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Article What Dominant Defense? The Offense Steals the Show

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
For the fans that got to go to the Baltimore Ravens home opener against the Cleveland Browns, those fans were treated to a dominant 24-10 win where both sides of the ball played exceptionally well to carry the game.

Defensively, this game may have left fans with mixed feelings. The Browns led by both Deshone Kizer and Kevin Hogan chunked out the Ravens vaunted defense for 134 yards on four passing plays, including a touchdown drive led by Hogan in which he found Seth DeValve for 49 yards and later found David Njoku for a 23 yard touchdown in the back corner of the end zone. Take away those four long chunk plays, though, and the Ravens seceded just 250 yards across 62 plays. They would combine to sack the Browns three times, add three more tackles for loss, and grab another five turnovers, including four interceptions.

Yet again, turnovers continue to be the saving grace of the defense. Every time that someone wants to break out the pitchforks for Dean Pees or talk about the defense being a fluke, they come out and grab a major turnover that shows that this defense may allow a play here and there to be completed, but when it matters most, they will tighten up and steal the ball away for their offense. Does it take away from the miscues of a wide open DeValve or Njoku when Hogan came into quarterback the Browns? No, of course not, but what it does show is that mistakes like that will not continue to be the bane of the Ravens like in 2016 and that the Ravens have areas to get even better at with a little work. Let that sink in- this defense, which has forced 10 turnovers and allowed 10 points across two games, can get even better when the communication tightens up. That is truly frightening.

However, for as good as the defense was and continues to be, it was the offense that stole the show. Not because it was a dominant force in the same light as the defense, but rather because the expectations were so incredibly low, yet were so incredibly exceeded.

Joe Flacco had not taken a single snap all preseason or training camp and Benjamin Watson had never caught a pass as a Raven. Sounds like a recipe for success, right? Actually, it really was. Watson caught all eight of his targets for 91 yards and accumulated 40 yards after the catch. He was even dominant as a run blocker en route to 130 rushing yards on 29 carries by the running backs. It was like the fountain of youth had been unearthed. Any time the Ravens needed a big first down, Watson just said, “Give me the ball.”

Jeremy Maclin showed why he was a prized grab for the Ravens in free agency. I was initially skeptical of the signing of Maclin over Eric Decker due to the different dynamic that Decker would bring, but count me amongst those firmly in the camp of Maclin. He showed off incredible quickness and the ability to win at the line of scrimmage. With just five seconds left, Flacco was able to roll out to his right and deliver a quick strike to Maclin for a two-yard touchdown. This touchdown was only possible because Maclin was able to squarely beat his man off the line of scrimmage with quickness to release into his route in a way that Flacco had not had in his career ever.

Speaking of Joe Flacco, though, this was the game that many wanted to see to show that the quarterback was officially back. With Flacco manning the helm, the Ravens just looked efficient. The Ravens would lead four scoring drives in total with three touchdowns, but that does not tell the entire story. In the past, the Ravens would not have been able to score with just 19 seconds left on the clock before the half. In the past, Flacco probably never touches an adjusted completion percentage of 81%, if you take out the Breshad Perriman drops. In the past, Flacco probably does not make the same checks and adjustments to convert many first downs and keep the Ravens driving with well placed passes to his backs and tight ends in places where they could pick up easy yards after the catch. The offense stole the show from the defense because Flacco looked damn efficient in just his second real action of the season.

Was it all perfect? No, it was not, and there is plenty of room to improve. Flacco tried to find Mike Wallace deep and was intercepted on what appeared to be a play where Wallace pulled up early, possibly due to the sun being in his eyes. Or it could have been a miscommunication due to missed time between the two players. Flacco only found his receivers for five of his 25 completions on the day and did not always look comfortable throwing to Perriman. Alex Collins ran incredibly hard and ran with patience and vision that West and Allen did not show, but he fumbled the ball in Browns territory on what looked like it would be another touchdown drive. However, for all the issues that we saw today with the offense, they can also improve and get even better when Flacco has more time to adjust. Let that sink in because an already efficient offense can get even more efficient.

When all things come together for the Baltimore Ravens, this team may truly be scary. The team has a lot of room to improve together, but already looks incredibly strong. At this point, the sky is the limit if the offense keeps stealing the show.
 

Dom McRaven

Hall of Famer
Great post. As far as the offense is concerned, if the o-line can get it together, I believe we will see glimpses here and there of Playoff Joe in the regular season. With Yanda out, this makes this goal a lot more tougher to achieve, but I will not throw the white flag this early in the season. Perriman's continued struggles are why I'm so glad we signed Maclin because we'd be in trouble. If only Maxx was a little bit faster because that boy has some grown-man strength.

When it comes to the defense, @29BmoreBird22 , could you imagine what this secondary would look like with a healthy Tavon Young and Jaylen Hill along with Jimmy and Humphrey? I don't think either Tavon or Hill would've allowed as many completions as Webb did this afternoon. The lapses in coverage definitely had me scratching my head, but I'm really ecstatic that our defense seems to force turnovers in critical moments. That's an ingredient of championship football.
 

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
Great post. As far as the offense is concerned, if the o-line can get it together, I believe we will see glimpses here and there of Playoff Joe in the regular season. With Yanda out, this makes this goal a lot more tougher to achieve, but I will not throw the white flag this early in the season. Perriman's continued struggles are why I'm so glad we signed Maclin because we'd be in trouble. If only Maxx was a little bit faster because that boy has some grown-man strength.

When it comes to the defense, @29BmoreBird22 , could you imagine what this secondary would look like with a healthy Tavon Young and Jaylen Hill along with Jimmy and Humphrey? I don't think either Tavon or Hill would've allowed as many completions as Webb did this afternoon. The lapses in coverage definitely had me scratching my head, but I'm really ecstatic that our defense seems to force turnovers in critical moments. That's an ingredient of championship football.
I had really high hopes for Perriman, so to see him just flat out drop some of his easy completions makes me extremely sad. I really did like him coming out of UCF after I did my homework and I thought he could get past his drop issues. And yeah, Maxx is an animal. He and Watson both are providing excellent YAC. At this point, it might just be a case of getting it into their hands in space and letting them do the work.

I am so disheartened about Young because while I felt he was being a tad overrated on here (some of the hype was way over the top), he's still a really great corner and would have been one of the top slot corners in the NFL, I think. I will say, though- don't sleep on Brandon Carr. Today was a really, really good game from him. He got tested a lot and he only allowed three catches and had that huge interception. He's paying big dividends so far as a steady force for a secondary that lacked consistency.
 

Dom McRaven

Hall of Famer
I had really high hopes for Perriman, so to see him just flat out drop some of his easy completions makes me extremely sad. I really did like him coming out of UCF after I did my homework and I thought he could get past his drop issues. And yeah, Maxx is an animal. He and Watson both are providing excellent YAC. At this point, it might just be a case of getting it into their hands in space and letting them do the work.

I am so disheartened about Young because while I felt he was being a tad overrated on here (some of the hype was way over the top), he's still a really great corner and would have been one of the top slot corners in the NFL, I think. I will say, though- don't sleep on Brandon Carr. Today was a really, really good game from him. He got tested a lot and he only allowed three catches and had that huge interception. He's paying big dividends so far as a steady force for a secondary that lacked consistency.

You would think someone as slow as Maxx shouldn't be getting all of the YAC that he has so far, but wow he's impressing with that. Safe to say that both Perriman and Maxx have a lot to prove this season.

I'm not sleeping on Carr, but I am being cautiously optimistic about him. I remember the commentators mentioning that Carr absolutely loves being here because of our tradition on defense and how we wanted to be part of that. That's always great to hear when free agents want to play for the team because how much they respect the organization. However, the absolute last thing I want is him to be 2016 shareece wright 2.0.
 

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
You would think someone as slow as Maxx shouldn't be getting all of the YAC that he has so far, but wow he's impressing with that. Safe to say that both Perriman and Maxx have a lot to prove this season.

I'm not sleeping on Carr, but I am being cautiously optimistic about him. I remember the commentators mentioning that Carr absolutely loves being here because of our tradition on defense and how we wanted to be part of that. That's always great to hear when free agents want to play for the team because how much they respect the organization. However, the absolute last thing I want is him to be 2016 shareece wright 2.0.
He seems to be surprisingly nimble. I think coming out, one of his big plusses was that he was deceptively athletic and was a good seam threat, so he's got a little wiggle and a little burst to his game. I think we're more likely to see Maxx prove his worth at this point than Perriman. Maxx has always had all the potential in the world if he could just stay on the field. Perriman just is not getting those hands or routes down.

I don't think he'll be Wright 2.0. They're games seem to be incredibly different and Carr has a game that I think really compliments what the Ravens want to do.
 

Oldfaithful

Hall of Famer
Good article my man.

I have to agree. We have some toys to play with on the offense. Truth be told, next offseason if we can fix the line and stay relatively healthy, we're gonna be a hard team to beat.

Might be a theme later for article of mine.... .
 

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
Good article my man.

I have to agree. We have some toys to play with on the offense. Truth be told, next offseason if we can fix the line and stay relatively healthy, we're gonna be a hard team to beat.

Might be a theme later for article of mine.... .
The health of this team is just... unbelievable, to say the least. Right now, it's 15 players on IR and if I'm counting correctly, it's three starters, a player who was going to start with the injury to Young, the third down back. The injury number is a bit overblown with 15, but the Ravens really are feeling it with some major key contributors going down.
 

Oldfaithful

Hall of Famer
The health of this team is just... unbelievable, to say the least. Right now, it's 15 players on IR and if I'm counting correctly, it's three starters, a player who was going to start with the injury to Young, the third down back. The injury number is a bit overblown with 15, but the Ravens really are feeling it with some major key contributors going down.

I have to agree. But if you look at the next offseason for us. We have only two FA's that I'd consider to be potentially big. Jensen and Wallace. Both shouldn't be too expensive, and if we can work some cap magic, we could retool the offense and potentially add another key player on defense.

I criticize the plan, but if Flacco ends the season healthy(*knock on wood*), then we will have put ourselves in a fantastic position to succeed.

I like our toys too. Maclin is a beast on intermediate stuff. Perriman and Wallace will get their touches the more comfortable Joe gets imo. If the oline can hold up in pass pro in Yanda's absence(big if) then we should have a decent passing offense which will keep us in games.

Defense played well today. Gave up big chunks of yardage at times? Sure. But we gave up 10 points and had 5 turnovers. "But creating turnovers covers some ills". No, creating turnovers makes the ills irrelevant and everyone's life easier on the team. Sorry. 5 turnovers is a dominant performance.

But overall I agree. Offense played really well today. We have three backs I like(four when Woodhead comes back), 3 good TEs, and WR corps with a lot of talent. We're literally a great offensive line away from having a top 10 offense. So there's a lot to be excited for in the future... If we can somehow stay healthy(*knock on wood*)
 

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
I have to agree. But if you look at the next offseason for us. We have only two FA's that I'd consider to be potentially big. Jensen and Wallace. Both shouldn't be too expensive, and if we can work some cap magic, we could retool the offense and potentially add another key player on defense.

I criticize the plan, but if Flacco ends the season healthy(*knock on wood*), then we will have put ourselves in a fantastic position to succeed.

I like our toys too. Maclin is a beast on intermediate stuff. Perriman and Wallace will get their touches the more comfortable Joe gets imo. If the oline can hold up in pass pro in Yanda's absence(big if) then we should have a decent passing offense which will keep us in games.

Defense played well today. Gave up big chunks of yardage at times? Sure. But we gave up 10 points and had 5 turnovers. "But creating turnovers covers some ills". No, creating turnovers makes the ills irrelevant and everyone's life easier on the team. Sorry. 5 turnovers is a dominant performance.

But overall I agree. Offense played really well today. We have three backs I like(four when Woodhead comes back), 3 good TEs, and WR corps with a lot of talent. We're literally a great offensive line away from having a top 10 offense. So there's a lot to be excited for in the future... If we can somehow stay healthy(*knock on wood*)
I think what made me most excited about the future is that Joe played really well today. Sure, he didn't test the waters deep too often and generally kept it short, but he put the ball in good spots for YAC and found the open man to keep drives going.

Had this been the offense last year, I would see no reason to be optimistic because Joe was playing so poorly. But this was a damn good game from Joe and one of the best I have seen in a very long time.
 

Oldfaithful

Hall of Famer
I think what made me most excited about the future is that Joe played really well today. Sure, he didn't test the waters deep too often and generally kept it short, but he put the ball in good spots for YAC and found the open man to keep drives going.

Had this been the offense last year, I would see no reason to be optimistic because Joe was playing so poorly. But this was a damn good game from Joe and one of the best I have seen in a very long time.
Yeah. Flacco played well vs. Miami and Pittsburgh last year but that's about it IIRC. Flacco looked sharp today. He's also been holding himself accountable and putting in work, and it shows.

We have a limited window with him though. But Ozzie's put us in the position to have a Broncos 2014 offseason. Which is what we need.
 

Sooky

Pro Bowler
Yeah. Flacco played well vs. Miami and Pittsburgh last year but that's about it IIRC. Flacco looked sharp today. He's also been holding himself accountable and putting in work, and it shows.

We have a limited window with him though. But Ozzie's put us in the position to have a Broncos 2014 offseason. Which is what we need.
I think you can definitely see Flacco finally getting comfortable with Marty's scheme. Even with his set back he looks ahead of last season. As long as there is a run game this offense will continue to soar.
 

Dom McRaven

Hall of Famer
He seems to be surprisingly nimble. I think coming out, one of his big plusses was that he was deceptively athletic and was a good seam threat, so he's got a little wiggle and a little burst to his game. I think we're more likely to see Maxx prove his worth at this point than Perriman. Maxx has always had all the potential in the world if he could just stay on the field. Perriman just is not getting those hands or routes down.

I don't think he'll be Wright 2.0. They're games seem to be incredibly different and Carr has a game that I think really compliments what the Ravens want to do.

If Perriman doesn't get it together by the end of the season, I'm done with him.

Given your expertise on things related to the secondary and the fact that I watched very little of Carr before his arrival here, I'll take your word for it.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
i will say this - i actually posted something longer before the boards went down briefly earlier but i cant remember the specifics - but i think a lot of the large chunk plays can be attributed to luck from a load of backups and nothing was happening on offence until hogan, devalve, higgins and duke johnson came in - there was at least one major chunk play that came off a bad throw where the ball went to the wrong guy in the only place where he could have caught it and he made a wonder grab - testament to how dominant the defence is that after a few lapses they showed hogan up for what he is which is a poor attempt at a backup qb and while they gave up 10 points they also gave the offence a gilt edged chance to score a last second touchdown (which they did) off the bowser pick
 

29BmoreBird22

Staff Member
Moderator
Writer
If Perriman doesn't get it together by the end of the season, I'm done with him.

Given your expertise on things related to the secondary and the fact that I watched very little of Carr before his arrival here, I'll take your word for it.
I think what I'm most excited for with Carr is the dude just does not miss games. He's an iron man in a secondary that sorely lacks that.
 

redrum52

Hall of Famer
Good piece. Said it from week one, Flacco has played pretty well all things considered. Didn't like the pic against the Browns, but he looks sharp and is making good reads. Playcalling seems much improved and we seem to be getting late 16 season Flacco with none of that early crap play. If we can maintain this and maybe unearth a gem on the OL, Ravens have a shot to make noise this year. I will also bet this is no tthe final OL we see later in the year and I don't mean because of injuries.

OH yea... The defense. Watching them for years, for whatever reason they usually amp up after the self scouting phase which often takes place during the bye. They will tighten up if they stay healthy. Timmy will also earn his keep as the season develops.
 
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