I was really impressed with Lamar to start the game. I think things kind of got away from him for a bit, but that's to be expected when the pocket was getting destroyed as hard as it was. In the Super Bowl, Mahomes was pressured on about 53% of his drop backs and the narrative was that the offensive line cost them the game and Mahomes shouldn't shoulder blame for what the offensive line did. Lamar is pressured on 55% of his drop backs and the narrative is, "Lul, running back." Of course, double standards and all, but it's frustrating.
I will say, I'm cautiously optimistic that the offensive line can figure it out. I actually think the interior offensive line, including Zeitler, were individually fine. I don't think they were great or showing 2019 levels of play, but they were far from the issue. And I can forgive Stanley given this was his first game in like 10 months. My hope is very much that the Ravens will keep their average interior play, Stanley gets healthy, and then the Ravens figure out how to cover up for Villaneuva because unfortunately, that's your guy for the rest of the season, in all likelihood. I do think if Nick Boyle is healthy, the Ravens probably just insert him right next to Villa for most of the game, but unfortunately, he wasn't, and won't be for a bit, so it's likely going to be very rough for a couple of weeks until Boyle gets healthy.
I've seen a lot of people talk about how Ty'son played really well and why wasn't he in more? Two things- 1. I'm not sure the Ravens trusted him with the RPO offense. I believe the one fumble Lamar had was at the mesh point with Williams in (could be wrong). Ty'son very likely did not work with Lamar much, if at all, during the offseason, so it's understandable that they'll need time to work out the kinks of the RPO. 2. Ty'son was a very big reason for both Lamar strip sacks as he missed both blocks. So far, he's straight ass as a pass blocker. I don't know that Murray is great, but I do think he was at least better than Ty'son. I would imagine the Ravens view Bell as the answer to their pass blocking woes in the backfield. Historically, Bell has been a good pass blocker, but he was really bad on the Chiefs. Was that an effort thing because he was unhappy with his role? Did he just give up? Is he washed? I don't know. Most Jets fans think he looked good given the circumstances, so maybe the Chiefs were a fluke? Let's hope so.
I want to preface this next part by saying two things. 1. The Ravens lost Marcus Peters on Thursday. I believe the Ravens traveled on Saturday or Sunday, so that means the Ravens likely did one last full walk through on Friday/Saturday. The Ravens could not have changed up the defense for week one on such short notice. Unfortunately, the defense the Ravens had planned was contingent on a healthy duo of Peters and Humphrey and when one went down, that was just really tough luck. 2. It's really hard to make adjustments on the fly. Peyton talked about this on the ESPN2 cast, but you work all week on a game plan for a game and you draw up your set plays and what you're going to call situationally. It's not easy to make "halftime adjustments." You have 15 minutes to make changes at halftime. You really think coaches can work through 30 minutes of game time and relay the necessary changes to their players in 15 minutes? Don't expect wholesale changes mid game. Tweaks, sure. But what you practiced all week is what you're going to get. Again, very unfortunate because the defense was game planned based on the thought that Marcus Peters would be healthy.
With all of that said, the defense was straight ass. I really had high hopes for Tavon, but it seems three season ending injuries really took their toll. And to be fair to Young, if we're going to give Stanley a pass, Tavon should get a bit of one, too, but the Ravens were down Peters and Jimmy already; they really needed Tavon to step up big and he just straight did not. That was rough.
The pass rush is still such a mega concern. It's frustrating to see the Ravens pour an abundance of resources into bloated contracts or high picks for the defense only for it to come up so short so consistently. Send a full house blitz? Rush four? Anything in between? It felt like the Ravens could simply not get home. The sack that Oweh got (very excited about him) was purely a coverage sack. Don't get me wrong- Oweh showed an absurdly high motor and speed to get to Carr on the play, but that sack wasn't the Ravens pass rush being good- it was the coverage holding up so well. The kryptonite for the offense was the offensive line, obviously. The defense has the pass rush. Those are two hugely important areas that the Ravens need to figure out if they're going to do anything of note this season. The Ravens very well could be 0-2 on Monday and given the back half of the schedule, the Ravens don't have an abundance of time to get things figured out.
One thing I haven't seen talked about, but with 8:30 to go in the first half, Carr had 17 net passing yards on four drives. The Ravens subsequently allowed 10 points on two drives and Carr finished those two drives with 97 net passing yards. He easily goes over 100 and it's 14 points if Tavon Young doesn't PI the wide receiver, but I do think that was the right play, so no complaints there.
However, what really bothers me is the fact that the Ravens allowed 17 points on three drives in the fourth quarter, including allowing the Raiders to get 40 yards in two plays over the course of 30 seconds in the fourth. There's 37 seconds left and the Raiders have zero timeouts. How many teams would feel uncomfortable given those circumstances? Even though the Raiders had carved up the Ravens on the prior two drives, I still felt good. Of course, the Raiders hit two massive throws over the middle and kicked the 55 yard field goal. It just capped a horrendous fourth quarter for the Ravens. And let's be real- had Stephens not made a miracle tackle, it would have been 24 points on four drives to close out the game for the Ravens. I'm just baffled at how bad the Ravens situational defense was this game. First and third quarter? Great. Half and game coming to a close? Absolute choke job. I mean, seriously- Carr had almost 300 passing yards in the second half/OT. That's INSANE.
Everyone knows I love me some Marlon Humphrey. I stanned for him before anyone else on this forum. He was my 2017 draft crush. However, everyone clowned Earl Thomas for giving up on the Nick Chubb touchdown run when Thomas really had no chance of catching Chubb. Marlon straight gave up on that play and he likely could have made a play had he given it full effort. That's inexcusable to me given the circumstances. I get he was likely tired and he had some cramps earlier, but that's game on the line OT football and he just straight up let the play go. Marlon is a world class athlete and a near Olympic level sprinter- he could have potentially made a play on that throw.
On the bright side, I think Lamar looked markedly improved. Sammy Watkins and Hollywood Brown, while not Deandre Hopkins or Devante Adams, looked like starting caliber wide receivers. Patrick Queen seems to be playing faster and looser. He's still not amazing, but things are starting to click for him. Anthony Averrett really surprised me. He didn't really stand out in a massive positive or negative way for me, but that's a definite improvement in my book.
This really was a game the Ravens should have won, but they didn't and it really may come back to haunt the Ravens. What should have been, in my opinion, a 3-1 start to the season to set the Ravens up for a brutal schedule on the back half is now looking very murky.
