With the Ravens clinching their third straight trip to the playoffs in the 38-3 blowout win over Cincinnati on Sunday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The 404 rushing yards capped a five-game stretch in which Baltimore ran for 1,337 yards. That’s more than two teams had in all of 2019 and 14 fewer yards than Pittsburgh had this season. Question the passing game all you’d like, but the ground attack is as special as ever.
2. On his 72-yard touchdown, J.K. Dobbins showed breakaway speed and a stiff arm to Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt, who had predicted a Ravens loss. After the game, Dobbins said, “We just let those guys do the talking on the Internet, and we’re going to go play ball.” I like it.
3. In addition to feeling tired just watching his 13-yard scramble that was more like 50 on the opening drive, I was impressed seeing Lamar Jackson scramble right to fire a bullet to the back of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown. When he’s doing that, good luck.
4. The lack of mentions of the Ravens collecting zero sacks reminds us how limited that statistic can be in measuring a pass rush’s effectiveness. That’s not to say it won’t be a concern in the postseason, but ask Brandon Allen and his 0.0 passer rating whether he was feeling pressure.
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5. Atoning for his drop of a pretty deep ball, Marquise Brown caught two touchdowns to give him at least one in five of the last six games. His hands are still shakier than you’d like, but you’ll live with that if he makes up for it with some big plays.
6. With a physical playoff matchup against 2,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry and Tennessee looming, the Ravens defense playing only 43 official snaps was a major benefit, especially with Yannick Ngakoue already out. No linebacker or defensive lineman played more than 29 snaps, which is all but unheard of.
7. Trystan Colon-Castillo holding up well at center in his second career NFL start is a major credit to both him and offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris. It also couldn’t have been an encouraging sign for Matt Skura, who is a pending free agent and didn’t play a single offensive snap.
8. The dime package has all but vanished due to secondary injuries, but you wonder if Jimmy Smith could move back to a hybrid role with Anthony Averett playing well as an outside cornerback. That would provide more depth at safety and Smith a more limited workload for a bad shoulder.
9. Playing in his likely final game as a Bengal, A.J. Green didn’t register a catch and was the intended receiver on Brandon Allen passes picked off by Marcus Peters and Chuck Clark. Maybe a change of scenery rejuvenates the 32-year-old, but he looked like a shell of himself this year.
10. We mock excessive praise for the blocking ability of the skill players, but there were numerous good blocks from wide receivers and running backs to complement what the offensive line and tight ends were doing. John Harbaugh went out of his way to compliment Dez Bryant on Dobbins’ long touchdown.
11. The 13th straight “Black Monday” came and went without the Ravens looking for a new head coach. Yes, pressure is warranted for Harbaugh to at least win a playoff game for the first time in six years, but never take nine trips to the postseason in 13 years for granted.
12. Cincinnati remains “bullish” on Zac Taylor after that embarrassing finale, but decisions to punt from the Baltimore 44 after Jackson’s interception and to settle for a field goal late in the first half with three timeouts remaining reeked of managing the scoreboard over really trying to win. That ain’t it.
