The latest news covering the Baltimore Ravens.
The latest and greatest content covering the Baltimore Ravens.
The Best NFL Bets for Week 12: The HarBowl Returns
Anthony Dabbundo, The Ringer
Not only is this a matchup between two of the league’s five best quarterbacks, but it’s another edition of the HarBowl—a coaching matchup between brothers Jim and John Harbaugh. The Chargers defense is still first in the NFL in points allowed per game, but the Bengals showed last week that the gaudy stats are a bit of a product of the Chargers’ weak schedule thus far.
Lamar Jackson had his worst game of the season last week, holding the ball too long and struggling to keep the Baltimore offense in rhythm. I’m personally chalking that up to Pittsburgh’s familiarity with him and past success in that AFC North rivalry. The Chargers will have a difficult time keeping up with the speed of the Ravens offense on a much more friendly turf and overall conditions.
The Ravens are no. 1 in the NFL in both red zone touchdown percentage and offensive explosive play rate. That’s a combination that should immediately scare anyone away from betting the under, regardless of how good the Chargers defensive stats have been.
Since the Chargers had their early Week 5 bye, they’ve opened up the offense in a huge way. They’ve had higher pass rates, more downfield passing, more Justin Herbert running and the result has been a top-five explosive offense since their bye.
All signs point to a shootout in this one.
Ravens say they aren’t pondering a kicking change, but Justin Tucker is cause for concern
Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic
Considered one of the most unique weapons in the league for over a decade and the Ravens’ most reliable performer since he entered the league in 2012, Tucker — and by extension, the team’s field goal operation — has suddenly become one of the reasons Baltimore is losing games.
It’s harsh and it feels uncomfortable to say or write about a guy who has been the gold standard in the sport at his position for many years, but the numbers are hard to ignore. The Ravens’ four losses have come by a total of 17 points, and Tucker missed a field goal in each of them that factored prominently in the defeats.
How the Ravens’ plans to stop Steelers stars T.J. Watt and George Pickens fell short
Jonas Shaffer, The Baltimore Banner
With Watt lining up primarily on the left side of Pittsburgh’s defensive front, away from star left tackle Ronnie Stanley, the Ravens had to give rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten help. A lot of help.
Of Watt’s 28 pass rush snaps Sunday, he got chipped or double-teamed 20 times. Sometimes it was a tight end — Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar all got a shot — or fullback Patrick Ricard. Sometimes it was running back Justice Hill. One time it was even wide receiver Rashod Bateman.
Offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s strategy kept Watt largely at bay. He finished with just three pressures of quarterback Lamar Jackson, according to Pro Football Focus, and his one sack came after Jackson ran out of bounds on a third-and-11 scramble.
But the Ravens’ devotion to bumping Watt off his pass rush path seemed at times to do more harm than good. On those gotta-stop-Watt drop-backs, Jackson went just 8-for-18, with five incompletions coming on third down. The Ravens’ troubles on early downs, combined with their reluctance to send five eligible receivers downfield, became a burden in obvious passing situations.
The trouble was, the Ravens weren’t much better playing Watt straight up. Jackson finished 5-for-9 on those snaps, with a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Zay Flowers and a handful of short completions. Overall, Jackson’s average time from snap to throw was 3.62 seconds, according to TruMedia, the slowest of his season. Open receivers and comfortable pockets were hard to find.
NFL Week 11 grades: Cowboys get ugly grade for blowout loss to Texans, Bills earn ‘B+’ for beating Chiefs
Dan Graziano, ESPN
Another fantasy-centric note on a wide receiver traded to an AFC North team at the trade deadline: Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken basically acknowledged last week that they’re having a tough time finding ways to involve Diontae Johnson in the offense. After asking around on this, the sense I got was that they considered him too good a player to pass up at the price Carolina was asking, and that he offered them a chance to use more three-receiver sets than they usually do, should they want to go that route.
But that’s not really the way their offense is set up, and unless the Ravens are planning a major midseason scheme change (which I don’t believe they are), Johnson might just be a veteran insurance policy in case something happens to top wideout Zay Flowers. Remember, the Rams added Odell Beckham Jr. as an extraneous-looking player the season they won the Super Bowl, and he ended up playing a larger role than anticipated once Robert Woods sustained a season-ending injury. It’s not the news Johnson fantasy managers want to hear, but this might be a case of a team just deciding you can never have too many playmakers.