OTL: Eatin’ with Keaton!

Good Mooooooorning, Ravens Flock! It’s now been a full month of consecutive victory Mondays, and a guy could get used to this. The Ravens have moved to 7-2 after their fourth straight victory, another thorough and utter dismantling of an NFC division leader at home. This time it was the Seattle Seahawks who were sent home holding their tails between their legs, the victims of a 37-3 Ravens thrashing.

Let’s have some fun.

Where to begin? Offense, defense? Both sides of the ball were absolutely dominant on yesterday’s gorgeous Baltimore afternoon. Flipping a coin, I landed on tails. Unfortunately, I forgot to figure out what that would mean beforehand. So since tails made me think of what the Seahawks defense was staring at for much of the afternoon – specifically, the tail of Keaton Mitchell – we’ll begin there.

The rookie out of ECU, the son of former Baltimore Raven Anthony Mitchell, announced his presence to the NFL in a big way, rushing for 138 yards on just nine carries, including this 40-yard scamper in which he ran away from the entire Seahawks D.

FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN FOR @_KeatonMitchell ❗

Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/G20hxbg8Fc

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 5, 2023

Pops gave props.

He been waiting now to day was his day congrats son. https://t.co/p7TGkBQBHj

— Anthony Mitchell (@BigMitch42) November 5, 2023

And Baldy broke it down this morning.

.@Ravens @_KeatonMitchell got his big chance v @Seahawks in less than 10 runs…the whole world knows who Keaton is. And the breakaway speed!! @ECUPiratesFB #RavensFlock #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/muq05F9umk

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 6, 2023

Gus Edwards added five carries for 52 yards, including two touchdowns, Lamar Jackson had 60 on 10, and Justice Hill chipped in 40 on 13. All told, the Ravens rushed for 298 yards against the team that brought the league’s third-best rush defense into town. Not too shabby.

Back to Mitchell though, the true revelation of the day.

Rookie Keaton Mitchell gained +108 rushing yards over expected on 9 carries, the most a running back has gained in a single game since Week 10, 2020 (Ronald Jones, +110).

Mitchell had played just 2 snaps all season before playing 13 (21.0%) in Week 9.#BALvsSEA | #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/9eUTemLKkV

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 5, 2023

The Ravens have lacked that home run hitter at the RB position since JK Dobbins went down. Mitchell is a guy who can truly punish opposing defenses for playing light boxes, and his patience and vision were on display even before he showcased his breakaway speed. Mitchell could be the lightning to Gus Edwards’ thunder, and suddenly fans who were upset at EDC for not getting a running back at the deadline are silent.

Elsewhere on the offense, though Lamar has been unable to get his boy OBJ a touchdown, Tyler Huntley finally delivered one in garbage time. It was Beckham’s birthday, he scored, he celebrated with the Park Heights Strut, and the vibes were immaculate.

OBJ did the Park Heights Strut after his first TD as a Raven

🎥: @Ravens pic.twitter.com/wyXKG7757F

— Baltimore Banner Sports (@AllBannerSports) November 5, 2023

Moving to the other side of the ball, the Ravens defense continues to be one of the NFL’s most dominant, especially on their home turf. They’re not just dominant though, they’re historically so.

The 2023 Baltimore Ravens defense is allowing a touchdown on only 8.7% of opposing drives.

Since 2000 (as far back as @TruMediaSports
has data), only one defense has been better.

That's the 2000 Ravens. pic.twitter.com/NEjHwlqNhL

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) November 5, 2023

They’re doing it by absolutely harassing opposing quarterbacks. They racked up four sacks on Geno Smith yesterday, all in the first half, including a strip sack by off-the-street gem acquisition Kyle Van Noy. Baldy broke down some of that as well.

.@Ravens defense is fueled by their ability to affect and sack the #QB. They lead the league. @Seahawks were under siege all day. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/K8PTvMzkpU

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 6, 2023

Harassed quarterbacks make mistakes, and Geno Smith did just that, tossing an interception to – who else – Geno Stone. Stone built on his NFL lead, and he now has six interceptions (and got his hands on a potential seventh).

GENO TO GENO❗❗❗❗

Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/MrNUAHCGun

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 5, 2023

To summarize, the Detroit Lions came to town looking to make a statement. They were throttled 38-6. The Seattle Seahawks came to town looking to do the same. The result? Eerily similar.

Some of you like DVOA, others give me a hard time for citing here. For the former, here you are:

Good morning. The Baltimore Ravens are now the No. 3 team ever tracked by DVOA thru 9 games.

No, I don't think they are quite this good. Let's see them get tested by a top team (Bengals in 2 weeks with healthy Burrow). But they are REALLY good. #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/Eyn5rgfuuQ

— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@ASchatzNFL) November 6, 2023

I guess the Lions and Seahawks don’t count as “top teams” to Aaron, but ok, sure. Those Bengals come to town in a week in a half, and yes, they look annoyingly competent once again. Before that, it’s the Browns, who are feeling themselves after shutting out the Cardinals (without Joshua Dobbs, notably) yesterday.

Speaking of Ohio teams, and annoying things, did you know that if the playoff started today, every AFC North team would make it?

After Cincinnati’s Sunday night win over Buffalo, all four AFC North teams currently would qualify for the playoffs.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 6, 2023

It’s like being an Orioles fan just never stops. Why can’t any of our teams play in incompetent divisions? ANNOYING.

So, the only thing left to do is to keep stacking wins. I think the Ravens are up to the task.

Have a great week, Flock!