With the Ravens improving to 4-2 on the season and concluding a three-game road trip after their 24-16 win over Tennessee in London on Sunday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The benefit of traveling to London earlier should be common sense, but we’re also talking about a league with multiple billionaire owners who aren’t compelled to protect their multimillion-dollar investments in players with optimal playing surfaces. The Ravens were far from perfect Sunday, but they certainly started faster than Tennessee.
2. We’ll get to Baltimore’s ugly red-zone offense, but Tennessee went 1-for-9 on third down and scored only one touchdown on four trips inside the red zone. Aside from the third-quarter penalties and a couple big plays, Mike Macdonald’s defense came to play and once again did the heaviest lifting.
3. Though four of his career-high-tying six field goals were from under 30 yards, Justin Tucker reminded why you love having his dependability on your side. Settling for that many field goals inside the red zone won’t work many weeks, but it did against the Titans.
4. With two special players in space like Lamar Jackson and Zay Flowers to put defenders in conflict and an All-Pro tight end in Mark Andrews, I don’t see why the Ravens should ever have such difficulties in the red zone as they’ve experienced the last couple weeks.
5. Baltimore ran the ball 15 times needing four yards or less for a first down or touchdown and converted only seven. Gus Edwards and Justice Hill combined for 76 yards on 24 carries. Jackson’s legs remain dynamic, but the ground game isn’t bullying opponents between the tackles like it used to.
6. John Harbaugh calling for field goals on a fourth-and-1 from the 23, a fourth-and-2 from the 2, and a fourth-and-1 from the 19 was quite a departure from recent seasons, but those were the right decisions considering his own offense and Tennessee’s offensive limitations. Touchdowns will be needed playing better opponents.
7. You hope the hamstring injury to Marcus Williams isn’t too serious, but Geno Stone continued to show his value with his game-changing interception, which left him tied for the NFL lead (three) entering Monday. Pro Football Focus has graded him among the top safeties in the league thus far.
8. Considering how close he’d come to piling up sacks in previous weeks, Jadeveon Clowney collecting two against an overwhelmed Malik Willis felt like an overdue market correction in the fourth quarter. Justin Madubuike also had a big day with two sacks and an abundance of inside pressure.
9. The 15-yard penalty for Kyle Hamilton’s helmet-to-helmet hit on Titans wideout and ex-Raven Chris Moore was the easy, correct call. But ejecting someone when replays show he’s also making a play on the ball? Judging intent is tough, but avoiding such collisions altogether is even more difficult in real time.
10. Stone had already replaced Hamilton, so Macdonald had to do more secondary shuffling when Williams exited by moving starting cornerback Brandon Stephens back to safety. Remembering how often past secondaries collapsed because of injuries, this pass defense performing at such a high level has been really impressive, regardless of the competition.
11. Devin Duvernay’s 70-yard punt return was an encouraging development for a special-teams unit off to an uncharacteristically poor start to 2023, but the two-time Pro Bowl returner probably won’t hear the end of Titans punter Ryan Stonehouse catching him. Then again, he’s pretty fast for a punter.
70-yard return for Duvernay 🔥@Ravens in the red zone.
📺: #BALvsTEN on NFL Network
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/B4mQvLNVjg pic.twitter.com/OounQ1ImnE— NFL (@NFL) October 15, 2023
12. From the Pittsburgh collapse and Maryland’s loss to Illinois to the Orioles being swept in the playoffs, it was a crummy couple weeks for local sports. Sunday’s win wasn’t pretty, but neither was Kansas City’s or Buffalo’s this week. San Francisco and Philadelphia lost to inferior opponents. Keep getting better.
