Baltimore sweats out rally, heads for bye week at 5-1
Sunday, October 18, 2020, Philadelphia: The fans’ complaints have been coming fast and furious all season. “They seem a little bit off.” “They don’t have an identity.” “They’re giving up on the run too soon.” “The play-calling is predictable.” “Other teams have figured them out.” “They don’t look like they did last year.”
As fickle and petty as it all sounds, such dissatisfaction probably should be expected when a team has raised the level of its play the way the Baltimore Ravens have the past couple of years–especially since the electrifying Lamar Jackson became the starting quarterback.
The Ravens set a rather high bar for themselves in 2019 with a league-record rushing attack, a franchise-best 12-game winning streak, and a 14-2 record. But even with the aforementioned maladies, Baltimore got off to a 4-1 start this year, which was one game better than last season–and a mark it reached for only the sixth time in team history–the most recent instance being the 2012 Super Bowl-winning campaign.
But just as the 2018 bye week gave an added jolt of adrenaline to a team that seemed to be faltering, perhaps the Ravens’ annual off-week this time around can do the same thing and kick things up another notch.
That’s what Ravens players, coaches, and fans alike can hope for after Sunday’s 30-28 win over the host Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field–a win that wasn’t secured until Eagles’ quarterback Carson Wentz’ two-point conversion run was stuffed by Matt Judon and LJ Fort with 1:55 remaining.
Ironically, the Eagles’ last game against the Ravens (four years ago in Baltimore) came down to a two-point pass that CJ Mosley broke up, securing a 27-26 win. But head coach John Harbaugh will certainly note how his team nearly frittered away a 30-14 lead.
John Harbaugh: I’m proud of our guys for winning the fight at the end. Certain things, we’re not going to be happy with. Certain things, we are—way too many penalties, especially the pre-snap penalties. The pre-snap penalties were just not good. We had trouble lining up, and we had some assignment issues we weren’t happy about. We have a lot to work on, for sure.
Speaking of lining up, the most substantial crowd of the year to see the Ravens, a limited gathering of roughly 7500 fans, were allowed through the gates.
Philadelphia is one of 15 franchises – almost half the league – that is now allowing substantial crowds to attend games. To this point, the Ravens have admitted only 250 to M&T Bank Stadium, a gathering consisting mainly of players’ family members; that number was only permitted to enter for the last two home games.
Ten different Ravens gained yards in this game, including top targets Mark Andrews and Maurice Brown, who had 65 targets between them this year coming into the game–basically half of the team’s total–didn’t catch a pass until the second half. But the team’s offensive rhythm was disturbed by both Tyre Phillips’ reinsertion at right guard and Patrick Mekari having to substitute for him in the second half. Four of the team’s offensive linemen were flagged, center Matt Skura being the exception.
The bottom line is that the Ravens (5-1) did get their first-ever road win against Philadelphia (1-4-1), leaving just four cities in which the franchise has never won a regular-season game (Indianapolis, New England, Chicago, Minnesota). Baltimore has not yet played in Las Vegas, the new home of the Raiders. But the team has to hope that, at the very least, wins in places like that can come a bit easier than they did on Sunday, when the Ravens picked up their club-record ninth straight road win, outscoring its opponents 299-151 in those games. The last Ravens road loss was in Kansas City in Week 3 of 2019.
Baltimore has been more of a workmanlike, grind-it-out team this year, rather similar to its modus operandi in the early 2000s. When strong, playmaking defense, and a powerful running game, led to games that might have been low-scoring but devastating in their effect.
That’s probably because the Ravens have had to make the best of what circumstances have given them. Only five of the team’s 11 principal offensive players have started every game so far this year. At the game’s most important position, the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player was one of them.
Against the Eagles, Jackson regained his running form, rushing for 108 yards on nine carries, including a 37-yard touchdown run that ballooned the Ravens’ late-third-quarter lead 24-6. It was designed to run up the middle since opposing defenses have apparently contained Jackson on the edges.
Jackson was also 16-for-27 for 186 yards passing (three sacks, 92.5 rating) and had a seven-yard touchdown to Nick Boyle for the game’s first score against an Eagles defense that had allowed five touchdowns to tight ends coming into the game.
Jackson was the cornerstone of a run game that also got a Gus Edwards seven-yard score and totaled 182 yards while scoring more than 20 points; Baltimore is on a league-record 29-game stretch of achieving both marks in the same game, even though veteran back Mark Ingram (ankle) had to leave the game and did not return.
Rushing attack aside, simply breaking the 20-point barrier for 29 straight games is the second-longest streak in league history, topped only by Denver in 2012-14. Ironically, the last time Baltimore failed to reach 20 points in a game was in Joe Flacco’s final Ravens start, the 2018 pre-bye home win over Pittsburgh.
Defensively, the Ravens have profited from the kind of continuity, stability, and cohesion the offense has not shown. A robust playmaking unit that had forced 32 turnovers over 18 straight games heading into Philadelphia has had eight of 11 principal starters take the field for every game this year, excluding only nose tackle Brandon Williams (COVID concerns), defensive end Derek Wolfe (inactive due to a neck/concussion issue), and inside linebacker LJ Fort.
Sunday, the defense was further helped because the banged-up Eagles had to deploy their fifth different offensive line combination in six games because of two absent starters, including standout right tackle Lane Johnson (ankle).
Even without dime-package linebacker/safety Anthony Levine, whose streak of 117 games going back seven years was stopped by an abdominal injury, the defense got to Wentz for six sacks–giving the team 16 over the last three games–five pass breakups and 16 quarterback hits.
The team’s most high-profile free-agent pickup, defensive tackle Calais Campbell, had his best game as a Raven to date with five tackles, three sacks, four quarterback hits, and four tackles for losses. Judon and Pernell McPhee had three hits each, and safety DeShon Elliott forced two fumbles, using Marlon Humphrey’s “punch” style.
The defense dominated this game early on and helped the offense hold a yardage edge of 110-minus-7 at one point, forcing six three-and-outs and a fumble before halftime. They also held an opponent to just three third-down conversions for a second straight week.
But a 75-yard Miles Sanders run that ended with Elliott forcing a fumble resulted in a recovery in the end zone from receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside–the first third-quarter points the Ravens had allowed all year and the first touchdown of any kind Baltimore had allowed in seven quarters.
The Ravens, who are the only team in the league to score in all 24 quarters this season, padded the lead just enough with Justin Tucker field goals of 55 and 46 yards. Still, a Marcus Peters pass interference call kept the Eagles alive, setting up Wentz’ one-yard plunge and the ensuing two-point try.
Once again, the defense bailed the Ravens out and pointed the way to a win.
With the win and a bye week ahead, now is the time to reflect on how the season has gone thus far.
The worldwide pandemic has limited attendance around the league, and it may be one big cause as to what has limited the Ravens. For one thing, on-field signal calls have been easier to pick up with no fan noise to drown them out. For another, the pandemic limited all teams’ abilities to have normal off-season routines, complete with spring practices, mini-camps, and training camps, limiting the repetitions of even the most seasoned veterans. Finally, the virus has forced the league to adjust teams’ schedules so that all 256 regular-season games can be played within the usual 17-week window. To that end, the Ravens are taking their bye this week, seven days earlier than originally scheduled.
The same thing happened in 2008 when Hurricane Ike forced a Week Two-by and 18 straight weeks of action that ended with a loss in Pittsburgh’s AFC title game. Despite all the nervousness surrounding this team, the adjusted bye could turn out to be a big break for a Ravens squad that, despite its gaudy record, isn’t quite hitting on all cylinders, at least not yet.
The new schedule gives the Ravens two weeks to prepare for a home game against AFC North Division archrival Pittsburgh (Sunday, November 1, 1 p.), which has bolted out to a 5-0 start for the first time since its Super Bowl-winning days in the late Seventies.
Understandably, Pittsburgh isn’t happy about the arrangement because it is aware that not only will the Ravens have extra time to prepare for the showdown, but that Baltimore is 17-7 in post-bye games–the second-best record in the league in such situations. The only record surpassing it is the 22-9 posted by both Denver and Philadelphia.
For their part, the Ravens have also won four straight post-bye games, an active streak that started with a home win over the Steelers in 2016.
That upcoming clash with Pittsburgh also will mark the Ravens’ final intradivisional home game of the season for all three return matches with the Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and Cincinnati Bengals will take place on the road.
And, as the schedule toughens after the bye –with upcoming games with teams like New England, Indianapolis, and Tennessee on the itinerary–the Ravens will need to cut down on penalties (season-high 12 against the Eagles) and diversify their play calls, as they tried to do on Sunday.
But make no mistake about it (especially after Sunday’s nailbiter) over the next two weeks, the fans’ pointed complaints will keep coming.
