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.
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.