I might have more thoughts later, but Orr is just not it. He reminds me way too much of Martindale with his inability to actually scheme pressure, but he'll sure as hell send the house and you bet your ass it'll be stonewalled.
I was highly critical of Madubuike as a player to re-sign in the offseason. I would have felt way better having him play on the tag. I understand that wasn't feasible from a cap standpoint, but he's not living up to that contract so far.
It's tough because the Ravens have hamstrung themselves with some rough contracts that aren't playing up to their potential. Madubuike is playing well below his contract, Roquan has looked the worst he has as a Raven, and Marcus Williams is benched. The sad thing is, this probably means the Ravens will make a trade for a defensive player or invest more heavily in the defense in the offseason.
That's a real shame because the offensive line was absolute cheeks today and might require an entire overhaul in the offseason, especially if Stanley walks. Fun...
But back to the defense for a second. It is an absolutely awful look for Ojabo to be a healthy scratch. Jeff Z speculated that it was because the Ravens were down an IDL and they needed another IDL, run stuffer. My issue here is that Ngakoue was active. He offers NOTHING as a run defender. He was recently signed off the practice squad after being an in season, off the streets signing. That's really embarrassing that Ojabo was inactive ahead of Ngakoue.
But back to the offense for a moment. I ALMOST felt like I was wrong about Bateman. I felt that the Ravens were using him in a way that suited him better lately and it seemed to be paying off. And then Bateman goes out and has this game and I'm reminded that no, he's a JAG. Always has been.