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.
Originally Posted by Best22:
It was in question. And if our “cruise control” results in a 3 point game with 6 minutes left, then we should never have gotten into “cruise control” to begin with.
That game was VERY much in doubt. If Mahomes doesn’t convert that 3rd down we likely lose. If we only scored a FG on the last drive and went up 36-30, it’s a 50/50 chance we win at best.
Game was a nailbiter. Mahomes saved our bacon
Yes, they shouldn’t have let up, especially the defense but it was never in question. Why? Because as soon as it was clear the Raiders weren’t mailing it in and made it a one score game the Chiefs said “well okay I guess we have to keep playing” and went and got a TD.
The Raiders never had the ball in the second half with a chance to tie or take the lead so no I cannot say that game was ever a toss up or in question. [Reply]
We may or may not be a legitimate contender at this point. I don't know if we are that good. But we've changed radically for the better with Lamar Jackson's emergence at QB.Teams have to spread their defense to contain him, and that makes them vulnerable to the straight-ahead running game. Gus Edwards has killed teams running between the tackles and has over 300 yards in three games. With the running game, we dominate time of possession, and we'll have to do that to beat the Chiefs.We need to keep your offense on the bench as we did Atlanta's or we're dead.
Jackson isn't an accomplished passer to be sure, that's our weakness.Hope he improves Sunday because you'll stack about 20 guys in the box to kill our running game!
But the defense held Atlanta's QB to the lowest passing yardage in his career Sunday. Our defense is legit, although it's more of a faceless unit than a bunch of individual standouts.
We also have the best kicker in the immediate world if the game's real close.
This said, I believe you will probably win the game. But we're good enough to be pretty dangerous, so you'd better come to play. Hopefully your team is looking ahead to the Chargers. That would help. [Reply]
Chiefs will need to play the way they did to start the season.
Get a couple of early stops and lay the offense on thick. We need to go up 3 possessions early and force Jackson into a shoot out that he would surely lose.
If they hang around they WILL be able to run on us and keep it close.
Gotta come out hot, guns blazing and force Jackson to do what he hasn't had to do yet. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mikezpen:
Ravens fan here.A few thoughts.
We may or may not be a legitimate contender at this point. I don't know if we are that good. But we've changed radically for the better with Lamar Jackson's emergence at QB.Teams have to spread their defense to contain him, and that makes them vulnerable to the straight-ahead running game. Gus Edwards has killed teams running between the tackles and has ovr 300 yards in three games. With the running game, we dominate time of possession, and we'll have to do that to beat the Chiefs.We need to keep your offense on the bench as we did Atlanta's or we're dead.
Jackson isn't an accomplished passer to be sure, that's our weakness.Hope he improves Sunday because you'll stack about 20 guys in the box to kill our running game!
But the defense held Atlanta's QB to the lowest passing yardage in his career Sunday. Our defense is legit, although it's more of a faceless unit than a bunch of individual standouts.
We also have the best kicker in the immediate world if the game's real close.
This said, I believe you will probably win the game. But we're good enough to be pretty dangerous, so you have to watch us. Hopefully your team is looking ahead to the Chargers. That would help.
Good post and welcome to the Planet!
I don’t think the Chiefs are overlooking anyone at this point but the Ravens do have some of the makeup that lines up well for you against KC. That said, no one has really been able to slow the offense down except the Chiefs players making mistakes and we’ve needed that ability to score in almost every game. Assume this will be similar to the Jags game where we don’t score crazy points but are able to get some turnovers and do enough to win. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mikezpen:
Ravens fan here.A few thoughts.
We may or may not be a legitimate contender at this point. I don't know if we are that good. But we've changed radically for the better with Lamar Jackson's emergence at QB.Teams have to spread their defense to contain him, and that makes them vulnerable to the straight-ahead running game. Gus Edwards has killed teams running between the tackles and has over 300 yards in three games. With the running game, we dominate time of possession, and we'll have to do that to beat the Chiefs.We need to keep your offense on the bench as we did Atlanta's or we're dead.
Jackson isn't an accomplished passer to be sure, that's our weakness.Hope he improves Sunday because you'll stack about 20 guys in the box to kill our running game!
But the defense held Atlanta's QB to the lowest passing yardage in his career Sunday. Our defense is legit, although it's more of a faceless unit than a bunch of individual standouts.
We also have the best kicker in the immediate world if the game's real close.
This said, I believe you will probably win the game. But we're good enough to be pretty dangerous, so you'd better come to play. Hopefully your team is looking ahead to the Chargers. That would help.
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
Chiefs will need to play the way they did to start the season.
Get a couple of early stops and lay the offense on thick. We need to go up 3 possessions early and force Jackson into a shoot out that he would surely lose.
If they hang around they WILL be able to run on us and keep it close.
Gotta come out hot, guns blazing and force Jackson to do what he hasn't had to do yet.
Teams have been running on us even when we have substantial leads. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP:
Need to see more Dorian O'Daniel next week to chase around Jackson, if he's the starter.
I haven't seen much from DOD to have much faith in him. Yeah, he's fast. He's also lost most of the time. I think I'd rather see a safety shadow Jackson at this point. [Reply]
A first-year RB / QB is not coming into Arrowhead and winning. It is going to be loud and our pass rush will make Tyrod...I mean Lamar fumble at least twice. [Reply]
Originally Posted by staylor26:
Exactly. Trying to catch up to us by running the ball is like trying to catch up to the Warriors with layups and mid range jumpers.
Except when you run the ball for 10-20 yards a clip.... [Reply]