The Ravens defeated the Carolina Panthers 13-3 to move to 7-3 on the 2022 season.
Lamar Jackson scored the game’s only TD, and the Ravens defense produced three turnovers.
RSR staff react to the win here.
Derek Arnold
It wasn’t pretty, but it was us? I guess…
Certainly not the showing you were looking for coming off a bye against this type of opponent. Still, looking around the league, it’s hard to get too upset. This is what the NFL wants, and it’s what they’ve created – there are very few very “good” or very “bad” teams, nor blowouts, just a whole lotta mediocre and close games. The Panthers decided they weren’t going to let the Ravens run the ball, and with the wind being what it was, the passing game couldn’t get going consistently. Why Greg Roman refuses to get Devin Duvernay more involved is anybody’s guess. Great to see Mark Andrews back out there, but I worry that Jackson again gets too locked in on him. On the interception, he was going to Andrews, but Josh Oliver appeared to be wide open for a potential TD.
In the end, it was a “win and move on” kind of day.
Unfortunately, the game’s most important play was one that didn’t even count. Driving in the third quarter, the Ravens looked to be set up with a first-and-goal. Instead, there was a terrible facemask penalty called on RT Morgan Moses, after he just grazed the defender’s cage. So instead of first-and-goal, it was 3rd-and-19 way back at the edge of FG range. On that play – which, again, should not have been happening – Lamar Jackson was sacked by an unblocked defender and rolled into Ronnie Stanley‘s surgically repaired left ankle. Stanley went into the medical tent, then limped to the locker room and didn’t return.
That could end up being the play that defines this 2022 Ravens team, and it happened because the worst officiating crew in the NFL – that of Jerome Boger – lived up to their billing.
Oh, Kyle Hamilton, who was also playing great ball, injured his knee and didn’t return either. So much for getting healthy.
Kevin McNelis
The Saints game was the most complete effort we’ve seen from Baltimore this season, and I was really hoping it would carry over into this game. Wishful thinking, I guess.
The Ravens seem to have a habit of looking rusty with extra rest over the last few seasons, and this game was no exception. The offense looked absolutely anemic in the early going, and Baltimore just couldn’t seem to get out of their own way. It didn’t help that Jerome Boger’s officiating crew was up to their usual shenanigans, either, but the penalties were a killer on multiple occasions.
Thankfully, the defense stepped up in some big spots, and the forced turnovers were ultimately the deciding factor on the day.
Now the most immediate concern becomes the health of Ronnie Stanley and Kyle Hamilton. I have all of my fingers and toes crossed for those guys.
Rob Shields
The Ravens defense dominated as they should have and as was expected but the offense looked terrible.
In the midseason RSR preview, I said they would win a lot of games but still make us doubt the offense. This game was a perfect example of that.
This should have never been a game, especially with the performance of the defense, but the offense was terrible.
Between the penalties and the lack of consistency, the offense was far worse than they should have been.
All that matters are the injuries. How is Stanley? How is Hamilton? The injuries, especially to Stanley, could determine where this team can go.
Chad Racine
The offense was so abysmal for most of the game that the defense was overshadowed. Holding any team in the league to 3 points is impressive.
Kyle Hamilton and Ronnie Stanley (“Staley,” as Mark Sanchez calls him) are huge losses and hopefully are not long-term. Hamilton has been rapidly improving as the season went on and Stanley was back to his spectacular self. Mur Suchas needs to learn the player’s names.
Demarcus Robinson looks like he’s the new number 1 receiver moving forward this season. I’d rather have a slow start and finish strong. Let’s just be happy for the win.
Darin McCann
This was a tale of two units: The defense continues to have the look of something that could become a playoff problem to opponents all by itself. The offense, on the other hand, was a disjointed mess of early run struggles, dropped passes, costly penalties and opportunities squandered.
Still… it’s nice to be 7-3.
Patrick Queen, Kyle Hamilton, Roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey were positively dominant each time any of them stepped on the field, and Broderick Washington is truly becoming something for other teams to worry about. Demarcus Robinson had another one of his “up” games, and looked at times like the best player on the field.
The Panthers have some nice pieces on defense, and played inspired ball on that side of things, but the Ravens could have won this one by 20 if they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot time and time again. Take the win. Enjoy the 7-3 record, and hope for a better performance on offense next week. That’s all we got at this point, right?
Chris Schisler
How much patience did you come into this game with? I bet you don’t have much left. The score at the end of three quarters was literally 3-3. That’s not a typo…this isn’t a drill. This game was a stalemate. It wasn’t an all time classic.
The defense, which is proving to be elite, was stingy and dominant. The Panthers walked away with an equal number of points and turnovers, and those caused by Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters were huge. The defense did the heavy lifting, and only gave up 205 total yards.
The Ravens won an ugly game. There’s not much more to it. Offensively Kenyan Drake and Demarcus Robinson deserve a shout out. Outside of that there isn’t much to be happy with for Greg Roman’s unit. Dropped passes and sloppy play plagued the Ravens. The offensive line was awful and failed to move bodies out of the way for most of the game.
The injuries to Ronnie Stanley and Kyle Hamilton linger over this game. That’s more ugly for you in an ugly game. You just have to hope for the best with that.
It’s easy to be negative about this game. A win is a win and the Ravens have won four in a row. The offense has to finish drives better and waste fewer chances. Ultimately a championship-caliber defense showed up and carried the team.
Jared Pinder
Watching Ravens football is like watching two different orchestras. On one hand you have the defense which is like the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Everyone understands their role and does it beautifully which leads to something heartfelt and leaves you moved.
Then you have the Ravens offense, which is like a bottom level High School band, which has kids who don’t know how to play and are lead by someone who can’t teach. You try and enjoy it but nothing but misery awaits. The Ravens offense is an embarrassment on every level. From penalties to missed blocks to drops to missed reads. It is unbelievable at this point. Something has got to change; no I don’t care if the offense was rusty off the bye, that isn’t a excuse. It isn’t the weapons because they have guys playing well, it just seems everything is out of whack.
If firing Roman fixes it they have to do it. Roman’s play calling was good in the first but just fell apart after. Please figure this out Ravens because they are wasting an amazing defense.
Now we have to wait for news on Hamilton and Stanley.
9 Responses
Hard to get too excited about this Jekyll and Hyde team, but as this post states, it’s a mediocre league with mediocre teams playing mediocre football! The best one can say is that it’s so unpredictable that anything is possible! Today, the Panthers were more mediocre than the Ravens, which accounted for a lackluster……win! But, a win is a win is a win…….
Great play on Defense. Out of sync on Offense. I hope Mayfield has a nice early retirement.
I dont get the Roman hate. His O line got dominated. His WRs dropped passes. His QB held the ball way too long. His GM gave him garbage weapons. They shot themselves in the foot everytime they crossed Carolina 40. How is any of this the OC fault?
Because the play calling is stale and vanilla. He only puts Ricard in motion, which doesn’t phase and anyone. Condenses the offense because he overly relies on TE’s and has never been able to build a complementary passing game in 10+ years. There’s a reason he’s never gotten a head coaching job.
So nobody wants to talk about Lamar. Lamar still has only one pass he can throw reliably, the ten-yard toss right in front of him, which is why he got picked off; anything else he side-arms and it goes high. He’s trying to add fakes that fool nobody. This is as good as he will ever be. Until he gets hurt, and then he will be worthless.
I agree. I’m just not impressed with him. If I’m Bischotti there’s no way I’m giving in to those absurd contact demands.
Respectfully, you sound dumb. He completed over 70 % of his passes and the offense had 5 drops. This team is nothing without Lamar.
Talk about “ugly”, the Ravens offense put up a meager 13 points against one of the worst defenses in the league and that came after a Bye week! But, it’s a typical ultra conservative, keep it close and play not to lose Harbaugh style of offense and it’s not going to change!
Probably the most boring game I’ve watched in ages. But we won, so there’s that!