also had a careless interception. He completed four of 10 passes for 33 yards. He also ran 25 yards on 8 carries.

— RGIII had a hard-luck interception off a tip, but bounced back with a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Maxx Williams. Griffin was 7 of 11 passes for 58 yards with a touchdown and interception. He solidified his case as a suitable backup.

–Ravens linebacker Kamalei Correa boosted his chances for a spot on the final roster with an impressive interception that set up a short field goal. He finished with six tackles, which was another good sign. Why the Ravens have not always played him on the outside is a bit baffling.

— Breshad Perriman had a pass deflect off his hands for an interception. He did have two receptions for 19 yards, but he needs more of a flash to make the team.

— Gus Edwards caught a 23-yard pass, boosting his stock among the running backs. He also led the team with 35 yards on 10 carries.

— Tim White tightened his grasp as the primary punt returner, averaging 12.5 yards on a pair of returns.