Ravens Report Card Week 12: The Offense
The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 20-10 on Sunday Night Football. For the full recap, check out Jarrett recap (Ravens Earn Their Flowers on Sunday Night). Here I am grading the key positions for the Ravens Offense.
Quarterback: B
Lamar Jackson started Sunday game hot by leading the Ravens offense down the field for TD making the game 7-3 in the first couple minutes of the game. Jackson started the game completing 6 of his first 7 passes of the game. Making several stellar side arms passes to his Wide Receivers and extending plays with his legs. The Baltimore Ravens offensive line did not play well Sunday night, so Lamar Jackson had to make the most out of the actual time he had in the pocket. Jackson showed Sunday night why he should once again not be doubted because he made tremendous plays Sunday that made fans go “Wow”. One of those plays came in the second quarter when the pocket collapsed, and he ran into his Left Tackle, Ronnie Stanley. He scrambled and rushed for a small gain of two yards in which he should have gotten the first down. The referees marked him short off the first down marker. Which should have been challenged by John Harbaugh. That play might not be crucial to the naked eye but just shows Lamar’s ability behind a struggling offensive line. Another play that I noticed was the pass to Zay Flowers for the first touchdown of the game. Lamar Jackson remained poised in the pocket, scrambled to keep the play alive then found Zay Flowers for a TD. Lamar ability to move left and throw an off-balance pass to Flowers made that play a great highlight for Lamar. Lamar Jackson went 18/32 throwing for 177 yards and throwing 1 touchdown. Even though Jackson threw for 177 yards, he made plays that kept crucial drives going. Also, as horrendous as the offensive line was on Sunday, Jackson made the right decisions during cruntch time for this Ravens offense.
Running backs: C
he Ravens really must figure out the plan during the bye week for his running back room because something just not clicking in that room. Also, it seems to be a week-to-week decision on who will get what carries, and who do they trust in certain situations. Once again, the inconsistency load between Gus Edwards, Keaton Mitchell, and Justice Hill. Some of this comes from Todd Monken as well because Monken himself doesn’t know the direction of this entire offense. I believe this is hurting the running game as well. Keaton Mitchell got the start for the Ravens Sunday night. Giving the Ravens another dynamic weapon in this offense. Mitchell led the backs with 64 yards on 9 carries, adding 25 receptions yards. Gus Edwards added 26 yards on 8 carries. I think Todd Monken should leave Mitchell as their feature running back in this offense just because of Mitchell ability to hit that homerun play at any time. Let Gus Edwards be the muscle that gets you tough yards and willing to take on them short yardage plays.
Wide Receivers: B-
The Baltimore Ravens Wide Receivers are really making a case of becoming a strength for this football team. They showed the ability to take advantage of a bad secondary for the Los Angeles Chargers that ranks bottom of the league. Sunday, they were able to make the contested catches and keep the chains moving. Also, the Ravens wanted to exploit the Chargers secondary with speed and route running abilities from both Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham Jr. Zay Flowers was the big story for the Ravens on offense Sunday night with his 2 touchdowns. Rashod Bateman made a crucial contested catch that kept a drive alive early in the game. Nelson Agholor had a big gain of 21 yards. These receivers really took advantage of this bad Chargers secondary. Did a great job of it as well.
Tight End: A
Isiah Likely, Isaiah Likely, and more Isaiah Likely! Need I say more? Likely on Sunday led the Ravens in receiving with 40 yards. It might not seem like a lot of yards, but he showed the can pick up the slack with Mark Andrews being out for the rest of the season. Likely made defenders miss and was able to simply find the soft spot in Chargers defense making 4 catches. Likely is going to have to build off this for the rest of the season to gain Lamar trust to get him the ball. Isiah Likely didn’t need to be Mark Andrews but he sure did make an impact early against the Chargers catching the football. Also, his ability to break tackles and maneuver in traffic to get first downs and get extra yardage when needed.
