The Good: Two weeks in a row the Ravdns beat two inferior teams by a margin two touchdowns or more. The offense and defense have room to improve but seem to show the killer instinct to close out games when they have the lead, something no Ravens team has had for a long time. The offense isn't as explosive as we wouldn't like but it is efficient at moving the chains and chewing up game clock.
More specifically , I like all of our running backs. Idk if one has the total package to be the bonefide "starter" or number 1 back but they have different styles and strengths and compliment each other well, and make defenses have to prepare for each one. There's a certain unpredictability to our rushing attack, and the added bonus of Max Williams and Campanaro having some carries is also intriguing.
The Good and Bad: Only time will tell with our receivers. Maclin looks as promised and already getting in sync with Flacco, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that Maclin more consistently wins at the LOS and is better at getting open. Other than completions to running backs, I think all of Flaccos completions went to Watson and Maclin, with maybe a couple more to Williams and I can't remember if Wallace maybe had one. Wallace and Flacco clearly aren't on the same page anymore, and Perriman almost looks like he's regressed.
But I'm willing to give a little time to this unit, as they've all missed time with Flacco, and Perriman missed time as well. Hopefully he security blanket of Watson with Maclin playing well and all of our running backs playing a role in the passing game will give the passing game time to get in sync and more fully incorporate all of its components. But if we don't see progress by mid season, I'll be calling people out. Regardless, Id like to see Camp play some more.
The secondary and our pass rush is hard to grade. On one hand they gave up some huge plays and at times gave the Browns Qbs lots of time to throw. On the other hand on numerous plays they sacked and hit the quarterback while also coming up with five turnovers. So.... idk? There's good and bad, but I'm willing to be an optimist and say if they work on what went wrong this defense will only get better, which is a funny thing to say about a defense that's already setting records.
The Bad: The only bad things yesterday were the interception and fumble. The interception was a miscommunication between Wallace and Flacco as Wallace stopped when Flacco didn't think he should. Flacco made some post game comments about thinking they had the look they wanted but that he was also being a little too aggressive... not sure if that means it was his fault or if he was just not trying to pin the blame on Mike. The fumble was just bad, no excuse for it. Collins did have an impressive 6.0 average YPC but he'll need to hold on to the ball if he wants to continue to flash his very aggressive and effective running game.
The ugly: Injuries. Count me as one of the few who wonder if paying Brandon Williams was worth it. Not because he's a bad player but because we needed offensive lineman more in my opinion. But this stems back to my completely different view about how the team should be built that just isn't something Ozzie will ever do. Anyways, it's clear that while the line finished with a good performance, we will need to add at least some depth on the next week to our offensive line, or maybe even trade for an upgrade to start immediately. We might be able to overcome the injury to Yanda but it's a major blow, and while I don't think it'll cost us our playoff chances, I think it does hurt the idea of us being true Super Bowl contenders. Some have hinted to the idea that Yanda could return for the playoffs, but I haven't read anything to convince me that it's a real possibility vs a grasping at a glimmer of hope.
I thought this game would be closer, so I guess I have to say I'm a little impressed, but also the Browns Qb play did help us out a lot. I still believe this is a 10-6 football team, 9-7 being the bottom and 11-5 being our ceiling. The next three weeks honestly will bring more clarity. Traveling to London to come back against the Steelers will be tough, and the Raiders the following week at their home turf. My gut feeling is we will beat the Jags, but I don't see us winning against Oakland. The Steelers game is a toss up because we are at home but I never underestimate the Steelers.
The Steelers game and even the Jags game to a lesser extent will be good tests to gauge the progress of the offense, and the Oakland game might be the toughest test our defense gets all year. If we head into Oakland at 4-0 and drop a game to Oakland but have a strong showing, I'll be swayed into raising this teams ceiling perhaps.
