But Things Need to Improve…SOON!
The Ravens are not a very good team, at least not yet. That said, they very easily could be (6-0) and that’s an indictment on the rest of the NFL. The league stinks. So far the Ravens have beaten a rookie QB making his first start (C.J. Stroud); a Bengals squad with a gimpy Joe Burrow; a Browns team starting a rookie backup QB; and now a Titans team that clearly has far less talent than the Ravens.
After the win in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Ravens advance to (4-2), a half-game in front of the idle Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite not being able to finish off teams, clearly a trend for teams guided by John Harbaugh, the Ravens are in the driver’s seat in the AFC North. They’ll host the Detroit Lions next week.
THE GOOD
Lamar Jackson did a nice job early changing plays at the line of scrimmage, particularly on the bubble screen to Nelson Agholor that went for 21 yards and was a shoe-string tackle from being a house call. Lamar had a few really nice passes, particularly the 38-yard hookup with Mark Andrews on 2nd-and-11 from the Ravens 19 with 6:59 to go in the game and the Ravens holding on to a 21-13 lead.
The Ravens were a shoe away from scoring a touchdown on their opening drive
Instead, they settle for a field goal pic.twitter.com/8kdue5uK07
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) October 15, 2023
Earlier, Lamar hit Odell Beckham, Jr. on a slant that went for 32 yards. The pass was perfectly placed, and Lamar did a nice job looking off the safety to create some YAC opportunity for OBJ. Lamar did a great job throughout of avoiding pressure to create some options downfield…Justice Hill had a nifty run for 10 yards and a first down when there appeared to be very little chance for a productive play…The Ravens had 242 yards of offense in the first half to the Titans 66.
This is the New York Giants version of OBJ pic.twitter.com/GpKX74GiKK
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 15, 2023
Patrick Queen was all over the place, sideline-to-sideline, disruptive as a blitzer and he made a key stop at the Ravens 8-yard line on a well-designed bubble screen to force a Titans FGA. He fought through blockers to take down former Ravens WR Chris Moore. Queen added a sack and had a total of 9 tackles, one for a loss…Jadeveon Clowney has been a force since his arrival. He had two sacks, 4 QB hits and was consistently menacing…Kyle Van Noy also made a few plays with a TFL and a sack. Another KVN sack was negated by a defensive holding call in the end zone. Van Noy also had a PD at the LOS on a key 3rd down stop in Q2…The Ravens had a total of 6 sacks during the afternoon and they held the Titans to just one third down conversion all afternoon (1-of-9).
Geno Stone played well on teams and on defense when pressed into duty following the ejection of Kyle Hamilton. Stone showed great instincts and closing speed during his interception…Marcus Williams had a terrific PD to halt a Titans threat and potential explosive play…Arthur Maulet was clutch in coverage on a third-and-3 at the 8:50 mark of the second quarter…Save for a 62-yard run on a nicely designed fake reverse, the Ravens kept Derrick Henry bottled up. Henry finished with 97 yards on 12 carries.
On special teams, Justin Tucker led the way going 6-for-6 on FGA’s; Jordan Stout averaged 48.7 yards/punt with 2 of his 3 punts landing inside the 20; Devin Duvernay had a 70-yard punt return to set up Tucker’s 3rd field goal.
THE BAD
Lamar had a few passes he’d like to have back, missing open receivers. One of which was Rashod Bateman on a simple little comeback route. Lamar sailed the ball over Bateman’s head and it was picked off, giving the Titans the ball at the Ravens 25…The offensive line struggled to create running space for Gus Edwards. You have to think that the team’s decision to feature fewer RPO’s has congested things a bit for the RB’s…Why no Keaton Mitchell?…The jet sweeps that the Ravens run each week are worthless. They aren’t fooling anyone and because they are so ineffective you have to wonder if the Ravens are doing something schematically to tip off opponents…A blocked PAT? C’mon man!
THE UGLY
The red zone offense was pathetic. The Ravens wasted too many downs trying to pound it inside when they were losing turf wars in the trenches. Todd Monken’s offense ran 17 red zone plays adding up to 48 yards…The Ravens first 8 offensive plays of the second half produced 1 net yard. One!…Screen passes to the Ravens RB’s are and almost always have been disasters since the team’s inception…The Ravens had 9 penalties for 88 yards. That said, two of them were very questionable – a roughing the passer on Michael Pierce and a DPI on Marcus Williams…The penalty for a hit to the helmet against Kyle Hamilton was earned. The ejection was not.
THE MEGAN FOX AWARD
There have been times when he’s made bone-headed plays; when he’s committed more personal fouls in a game than he had tackles. But lately, the light has come on for Justin Madubuike. He disrupted the interior line by being quick off the ball, powerful and technically efficient when engaged with an opponent while keeping his head up to see the plays in front of him. Mads put on a clinic out there today with 5 tackles and 2 sacks and although he didn’t get credit for a couple other sacks, his interior work certainly helped put those favorable results into existence.
COACHING
The Ravens were up 18-3 at the half and they let the Titans back in the game. They just don’t know how to finish teams. This isn’t just a this-year problem, or a last-year problem. These issues go back a few years and really represent an unsavory hallmark of Harbaugh’s administration.
Against better teams, wins like today’s won’t happen.
But the Ravens get the dub and they’re on to Detroit when they’ll play their first home game in nearly a month.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Jeffrey Simmons always has been and probably always will be a dirty player. Good for OBJ for sticking up for Zay Flowers and then baiting the knucklehead Simmons into a 15-yard penalty to help set up the Ravens first touchdown.
— Courtside Clips (@courtsidef_clip) October 15, 2023
Outstanding representation from RavensFlock in London today before kickoff and throughout the game.
The “O” in the national anthem let’s you know how many #Ravens fans are in London pic.twitter.com/ckKpwB2HEC
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) October 15, 2023
Lastly, a win is a win. Style points don’t count. The Ravens have a lot to improve upon as evidenced by the above but as you grow and improve while overcoming obvious warts, first place is not a bad place to be. Perhaps the best has yet to come for the Ravens in 2023. Let’s hope so, because more efforts like today’s aren’t going to cut it against better teams.
20 Responses
Just hard to get excited about this team! Winning ugly, a Harbaugh staple, is anything but entertaining, especially against inferior teams! But, the good news for the Ravens is that the league is comprised of inferior teams!
Games like this are so……frustrating that this win feels a little like a loss. The Ravens left far too many points on the board as getting 4 field goals out of 5 red zone possessions is just unacceptable. The Titans interior defensive line play was as advertised and yet, inside the 20, Todd Monken repeatedly called running plays that went nowhere. All the while the Titans pass defense, ranked 26th in the league, merely did mop up work for d-line. What, was Monken spooked by what happened in Pittsburgh last week? I feel like I’m watching G-Ro offense phase II and, if this the best that Monken can do, bring back the real Greg Roman. At least he ran it better.
Thank God for Justin Tucker. How many games has he won for us with his leg? I’ve lost count.
Great scanner of today’s game with good points and reminder that Harbs brings always thriller in second half. Traditionally.
Game ball: Madubuike, Clowney, Duv, Stone and Tucker.
Your first three statements all directly contradict each other. How can you claim credibility when you don’t make sense?
Sorry that you’re confused. Try reading a little slower. Maybe it will click. Maybe not. I hope so. Good luck.
Hey Tony any idea what is up with Tyus Bowser? He isn’t even mentioned anymore.
From what I’ve been told, Bowser is a source of frustration for the team. He’s a player who really takes care of his body. Doctors think that he’s ready to go, has been ready to go, and to play will not risk additional injury. But Bowser doesn’t want to play because he doesn’t think he’s at 100%. And so he waits until HE thinks he’s ready. Anything from Bowser at this point is a bonus. But I wouldn’t count on him anytime soon. Your guess as to when he’ll be ready is as good as mine. It might be Sunday, it might be December, it might be 2024.
That makes sense since he has seemingly been forgotten and left off the talking points by Harbs.
Also this week against the Lions may be where Bowser at least returns to practice because they only have 21 days after the 4-week IR to activate.
OLB Tyus Bowser:
“Tyus, I’m going to let Tyus comment on that,” Harbaugh said. “That’s gotten a little bit more complicated over the last couple weeks and [I’m] really not at liberty to talk about it right now but at some point in time I’m sure we’ll have an announcement on that one way or another. He’s got to make some choices and decisions.”
Harbaugh clearly doesn’t know if Bowser plans to practice this week. Not a good sign. With Oweh and Ojabo out they really really could use him but it’s looking like he’s opting not to play this season. A disappointing situation. When healthy, he really makes the defense better. But can’t see the front office putting up with this. Adios Tyus.
If he injured his knee in the off-season, away from the team, does he even get a paycheck? I’m not sure, but it sounds like some dicey contract stuff involved here which would explain no one wanting to comment.
The league is so vanilla the most I can remember in my 66 years. And I think it’s coached to be vanilla/mediocre! It’s just a party now. Rip NFL of my youth.
Every week , I keep saying this offense is still trying to figure things out and it is a work in progress. We have now played 6 games and it looks like we played 2 or 3. I wonder if I am being too hopeful in this team improving and the reality is this is who this team is regardless of who is the OC, it is still a Harbaugh coached team.
BINGO!
I always diss our fanbase for caring about style points but it is now a 10 yr pattern of being a mentally weak team that cant handle adversity and doesn’t make enough plays in the clutch. We let a K Drake fumble demoralize us vs Indy, a J Hill fumble against Pitt and yesterday the bogus roughing penalty nearly caused another collapse. Last year it was NY, Mia and Jax games we choked. Meanwhile we have best young DC in the league that fans will start yearning to replace Harbs
Make no mistake, this is Harbaugh’s team and nothing will change unless or until he’s……gone!
Do you have any insight from League Officials as to when QBs will start wearing flags; 2024 or 2025?
The key to the game was letting the D win it. Monken recognizes that, I think, as he decides to be more conservative in FG range. Maybe he’ll start scripting plays for both the 1Q and 3Q, because the scripted ones in the 1Q sure are working. Harbaugh’ s decisions to kick FG shows that confidence in the D – and it worked. It would have worked in the Ravens losses. Let LJ relax a bit and understand that, and the late game turnovers will stop.
The fact that the ravens cannot finish a weaker opponent in the first half is a coaching problem. It’s a mentality thing. Harbaugh does not have it.