I've been a season ticket holder since 96 and I'm as big a Ravens fan as anyone, but I'm not one to look at the world through purple glasses. I try (and it's sometimes difficult) to accept what is right in front of me. First, the offense. The Ravens are #1 in the NFL running the ball with Ingram leading the way and a more than capable rotation behind him. The Ravens are #12 passing but, the majority of that goes to Andrews and Brown, each with 39 targets. Next in line is Snead (16) and Hurst (15). This team has some offensive weapons, so why aren't the Ravens trying to spread the ball around around a little more? (Not that I'm complaining, I have Mark Andrews on my fantasy team and he was a very late pick, which was expected for the type of league I'm in; points scored only. no PPR) If a defense can stop the run and blanket Andrews and Brown, they've basically made it difficult for the Ravens to score if they have to go any kind of distance. I'd like to see a little more diversity in the offense and a few more screen plays. The O-line is, for the most part, playing at a very high level. according to Pro Football Focus, Ronnie Stanley is the #5 Tackle in the league; performing well as a run blocker and exceptional in pass blocking. Yanda is the #10 ranked guard but there are some warning signs in this appraisal from PFF "Yanda is not quite the dominant force he once was, and he is coming off a poor showing against the Steelers in Week 5, but remains an above-average pass-blocker. The sack he allowed on Sunday was the first he had given up since Week 7 of the 2015 season." But this really surprised me: Matt Skura is the #5 ranked center in the league, one position ahead of former Raven Ryan Jensen. This is what PFF had to say about Skura: "Through five weeks, Skura is one of the most improved players on the Ravens roster. After producing PFF grades of 53.4 and 58.2 in his first two seasons of action after going undrafted out of Duke in 2016, Skura has produced a PFF grade of 71.2 so far this season. In pass protection, he has allowed just one sack and two hurries on 215 pass-blocking snaps through five games." I've seen Bozeman beaten a few times and knocked on his ass at least once. He wasn't ranked. Neither was Orlando Brown, who I don't think has been playing poorly. My bottom line: Plenty of offensive weapons on this team. I hope they start using them all, or at least more of them. I haven't seen anything yet that has me convinced Greg Roman re-invented the wheel. Jackson looks like a much better passer than last year but he's started for less than an equivalent season, so he might still be learning. It looks like the Ravens have the skill positions locked up for a few years. Build the O line through the draft or free agency. Yanda will probably retire after this year and Bozeman may not be the answer long term. Now the Defense: #10 against the Run, 31st against the pass. What does that tell you? The only reason they're ranked that high against the run is because everyone is throwing the ball. The Ravens were supposed to have a great secondary, with Earl Thomas leading the way and Marlon Humphrey playing at a pro bowl level. Jimmy Smith and Tony Jefferson rounding out the starters and depth like never before. Than the injuries happened. With Tavon Young already gone, Jefferson now gone, and Smith not due back for a few weeks, what we have are a few backups in key positions. Now add to that a lack of a consistent pass rush. Judon is the only viable pass rusher the Ravens have and the D line is built to stop the run. Not one pass rusher has emerged. Last year we at least had Urban, who provided some push. So, with an inconsistent pass rush and a secondary with a couple new pieces, is it any wonder teams are able to pass against the Ravens? Teams aren't trying to run as much. Even the Steelers, with a 3rd string QB, had him throwing down the middle of the field, which was always open. Without a pass rush, I don't care who's in the secondary, they will get beaten. Give any QB in this league 5 or more seconds to find a receiver and he will. Think of this as a transition year. They're not rebuilding, they're retooling. They have some pieces in place, but need to fill a few spots before they become a serious contender. The Ravens will be competitive, but in my opinion they aren't a playoff caliber team; at least not based on what I've seen so far. I think 8-8 is realistic with the schedule ahead of them
I do not disagree with much of what you have here. I would love to see the offense spread the ball out. I think we have more than just Andrews and Brown and if we are not going to incorporate Hurst into the offensive game plan, then why did we draft him that high. If Andrews is truly that hurt then we should have used Hurst more. I think he can be a dynamic weapon as well as Andrews, but Lamar has developed Andrews and Brown laser vision, those are his first and only reads on just about every pass play and he forces the ball into them WAAAYYY too much. The defense is where i see most of the issue. The reason, in my opinion, the defense is struggling is almost all about the pass rush. Or lack of pass rush for that matter. The problem is we cannot get consistent pressure with a standard front so we have to scheme and blitz extra players which always leaves someone open. The bottom line is the lack of quick pressure, from the D-line as well, leaves the QB way too much time to find the open guy. We need to get better pressure up the middle as well as FASTER pressure to force rushed throws and hurries. No one can expect the DB's to cover for that long without getting beaten. I also see offensive play calling being an issue. We have started to get way too cute with the passes and Lamar is throwing the ball way more than I wanted to see. I think we need to keep the running game as our bread and butter and vary the running plays we run a bit more. On the passes, perhaps some roll outs and sprint outs would be useful to help us add some variety in the passing attack. I think they rely on Lamar just scrambling out of trouble when the pocket collapses versus scheming him rolling out and moving and allowing him to scan the field on the run that way. The season is heading the right way, but with the defensive woes we currently have, I also see 8 and 8 or 9 and 7 as our end record. That may win our division just out of pure poor play across all of the AFC North, but that sets up an early exit from the playoffs yet again for this squad.
I agree completely! The pass rush (or lack of) is the reason the Ravens will struggle this year. It's bad enough that good corners and safeties will have trouble staying with receivers if the QB has time. But add to that the fact that the Ravens have LB problems and 2 second stringers in the secondary and it's a recipe for disaster. 8-8 might be optimistic
I still see potentially 9 wins for the Ravens this season and that was my high water mark for a potential division winner in the AFC North. They have two games against the Bengals and the Jets at home. They should be favored pretty strongly in all 3 of those, unless Adam Gase somehow learns how to coach between now and week 15. That gives Baltimore the odds favored for at least 6 wins. That leaves 3 more wins to be earned in 8 games against - @SEA NE HOU @LAR SF @BUF @CLE PIT I think 3 games can be squeezed out of that schedule. I projected them to be 5-2 going into the bye week. There only one game off of that pace and it's a game they can pick back up later in the schedule if they don't drop a simple win against CIN. They need to start refocusing what works in the red zone, specifically inside of 15 yards to goal. There really shouldn't be any situation where they are not picking up at least two yards on first and second down, creating 3rd and 5 more often than not. With the defense forced to defend the goal line as well as the first down marker the distance should not affect the personnel groupings, unless they fall to third and long. With that in mind, this team should never be in a package other than 22 or 12. It creates all kinds of issues for a defense to deal with and having Boykin or Brown (or both) opposite of Andrews creates space for Hurst or whichever back can leak out. Running it off play-action develops hesitancy in the LBs to create levels of space and gives the moment of transition from run support to coverage that adds time to Lamar's ability to move and find his own lanes to rush. On defense, they need to consider utilizing 3 safeties, 2 LBs and 4 DL as a more base package. Get Judon and McPhee on the line/edge more often than not and work with Young and Onwuasor as your primary LBs. I'd look at Thomas, Elliott and Clark for the tier at safety and keep Elliott leaned towards the box.
Me thinks you double dipped a couple future wins. If your premise starts out with 3 wins against the Bengals (2) and the Jets, then you probably shouldn't include those three games in the list to squeeze three other wins out of. That means they need to get three wins from games against the Seahawks, Patriots, Texans, Rams, 49ers, Bills, Browns or Steelers.
Correct. It was a quick/copy/paste mistake. I even mentioned it was 8 games and proceeded to list 10 like a jackass, lol.
I think also some of what people have forgotten here (maybe not here but in the Baltimore Fandom) is that this is all a new offense and they still need to work out the wrinkles and figure out what their bread and butter plays are. What are the go to sure fire plays that work just about every time. Between a young QB, young receivers and young TE's (or new to the system, I know Hurst is practically an old man) they are still all getting to know tendencies and expectations etc....I expect them (Roman really) to identify the key offensive plays and hone them to the point that you almost can't defend either the play or the pull back and Lamar's running. I also expect the defense to get better, 1 with the return of Jimmy, for some reason we suck without him. You would think a single player would not make that big a difference but he surely seems to. I also think Jaylen Ferguson needs to get his butt in gear and figure out how to affect the game some how. We have always had that situational 3rd pass rusher that has been a staple to our defense and we don't have that right now and it is very evident. From Kruger, to McPhee to Zadarius we need to have that other guy and Ferguson needs to be him. It is clear that Bowser just can't make the leap to the NFL level impact so we need someone to step up. I expect a tigher offense and defense moving forward especially on offense. I think Lamar will continue to get better and better as the games go mainly because he has the drive and focus to keep working to get better. His latest comments on taking responsibility for the mistakes because he needs to work on ball placement speak volumes to me about his drive and leadership.
