The Pittsburgh Steelers are on a nice little two-game run, but what about the Baltimore Ravens? While both teams are 5-2 in the AFC North, most view Baltimore as one of the league’s elite teams. The Ravens once again boast the game’s most prolific offense, ranking first in numerous categories. How does one stop them now that they are on a role?
“I wish I had the magic formula to figure out how to slow down the Baltimore Ravens”, NFL analyst Bucky Brooks said. Every defensive coordinator, he believes, emphasizes stopping the run and Derrick Henry, but there’s a problem with that. You can’t just make the Ravens one-dimensional anymore because they can throw the ball.
“Lamar Jackson is so much better against the blitz than he’s ever been”, Brooks said of the Ravens’ quarterback. “He’s punishing defenses for blitzing at him. He’s hitting the open guys. The best thing that you can hope? Stop the run on early downs, play zone coverage on later downs, and hope that you can test his patience and discipline”.
Through seven games, Jackson is 135-of-198 passing for 1,810 yards with 15 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. He leads the NFL with a 118 passer rating and seems well on his way to repeat as league MVP. Meanwhile, the Ravens now have a running back in Henry who is threatening to break the NFL single-season rushing record.
Even if you manage to stop the run, and limit Jackson to throwing, you still can’t faze the Ravens. Brooks points out Jackson’s elite maneuverability and scrambling, and he is seeing the field better than ever.
“He’s going to extend drives by scrambling for those. It’s really a hope-and-pray strategy that you have to take against the Baltimore Ravens because Lamar Jackson is playing that great right now”, he said. “He may win an MVP in back-to-back years because he’s so much better than he was last year. That, I think, its scary for opponents facing them down the stretch”.
The Ravens surprisingly dropped their first two games of the season, albeit the first one to the Kansas City Chiefs. After an upset loss in Baltimore to the Las Vegas Raiders, they are now on a five-game run. They have scored over 30 points in each of their last four games, topping 40 twice along the way.
Through seven games, the Ravens have scored 218 points, 31.1 per game. They already have 3,230 yards, including 1,476 rushing, both the most in the NFL. And despite ranking 26th in pass attempts, they rank fifth in passing yards with 1,754, plus fifth in touchdowns.
Even though they still run more than they pass, this is the most balanced offense the Ravens have had in the Lamar Jackson era. He is throwing for 260 yards per game and is on pace for 4,396 this season. He would also tie a career high with 36 passing touchdowns, which he hit as the unanimous league MVP in 2019.
