The Baltimore Ravens completely dominated the Miami Dolphins in a record-setting showing. Take that for what it’s worth. They put up 59 points against 10, the most they have ever scored in franchise history, and the most that any team has ever scored on opening weekend.
Lamar Jackson threw six touchdown passes during his rookie season last year. He threw five yesterday, and Robert Griffin III came in and threw another. Free agent running back Mark Ingram contributed another two touchdowns of his own on the ground.
Oh, and first-round pick Marquise Brown sure looked plenty healthy. He caught four passes for 147 yards and two long touchdowns, the longest going for 83 yards, and the first for 47. His other two receptions were short, but he did what he was brought in to do. It was the most yards by a Ravens player in his debut in NFL history, and he was just the first player in NFL history to record touchdowns on his first two catches.
It seems as though things could hardly be going better for the Ravens right now, who already stand alone atop the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns, and the Cincinnati Bengals all falling to their respective opponents—and only the Bengals were able to make it respectable by the end.
But as we should all know by now, the first week of the season is a perennial misnomer. The Ravens got off to a great start in 2018, going 3-1 before going 1-4 in their next four games before Joe Flacco was injured and they swapped in Jackson.
Jackson, by the way, only carried the ball three times for six yards. He attempted just 20 passes, completed 17 for 324 yards. He only broke the 200-yard mark once in his seven starts during the 2018 season through the air. He posted a perfect passer rating.
While Brown had the big day, fellow rookie wide receiver Miles Boykin also had a touchdown for five yards, his only reception, and only target, on the day. Second-year tight end Mark Andrews topped 100 yards on eight receptions and a touchdown of his own.
Even the special teams was on point, the Ravens running a fake punt while already up four scores, with Anthony Levine taking the ball 60 yards. Justin Tucker made all of his kicks, and Sam Koch punted just once, a 56-yarder inside the 20 with no return.
While it is going to be skewed because of the blowout, Baltimore did rush 46 times in the game. Gus Edwards had 17, Ingram 14, with rookie Justice Hill getting seven of his own. They said in the offseason that they were going to run the ball. At least so far, they’re showing just that, about two thirds of the time.
