With the Ravens aiming to rebound from last week’s disappointing loss in a trip to Brazil to face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. This team responding to adversity is the next checkpoint for Jesse Minter after a kind of loss that occurred too often under his predecessor. This core of players has a ton of late-game scar tissue, so getting out of the routine of a typical week was probably a positive.
2. Run the ball. Baltimore ran for 274 yards and averaged 6.1 yards per carry against a Cowboys defense that still had Micah Parsons two years ago. Yes, Dallas is down multiple secondary pieces, but I remain skeptical about Zay Flowers playing. Don’t overthink this when you have Derrick Henry.
3. Anthony Weaver sensed “a little bit of stress” and “didn’t feel like we were ourselves” when asked about the defense’s fourth-quarter demeanor against New Orleans. Talk about coaching all you’d like, but this group’s highest-paid players need to rise up in crunch time or this will continue happening too often.
4. Nnamdi Madubuike playing in a game for the first time in more than a year should provide an emotional lift, and the Ravens need his ability to disrupt the pocket from the interior. Weaver said, “He’s a force multiplier. There’s a reason why he commands the check he does.”
5. Jaxson Dart ran for 54 yards against Dallas in Week 1, and Jayden Daniels ran for 69 in one half last Sunday. As I wrote after last week’s game, Lamar Jackson’s legs being a bigger factor goes a long way toward making up for the potential absence of Flowers.
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6. Shutting down Ronnie Stanley to get that toe right is the prudent decision, but 2025 fifth-round pick Carson Vinson making his first career start when Baltimore already ranks 30th in ESPN’s pass block win rate metric isn’t ideal. We’ll see how Vinson looks after a week to prepare to start.
7. That said, the Dallas pass rush doesn’t scare you with the Cowboys ranking 28th in pressure rate and 29th in sack rate despite ranking 16th in blitz rate, according to Sharp Football. That’s not going to help a secondary that’s been hammered by injuries.
8. Minter noted that Chidobe Awuzie needs to play more, so it’ll be interesting to see how that happens, especially with Marlon Humphrey playing well outside. Perhaps it’s as simple as spelling Humphrey for an occasional series unless Minter wants to use Kyle Hamilton as a deep safety more often.
9. With the Baltimore defense failing repeatedly on third down last week, the Cowboys offense leading the NFL in third-down conversion rate will definitely provide an opportunity to gauge adjustments. We’ll see what Madubuike’s workload looks like, but he figures to be prominent on third downs.
10. By just about any measure you can find, Dak Prescott is playing at a very high level out of the gate. We’ll see if the Ravens can continue a sleepy start to the season for old AFC North foe George Pickens, but top receiver CeeDee Lamb has been excellent.
11. You always wonder how teams will handle the travel, but the time zone in Rio de Janeiro being only one hour ahead helps. Asked how he’d handle the flight, Henry said he sleeps “like a baby” and was asked for his secret. “Close my eyes. Go to sleep.” Simple enough.
12. There’s only so much to say about field concerns at Maracanã Stadium, but as I remarked to one player, too many NFL owners care too little about having the best surfaces in their own stadiums, let alone worrying about one-off international games. That individual could only shake his head.
Prediction: It was tough not to bemoan the “same old Ravens” after last Sunday’s loss to the Saints, but “same old Cowboys” carries more clout in trying to size up this Week 3 matchup. While the Ravens offense hasn’t looked the same without Flowers, it’s not as though Baltimore failed to move the ball in Week 2. The Dallas defense remains the weakest link for either team by a wide margin, and one simply hopes Declan Doyle learned from last week’s experience. The Ravens should not only feed Henry as their most consistent way to move the football, but that approach will also help limit possessions for Prescott and a formidable Cowboys passing game. This one may not morph into the shootout some are anticipating, but it’ll be back and forth before Henry takes over in the fourth quarter and the Baltimore defense forces a critical interception of Prescott. The Ravens get back on track and feel much better about themselves on the long flight home after a 27-23 win over the Cowboys.
