With the Ravens blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in a 26-23 defeat to Las Vegas in Sunday’s home opener, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The Ravens haven’t lost many games overall with a healthy Lamar Jackson, so few would notice if they lost these contests in more conventional ways. But the last three seasons have included nine defeats in which they led by multiple scores or at least owned a fourth-quarter lead. Maddening.
2. The Baltimore defense tops the NFL against the run, but it ranks last in passing yards allowed and 28th in points allowed. Zach Orr must clean up the issues in the middle intermediate portion of the field, which shouldn’t be so problematic with Roquan Smith, Kyle Hamilton, and Marcus Williams.
3. A big reason I wasn’t as over the moon about the Derrick Henry signing as others were was the state of the offensive line. The Ravens brass deliberately chose this path, and this group is healthy too. Even buying Roger Rosengarten at right tackle, is there enough hope at guard?
4. Asked about Ben Cleveland playing, John Harbaugh said Monday that he didn’t beat out Daniel Faalele, whose early struggles are obvious. Perhaps Cleveland would be just as bad, but he worked much more at left guard and center — filling in for the injured Tyler Linderbaum — than right guard all summer.
5. It was good to see Henry finally get going running to the outside in the second half, but Baltimore is going to need to be able to run between the tackles at some point. This offensive line is showing very little ability to move people at the line of scrimmage.
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6. Lost in the defensive collapse was how well Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy played with a combined 4 1/2 sacks and seven pressures. Despite five team sacks, the pass rush was slightly more “all or nothing” than you’d like with Orr remaining pretty conservative these first two weeks.
7. The struggling offensive line is obviously a major deterrent, but it hasn’t been a particularly good start for Todd Monken, who used very little play-action passing. Though Henry’s false start was inexcusable, calling the “tush push” with Charlie Kolar on third-and-1 felt too cute when you have Henry and Jackson.
8. Zay Flowers certainly noticed being targeted only once after his touchdown catch early in the third quarter. A repost of a fan comment isn’t a big deal, but that’s probably something to file away if frustrations persist for a team still looking for its first win of the season.
9. Considering the way the Ravens value special teams, Jordan Stout’s 24-yard punt and Ka’dar Hollman’s out-of-bounds penalty to give the ball to Las Vegas at Baltimore’s 43-yard line were brutal gaffes. Harbaugh didn’t mince words about Stout’s Week 2 performance either.
10. Justin Tucker being 1-for-7 from 50-plus yards since the start of 2023 has garnered attention, but just two of those were inside 55. It could be age slowly creeping in or a lingering technique issue — most were misses left — but this isn’t the crisis some are claiming it to be.
11. Asked again about his unsuccessful challenges, Harbaugh said he’s unconcerned about his success rate relative to trying to win games. I respect that in the same way that the best third base coaches will have some unsuccessful sends, but the other opportunity cost is lost timeouts, which continue to hurt.
12. Everybody’s frustrated by the 0-2 start, but witnessing a chain gang member collapse and be revived late in the first half brought perspective on a day Baltimore remembered Jacoby Jones and offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris. Credit medical personnel for treating him so quickly and effectively as prayers were answered.
