When I look back on this game, two immediate takeaways come to mind. First, the Ravens earned a “W” when they didn’t play their best. And secondly, the team’s offense has a lot of work to do if they plan on getting past the first round of the playoffs.
But before we get there, let’s talk about a few other things…
The Stars
It’s interesting how one player can impact the performance of an entire unit. Roquan Smith has provided an undeniable spark to Mike Macdonald’s defense. They seem more aggressive; they appear to be playing faster and with an undeniable and seemingly insatiable desire to force turnovers, led by the opportunistic Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters. The biggest benefactor of Roquan’s presence is Patrick Queen who is playing like he’s being shot out of a cannon at the snap. He’s fast, impactful, his tackling efforts are near clinical and he’s become, dare I say, a playmaker! During one, three-and-out series from the Panthers offense, Queen registered a sack, he dropped D’Onta Foreman for no gain and then defended a pass in the flat that fell far short of the first down marker. That’s a dominant series.
Tyus Bowser had a similar series. He had outside contain along the defensive left edge, forcing Baker Mayfield to check down to the tight end for a short gain. On the next play Bowser dropped Foreman for no gain and then on the very next play, he defended a pass out to the right flat that fell incomplete.
Prior to his injury, Kyle Hamilton was all over the place. He now plays with such confidence, particularly when the play is in front of him and now, he seems to be fully embracing his role allowing his keen instincts to take over. It accelerates his play and elevates his impact on the defense. Hopefully his injury isn’t significant. Coupling Hamilton’s burgeoning talents with those of the soon-to-return Marcus Williams’ would take the back end of the defense to another level.
In the 2 games since the Ravens added Roquan Smith and Tyus Bowser to their defense …
1 touchdown allowed
16 points allowed
448 total yards allowed (4.3 per play)
4 turnovers forced
8 sacks recorded"It felt like Ravens football, honestly.” https://t.co/tCHXxQhaAu
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) November 21, 2022
Demarcus Robinson displayed some crafty footwork during catches along the boundaries. He also showed great awareness of down-and-distance with a keen eye on the sticks. Nine catches for 128 yards on 9 targets isn’t a stat line you see often beside the name of a Ravens receiver.
The Game Plan
* DC Macdonald mixed up the looks along his defensive front regularly and that split second of indecisiveness on the part of Baker Mayfield played into the hands of the defense. Macdonald limited D.J. Moore (3 catches, 24 yards) and Foreman (11 carries, 24 yards), daring Panthers offensive coordinator Bob McAdoo to counter his chess moves in other ways. He didn’t. The Panthers entered the game averaging 294.2 yards per game (30th in the league). On Sunday Carolina could only manage 205 yards, 50 coming on their final mop up drive that ended with an interception by Jason Pierre-Paul.
* Greg Roman’s approach was a different story. The Panthers fielded a nicked up secondary, one that entered the game as part of the 20th-ranked passing defense in the league. Yet he couldn’t find ways to spread the field and create throwing windows. I’ve yet to see the All-22 but from first blush, Lamar Jackson had plenty of time to set and throw but other than Mark Andrews and Robinson, there appeared to be few opportunities to make plays in the passing game. The rest of the pass catchers were targeted 15 times producing 9 completions and just 18 yards. I sometimes wonder if G-Ro uses an Etch-A-Sketch to create his route combinations.
* The offense continues to flirt with the play clock. On Sunday they registered another violation followed by a left-footed punt from Lamar that should have drawn a 15-yard flag. And given Jerome Boger’s crackpot crew of dazed and confused zebras, one more flag would have surprised no one. The Ravens had 10 penalties for 93 yards. In a game during which they produced just 308 yards of offense, the yellow laundry was costly.
* Patrick Ricard in motion ad nauseum, is not going to create any confusion or unsettling feelings in the collective mind of opposing defenses. The execution of screen plays flunks the eyeball test for peewee football, much less the NFL. The offensive tempo was non-existent and just when we all thought that they might try and create some tempo with a no-huddle approach, the offense ran one play without a huddle and then reverted back to their turtle crawl to the line of scrimmage featuring a motion man that too often threatens the shotgun snap as the play clock approaches zero. You have to wonder sometimes what the Ravens offense does in practice all week. THAT offensive display and game plan was what Roman & Co. worked on since November 7? C’mon man! That has to change if the Ravens plan to make a meaningful push deep into January.
* I will give Roman credit for one call – an excellent one. Just after the Ravens forced a fumble/turnover at the 8:14 mark of the fourth quarter, leading by 3 and taking over at the Panthers 31, you just knew that Carolina was going to bring it and try to answer the turnover with one of their own. Roman went to a play that was the perfect answer and one of the few on the afternoon that consistently produced success – the draw. Thirty seconds and 29 yards later the Ravens enjoyed a first and goal from the two.
LJ
For the second consecutive week Lamar looked off. He certainly wasn’t helped by a sloppy game plan and 5 dropped passes but he looks indecisive at times as both a passer and a runner. Perhaps he doesn’t trust his receivers and maybe with good reason, but he rarely throws to a spot. He has developed a habit of waiting for receivers to clear before throwing the ball and then the throws are often rushed and fall off target, or, the throws provide little opportunity for the receivers to add YAC. Lamar repeatedly seems hesitant to tuck it and run when things downfield fail to develop. I’d like to see more boots and waggles that draw the defense towards him to open things up in the secondary.
Run Game
The Ravens struggled to get things going on the ground against the Panthers who came in as the NFL’s 25th-ranked rushing defense, yielding 139.2 yards per game. The Ravens managed just 115 yards on 30 carries. Part of the blame can be attributed to the interior offensive line not being able to move bodies inside the tackles. Give the Panthers credit. They came in with a plan and executed it.
Things We’d Like to Do Over
The goal of any season is to win a division and to get better the deeper you go into a season. So if a team can win games as they improve, it sets up well for the long haul. And that’s what we’re watching this Ravens team do. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t trials and tribulations along the way. Let’s talk about some things the clean crew needs to attend to.
* Brian Burns is an outstanding defender and he’s going to make opponents look bad at times. Such was the case on Sunday as he made Ronnie Stanley and Morgan Moses look silly on two separate occasions. Roman and O-line coach Joe D’Alessandris need to work to clean that up, particularly the breakdown by Moses that led to an easy sack for Burns.
* That wheel route to Ricard, of all people, was interesting and confusing. It really looked like a run play and the O-line certainly thought the same. Lamar pulled it down and then threw a nice touch pass that Ricard dropped (it would have been called back for linemen being downfield). It was a curious play in that if it was a designed run, why is Ricard running a wheel route? If it wasn’t a designed run, what was the line doing and again, why is Ricard running a wheel route?
* Chuck Clark is not having a very good season. That’s an understatement. He’s late to the ball, misses tackles and he also was flagged for a legit DPI by Boger’s crew. And speaking of Boger, why does he take 5 minutes to determine that John Harbaugh’s challenge of Mark Andrews being called out of bounds and short of a first down, wasn’t challengeable at all? To say that this crew is inept is an insult to inept officiating crews.
* I keep waiting for that light to finally come on for James Proche – to finally show to the world what he’s capable of, to do in games what many of us have seen from him during past training camps. But he never does. And I wonder if he ever will.
* Devin Duvernay, two touches? Why are his talents regularly ignored?
The Ravens are now (7-3) and remain in control of the AFC North with a trip to Jacksonville in the works to take on the (3-7) Jaguars who are just off their bye week while the division rival (6-4) Bengals are traveling to Nashville to take on the (7-3) Titans.
One week at a time.
And this time around, maybe the Ravens will have the services of Gus Edwards and David Ojabo at their disposal.
6 Responses
This offense has Harbaugh’s fingerprints all over it! Ultra conservative, keep it close and play not to lose has been the one constant the past 14 years and it’s not likely to change! The only exceptions during that time frame were the SB postseason run on the road with a QB who excelled in the big games and was left to his own devices and Kubiak’s offense, which he orchestrated on his own with his own assistants! As Casey Stengel once famously stated, “You could look it up”!
This morning, I took a few minutes to listen to Roquan Smith’s and Kenyan Drake’s post-game locker room interviews. I was struck by their insights and intelligent analysis of the entire game. Between those two and Calais Campbell, we’re looking at high-quality future coaches (hopefully after a really long successful career in purple!).
Talk about ugly, NFL Research reports that Robinson’s 128 receiving yds. yesterday is the most by a Ravens’ WR since week one of the 2019 season when Marquise Brown had 147 yds.!
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I read the article, I did not read all the comments. TL you are right on.
The D is awesome. The scary part is that there is so much room for improvement.
Williams returns, Ojabo starts getting playing time, the players keep improving and getting familiar with each other. This could be a top rated D.
The ST unit is among the tops in the league.
The ? The O. I don’t get it. Is G Ro holding back for the playoffs? Duvernay should be used at least 5 times per week. Why is the O always so poor? If most of us can predict the play before it occurs, what do you expect the opposing D to think? They must be laughing their butts off.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Well the D and ST aren’t broke. The O is broke. Let’s fix it.
There’s plenty of time. G Ro been here for years and we still have this broken offense. FIX IT.
We have the talent, we have the opportunity, now we just need the coaching.
Stay healthy and keep improving. SB or bust. Let’s go RAVENS!!!!
P.S. don’t blow it G Ro. This is a golden opportunity.