With the Ravens collecting their fourth straight win in a 37-3 blowout of Seattle on Sunday afternoon, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The perimeter speed was evident from the moment Keaton Mitchell took the practice field, but watching the 5-foot-8, 191-pound rookie run with such toughness surprised everyone. Pro Football Focus tracked 132 of his 138 rushing yards coming after contact. The Next Gen Stats metrics were just as impressive. Exciting potential.
2. There’s plenty of great blocking when you run for 300 yards, but watching Tyler Linderbaum help spring Mitchell on his 60-yard run reiterated the terrific player the Ravens have at center. Whether he receives the nod in his second year or not, Linderbaum is playing at a Pro Bowl level.
3. Though Justice Hill played more than three times as many snaps as Mitchell or Gus Edwards on Sunday, it’ll be fascinating to see how the playing time at running back is distributed after Mitchell’s breakout performance. Baltimore also ran out of three-wide sets more often than in previous weeks.
4. There was one development that threatened to put a damper on Sunday’s win, but Lamar Jackson looked OK not long after coming up limping on his fourth-down run in the third quarter. It was wise to remove Jackson from the game early, and John Harbaugh reiterated he was “fine” Monday.
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5. Seattle’s six first downs were the fewest allowed by the Ravens since 2010 and only one shy of the franchise record set by the 2000 defense. Eighty-five of the Seahawks’ 151 yards came on two long completions to DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Good luck playing that way.
6. How small is the margin for error against the Baltimore defense right now? Geno Smith should have had an easy conversion on Seattle’s opening third down before Smith-Njiba bobbled the ball out of bounds. The Seahawks converted only one of their 11 third downs after that. Again, best of luck.
7. When was the last time the Ravens had an inside pass rusher like Justin Madubuike? Edge rushers receive more attention, but pressuring the quarterback’s face without blitzing is a dynamic Baltimore hasn’t enjoyed all that often. Though not as obvious statistically speaking, Michael Pierce has played a huge part too.
8. You hope Odell Beckham Jr. catching a touchdown gets him going, but he failed to handle a catchable pass on the opening drive and his fumble could have turned the game if not for the defense bailing him out. It was interesting seeing him work from the slot more, however.
9. After whiffing on a sack earlier in the game, Odafe Oweh showed off a pretty spin move for his second quarterback takedown of 2023. While veterans Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy have earned much praise for their play, Oweh has looked really good since returning from the ankle injury.
Odafe Oweh has generated pressure on 18.3% of his pass-rush attempts this season – 6th among edge defenders with 80+ pass-rush attempts.
Kyle Van Noy is 12th at 16.9%
Jadeveon Clowney is 20th at 16.0%
Mike MacDonald+Chuck Smith 📈8
10. Though Seattle edge rusher Boye Mafe is underrated, the Ravens need more consistency from Ronnie Stanley over the second half of the season. Some of the criticism has been over the top, but his play has slipped some from even last year upon returning from the ankle injury.
11. With Daryl Worley back in the mix, Mike Macdonald had more flexibility to use Kyle Hamilton at the nickel and closer to the line of scrimmage often. With Geno Stone continuing to play outstanding football, it’ll be interesting to see how the secondary aligns when Marcus Williams returns.
12. Kansas City remains the team to beat in the AFC and has earned that distinction over several years, but there isn’t a team playing better than the Ravens, who own the NFL’s biggest point differential. Increasingly reminiscent of 2019, I’m not picking against them until they lose another game.
