A win is a win, just not sold on this team quite yet, and I don't think anyone should be. We have yet to beat a good team and have even looked sloppy against worse teams including today honestly.
First play of game. When you have the best kicker in football why on Earth would you kick it short when Tuck is good for a touchback every kickoff? That looked like a designed special teams play to try and pin the Bengals deep that obviously failed miserably. Sloppy, and embarrassing. Other than that it looked like our long snapper had trouble with a few low snaps/bad snaps and caused for a visably upset Sam Koch. Nothing overly concerning here but still a sloppy performance on special teams.
On offense the Ravens can really run the ball, but we know that already. Lamar Jackson is a stallion who runs all over everyone with some of the best most enjoyable jukes ever and manages to take hits/get tackled really well, which kind of sounds stupid but he hasn't had a hit shake him up yet and hopefully never and that's important. We have a deep RB group who should remain firmly in the top 5 overall this year and probably moreso top 3 as much as Lamar runs. Rushing game is not a problem.
The passing game still has yet to prove themselves which to me is a huge concern so far this season. Mark Andrews is awesome, Miles Boykin looks like he has big potential, but we still clearly lack a dominant WR who can play consistently and make things a little easier for Lamar. We will NEVER make a significant playoff push when we are not prepared to throw the ball. Another game another couple ugly throws by Lamar to absolutely wide open receivers, can't get more open than that. Lamar is still developing I get that, but we are for better or worse looking a lot like the same offense as last year. We can run on teams all day but when it comes down to crunchtime can we really make plays through the air? That has yet to be proven, and with a tough schedule ahead vs the Seahawks, than against the Pats, Texans, and Rams right after the bye.
I'm all for just running rabid all the way to the super bowl but it won't work like that, we found that out the hard way last year against the Chargers. I hope Lamar can continue to grow as a passer but I don't see him taking much more of a leap forward this year. All I truly wish is to see us pass the ball better, design better plays/more deep shots, and spread the ball around the field more not just to TEs and checkdowns.
Someone mentioned Lamar had a record day? Must have missed it. Was it the fastest QB to 1000 career yards? I know his rushing stats 150 today was only good for 3rd best by a QB. Either way he may not be a great passer but his running and jukes are fun to watch.
Lastly on offense Bozeman had way too many penalties and it begs to question whether we might make a change there.
On defense we played good enough to keep a winless and tanking team from getting the upset. Just looked like the Bengals were intentionally throwing short out routes and not really trying at all. Nice tipped int by Marlon Humphrey.
Overall this win was about as satisfying as last week's win against Pitt. Just nothing to take away from this game that we don't already know. Running game is stacked, I was hoping we would get our passing game back on track but still shaky in that area but didn't need too pass with the run not being stopped. Defense is good but is leaky. And we have the best kicker in the league.
On to Seattle who won a close game against the Browns earlier.
As sloppy as we look so far this season, we are 4-2 in a season where there is room near the top of the AFC next to the Pats, Chiefs, and Texans.