This was one of those games that kind of validated the optimist deep inside all of us. The new playmakers made plays. The All Pro tight end did his thing. The line jelled and mostly owned the day against a good front. The defense got pressure, made stops and controlled the line against arguably the best offensive line in the game.
And the star quarterback was the biggest star of the day.
Offense
Overall: A+
A turnover and a few holding penalties couldn’t negate what the offense did against a good Lions defense. They produced 503 yards of offense, scored 38 points and averaged 9.1 yards per play. Read that last number again. Oh, and the Ravens were 5-6 in the red zone after a two-game slump in that all-important part of the field.
Quarterback: A+
Lamar Jackson was accurate, smart, explosive, creative and dynamic in one of the better games you will see a quarterback produce in the National Football League. He was 21-for-27 for 357 yards and three touchdowns — a 155.8 passer rating. Oh, and he also ran for 36 yards and a touchdown. He made big-time throws throughout the game, and subtly made a terrific play reading the situation and hitting Gus Edwards with a delicate touch on that 80-yard pass. Superstar day.
Running Backs: B+
Edwards was very good, racking up 64 hard-fought yards and a touchdown on the ground, to go with that 80-yard catch-and-run. Justice Hill was dynamic. Again. Hill was also involved in a fumble. Again. Pat Ricard contributed a 28-yarder and threw some bone-jarring blocks.
Receivers: B+
This could have easily been a higher grade had they had more volume, but the situation of the game limited what was looking like a giant day early. Mark Andrews had four catches, 63 yards and two touchdowns. Zay Flowers put up 75 yards on four catches and showed the jets on an early 46-yarder. Odell Beckham Jr. led the team with five catches, and had 49 yards. Rashod Bateman looked good early with two catches for 36 yards, both producing first downs on the Ravens’ second scoring drive. Nelson Agholor did a great job working himself open for the Ravens’ second touchdown.
Offensive Line: B+
There were a couple penalties, and a few blown assignments, but this unit had itself a nice overall game. Ronnie Stanley paved the way on two rushing touchdowns, but picked up a pair of flags. Tyler Linderbaum showed great work in pass protection, but got his own flag. Morgan Moses had a standout block pulling ahead of Edwards on a nine-yard run. All told, this line paved the way for 5.4 yards per rush — 6.1 on runs by Edwards and Hill. Jackson also had long times in the pocket for much of the game. Good work by this unit.
Defense
Overall: A-
They held one of the best offenses in the league to six points and 337 yards — including only 97 yards in the first half that pretty much sealed up the game. The Lions went three-and-out on their first three drives of the game, and found themselves down 21-0 in the process. They got lucky that Jared Goff missed a few opportunities that others might not, and both Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown had huge games. Guess what? They’re good.
Defensive Line: A
They faced what many smart football people call the best offensive line in the league, and they mostly had their way. Justin Madubuike was consistently blowing up plays and had another sack, and Travis Jones bullied the Lions over and over again. Michael Pierce had a pair of impressive run stops and Odafe Oweh was very good in his return to action, getting a sack, hitting Goff on another play, and drawing a holding flag.
Linebackers: B+
Roquan Smith had eight tackles and broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone where he basically pulled the ball away from the receiver and landed out of bounds with the ball in his hands. He did draw a big flag on a high hit on Goff. Patrick Queen chipped in five tackles, and stood out with an open-field tackle on Gibbs in the open field for no gain. Kyle Van Noy had two sacks and five tackles and just genuinely had another nice performance.
Defensive Backs: B
Arthur Maulet was incredibly active with eight tackles, a sack, a tackle-for-loss and a hit on Goff. He was also in tight coverage to force a fourth-down incompletion, but did fall down on a third-down conversion in the third quarter. He was active. Geno Stone got his fourth pick of the year on what looked like a punt catch, but also whiffed on a few plays by Gibbs. Brandon Stephens was really good in coverage, broke up two passes and was in tight coverage on a few other incompletions. Kyle Hamilton had seven tackles, one of them on a loss of yards.
Special Teams: B
They gave up yardage on two designed short, high kickoffs, and allowed 32 yards on two punt returns. Justin Tucker made his extra points, but only was 1-for-1 on field goals this week. How boring. Jordan Stout averaged 56 yards on two punts, but did allow those return yards.
Coaching: A
They attacked this Lions team early and often from the start and used their playmakers. They took the ball after winning the toss, and to me, that meant they thought they had a winning gameplan and wanted to put the pressure on the visitors from the start. They were right. I also liked the decision to go for it on fourth down on that opening drive, especially after taking the ball after winning the toss. It was a consistent aggression today. Mike Macdonald is just showing off these days. His unit got five sacks, a pick and set the tone with those early three-and-outs. My only ding would be those two short kickoffs, but that’s nitpicking today, isn’t it?
5 Responses
Best game since 2019. Straight As.
Taking the ball instead of deferring when they won the coin toss literally set the tone for this game! Frankly, as a life long football fan, I’ve never understood that deferral mindset! It’s close to impossible to score without the ball! Hopefully, this is a precursor for the future…..
The pieces of the D,O & ST are falling into place. There will be hiccups along the way. Yesterday was an example of things to come.
as a guy who has criticized lamar on more than one occasion i was shocked at what unfolded on sunday….it just looked like the monken philosophy finally clicked…..what really astounded me was lamar`s accuracy on mid to mid-long level passes…on a day where the wind figured to be a real consideration,lamar was throwing 15 and 20 yard darts…in between zone coverages….i`ve believed that our inability to consistently stretch opposing defenses was a major problem for this offense..well,lamar effectively stretched the lion defense and it looked like they weren`t prepared for the ravens to test them on intermediate/deep passes…
what changed?…lamar seemed to be making throws from the pocket that we hadn`t seen before…and the schemes?…the nat`l tv announcers brought to light the play design on zay`s first big play and it was just pure genius…we just hadn`t stretched the field this year…on that play andrews lined up to the left of jackson and ran a crossing pattern…he was followed by probably three lion defenders(he`s that great of a decoy…that respected by defenses even with all our new offensive talent)…zay was wide open… brilliant…after seeing what these wrs are capable of when lamar plays “bold”,i don`t know how defenses are going to cover all these weapons…they won`t be able to double team andrews anymore….
we were sending zay out to run actual wr routes(not just the usual screens and short stuff)…obj looked like a new man…you could see that when we run patterns that stress defenses it opens everything else up….obj looked like a demon..running hard after the catch…playing like a young obj…like he had a chip on his shoulder…then theres agholor and bateman…it`s almost overkill…
if lamar is able to continue to consistently stretch defenses like he did yesterday the rest of the rest of the pedestrian looking nfl amy be in for some bad days ahead……
i could go on and on…van noy was a genius pick-up…clowney and maulet have been playing lights out..madubuike looks like a star in the making…so many playmakers on offense and defense…i like that we`re getting az. on the road next week…a lesser foe…this is where we usually stumble…i`m curious to see if we can stay focused..my hat is off(on bended knee) to lamar, monken and macdonald….i`m shutting my damned mouth after that performance…it was very close to perfection on both sides of the ball…a football epiphany of sorts…
the one downside is it`s looking like our little undrafted whippet rb may be a chronic injury problem…that`s unfortunate for him……
It never has been discussed that I have read, but how about the blocking by Zay Flowers! And i I don’t mean “for his size”, I mean vs anyone. Better than Miles Boykin and that was all Boykin could do (and did it well enough that he still in the league for his blocking). Watch and you will often see him Round a RB or a fellow receiver after a catch, Lways finding someone to hit. And has really helped each WR in YAC. Maybe you RSR folks can start the conversation.