The Ravens are a uniquely weird team in Week 14 of the NFL season.
They're weird because their QB position is a great unknown.
Joe Flacco is, of course, the world's most underwhelming Super Bowl MVP, and has sucked this year. We know who he is, we have millions of hours of underwhelming tape to depressingly watch. And he returned to practice this week, but did not play, Eric Berry style.
But that might change. He may see the field.
Which is interesting, because their backup QB, Lamar Jackson, a 1st round selection by the Ravens (albeit with the 32nd pick), is a very weird player. He runs, and runs, and runs with the ball. His completion percentage is a not-terrible 60%. And he's only played three weeks, so tape on him is slim.
We know this: he is fast, he is not afraid to run the ball, and he's a damn gazelle when he does.
The good news: we can probably spy him. His weapons are bleak. Alex Collins is his #1 RB, and he's averaging 3.6 yards a carry. His #1 receiver is John Brown, who initially looked like Tyreek Hill when he first hit the league, but has since statistically slowed down and is now just a good receiver with very difficult speed to account for. Michael Crabtree is their #2 alongside Willie Snead, and Tyreek Hill has more yardage than both of those guys combined, but Crabtree has had good games against us in the past.
As a result, the Ravens are still somehow 13th in the league in yardage, they are averaging 25 points a game.
The Ravens have good pass protection, as they've only given up like 25 sacks or something like that. Ronnie Stanley is their LT.
But really, the Ravens offense wins by trying to run the ball, passing decently, and then letting Lamar Jackson get creative.
As far as the defense is concerned.................. biggest test of the year right here folks.
#1 rated defense in yardage (they're allowing under 300 yards/game).
#1 rated defense in points (they're allowing 17 points/game).
I think it's safe to say we're going to beat those averages but they should still slow us down pretty significantly. I don't know if Patty will have another 4 TD game here.
The Ravens get good pressure on the QB -- they're 9th in the league in sacks, and the pressure comes from everywhere. Suggs has always played well against us but he only has 5.5 this year. They blitz a good amount.
Simply put, the Ravens pass defense will be the biggest challenge Mahomes faces all year. They're allowing under 200 yards passing all season. Eric Weddle is a goddamn general at the back of their defense, and they've got a solid corner or two despite the fact that none of their corners are true ballhawks. Brandon Carr will make a rare appearance against the Chiefs, which is whatever, but he's apparently playing well.
The Ravens have a mean defensive line, and maybe the meanest NT in the league in Brandon Williams. I'm willing to bet they drop everyone in coverage, smother Kelce, and dare Spencer Ware to beat their DL. That's a very tall order, and I don't think our run game is up to the challenge. Mahomes will need to tap every ounce of his MVP talent to get yardage.
In special teams, they have arguably the greatest kicker in modern NFL history in Justin Tucker. They've had one punt return for a TD.
They're 7-5. They're on a three game win streak. Lamar Jackson has started all three games.
Their wins: Bills, Broncos, @Steelers, @Titans, Bengals (no Dalton), Raiders, @Falcons
Losses: @Bengals (Dalton), @Browns, Saints, @Panthers, Steelers
That schedule is all over the place. They beat Pitt in Pitt, but pathetically lose to the Browns. The most damning game on the schedule is the Saints game, where they only lost by a point.
How is this team so good?
I've asked before. They have no elite talent on offense and are still racking up yardage and point. They have a damn good defense but don't intercept the ball and they don't have any sack masters like the Chiefs do.
What is going on?
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Originally Posted by Direckshun:
The Ravens are a uniquely weird team in Week 14 of the NFL season.
Joe Flacco is, of course, the world's most underwhelming Super Bowl MVP, and has sucked this year. We know who he is, we have millions of hours of underwhelming tape to depressingly watch. And he returned to practice this week, but did not play, Eric Berry style.
But that might change. He may see the field.
Actually until Joe was injured this season started as his best in 11 years even though his record was 4 - 5 after nine games. He had 342 attempts, second most in the NFL, 209 completions which was 4th most, yards were 2259 which was eight, with 12 TD's and 6 interceptions. He was averaging 282 yards a game, his highest ever after 11 seasons, that was up from 196 yards in 2017 per game average. He actually really starting to click with receivers John Brown, Michael Crabtree and Willie Snead who were all playing in their first year with the Ravens.
Anyway, Joe probably won't see the field again even if his hip recovers. Last week against the Falcons Lamar had to come out for concussion protocol and RGIII lead the team on one drive resulting in a FG until Lamar came back in. His style is much more like Lamar's, so it makes more sense to keep RGIII as the backup. If I were a betting person, I would think maybe trading Joe to the the Jaguars at the end of the season might be a good move for both teams.
Originally I projected the score KC 37 Ravens 17, but after a change at running back and the Ravens defense holding Matt Ryan to 131 yards and a QBR of 45.8 and 1 TD in a game played in Atlanta last week. I'm still giving the victory to the Chiefs but probably more like Chiefs 24 Ravens 14.
Was is really odd, in 2000 the Ravens started the season with Tony Banks at QB and after nine game and a record of 5 - 4, he was benched for Trent Dilfer. He came in and won the remaining 7 games and 4 playoff games including Super Bowl 35.
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