It took a while for Lamar Jackson and the rest of the Ravens offense to get rolling, but once they found a rhythm, they put on another dominant performance in the opener against the Jets.
Meanwhile, the Ravens’ defense kept Jets quarterback Joe Flacco under pressure for almost all of the game and paved the way for the 24-9 victory.
It was an encouraging performance by the Ravens, who rested most of their key starters throughout the preseason.
“I feel like it was just us feeling it out, out there,” Jackson. “The [majority of the starters] didn’t play in the preseason. I haven’t played in like six games last year – not much really. Yes, we’re just getting back into the swing of things. We played better, we came out better in the second half and started putting points on the board.”
RSR Staff Takes on #Ravens 24-9 win… https://t.co/55wzBCjOy3
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) September 11, 2022
Devin Duvernay had a breakout game with two touchdowns. Entering the game, he had caught two touchdowns over his entire career.
“We don’t really listen to what the critics say, this and that,” Duvernay said. “We all know what we can do. We all know our abilities, our athleticism, our speed, we know what we’re capable of. So, we just focus on proving ourselves right, not really trying to prove the critics wrong or anything like that.”
Fellow wide receiver Rashod Bateman also struggled early with one reception on three targets for 4 yards. However, he broke loose for a 55-yard score that put the game out of reach.
The defense played tough for four quarters and it was an impressive debut for new coordinator Mike Macdonald.
Justin Houston and Calais Campbell each had a sack while Justin Madubuike and Patrick Queen were credited with a half-sack each.
“Shoot, it’s hard to win in this league,” Campbell said. “To get a win to start the season off, that’s a good feeling. It sucks because we lost a couple of guys. We don’t know how bad it’s going to be, but we just know it has the potential to be kind of bad and that sucks. But at the end of the day, it’s the next man up. We work hard and we believe in everybody on the roster. It’s good to just get a win and start 1-0.”
New safety Marcus Williams had his first interception in purple, and after the game, he expressed optimism there was more to come.
When Harbaugh watches the tape, he will see numerous issues to work on.
Rookie safety Kyle Hamilton has to improve his tackling at the pro level. Tyler Linderbaum played a mostly solid game, but he has to be ready for a bull rush by a bigger nose tackle.
Left tackle Ja’Wuan James suffered another torn Achillies, so the return of Ronnie Stanley can’t come soon enough. Cornerback Kyle Fuller had to leave the game with a knee injury and will have an MRI to determine his status.
However, the Ravens are 1-0 and have to be encouraged by their performance on a day when they were not at their best.
They’ll have to get back to work quickly because their next opponent, the Miami Dolphins, also looked impressive in Week 1.
“We didn’t make too many mistakes; our mistakes really came in the back end with some holding penalties that kind of kept some drives alive,” coach John Harbaugh said. “Really other than that, we had a couple holding penalties on offense too that we probably would want back, but other than that we played a really, pretty solidly clean game. When the ball was on the ground for us, we got it back.
“I told Mike Davis, ‘That was a fight for life in there under that pile to get that ball back,’ but he got it back. Then, our guys came up with the ball when the ball was on the ground. So, those were key things that might have overcome what you’re talking about just a little bit.”
