ExtremeRavens Posted September 6 Posted September 6 The Ravens fell a fraction of an inch short of a game-tying touchdown when replays showed that tight end Isaiah Likely’s toe landed out of bounds on the last play of an opening 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are five things we learned from a thrilling rematch of last year’s AFC championship game: The Ravens remain the little brother in the AFC’s top rivalry — but only by a little Finally, Lamar Jackson had his chance to one-up Patrick Mahomes, the current standard by which quarterback greatness is measured. Mahomes had seemingly thrown the game’s decisive pass earlier in the fourth quarter when he took advantage of a blown coverage to put the Chiefs up 27-17. But Jackson had rallied the Ravens, leading one scoring drive with legs that never stopped whirring and then carrying his team to the cusp of a tying or winning touchdown. On first down, Jackson saw Likely flash open in the corner of the end zone but overshot him badly enough that Likely crashed awkwardly to the ground, clutching his side in agony. On second down, Jackson bought enough time to see wide receiver Zay Flowers uncovered in the middle of the end zone but fired wide of his target. On his third and final shot, he again went high to Likely, who caught the ball but landed with the tip of his toe brushing the white of the back line. By that tiniest of margins, Jackson and the Ravens fell short — for the fifth time in six tries — of potentially besting the one AFC power they cannot conquer. Does that mean they never will? Or did the Ravens give us reason to believe they could turn the tide if these foes meet again in January, with higher stakes at play? No player will have more to say about that than Jackson, and he did not play as tentatively Thursday as he had in the 17-10 playoff loss eight months earlier. With the slimmer physique he chiseled over a long offseason, the game’s greatest running quarterback sprinted and spun his way to 122 rushing yards. He improvised brilliant throws in the clutch before his radar failed him on those last three. The reigning NFL Most Valuable Player was imperfect but undeniably brilliant. Brilliant enough to beat Mahomes with everything on the line? Well, that’s the steepest mountain for anyone in the NFL to scale, and Jackson still has to prove he can do it. Elsewhere, we saw plenty of reasons for concern and plenty for excitement as we contemplate the path ahead for the 2024 Ravens. Likely’s emergence and Rashod Bateman’s bounding 38-yard catch to set up the last touchdown shot demonstrated that Jackson really can look beyond Flowers and Mark Andrews in tight spots. The Ravens did not abandon the run this time around, rolling up 185 yards (to 72 for Kansas City) on 32 attempts. On the other hand, the league’s top scoring defense from last season looked discombobulated in coverage — a death knell against the great Mahomes. The Ravens’ lightly tested offensive line did not give Jackson enough time to work in the first half and hamstrung him with penalty after penalty. In the end, the Chiefs undercut themselves a little less and retained the upper hand over one of the few teams with the talent to upend their quest for a Super Bowl repeat. Even if the Ravens had won, we would have said their defining test will not come until January. The same is true after a sloppy, spirited loss. The Chiefs remain their target, and they have five months to take the necessary strides. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, left, did not look very comfortable behind the revamped offensive line Thursday night. (Ed Zurga/AP) The Ravens’ big offensive line risk looks … risky We spent the past four months debating general manager Eric DeCosta’s grand gamble — three starting offensive linemen out, including stalwarts Kevin Zeitler and Morgan Moses, replaced by players with precious little experience. DeCosta recently called the overhaul a necessary response to salary cap constraints created by Jackson’s five-year, $260 million extension, but he and Harbaugh both acknowledged the growing pains we might see early this season. Kansas City’s All-Pro defensive tackle, Chris Jones, made sure we did not have to wait. Jones beat Daniel Faalele, starting at the right guard position he just began learning in the spring, to pressure Jackson on the Ravens’ first drive. On the first drive of the second quarter, Jones tossed rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten aside and fired past Faalele to strip Jackson, handing Mahomes a short field. Jackson could not look downfield, because he rarely had more than two seconds before a red jersey invaded his personal space. When the Ravens got moving late in the third quarter, a hold by Tyler Linderbaum on Jones wiped out a 29-yard run by Jackson that would have put them on the Kansas City 13-yard line. Jones wasn’t the Ravens’ only enemy. They struggled just as acutely with game officials intent on keeping blockers from cheating a step behind the line of scrimmage. Tackles Ronnie Stanley and Patrick Mekari were called for lining up in the backfield three times on the game’s first drive. The last of those wiped out a long pass interference penalty. Stanley was flagged for illegal formation again with the Ravens driving late in the second quarter. Coach John Harbaugh’s exasperated countenance spoke to the fact that this new rules emphasis seemed to flow only one way. Stanley said he felt the officials were trying to make an example of him. “I’m looking at [Kansas City’s] tackles, especially the right side, and I know I’m lining up in front of that guy,” he said. “And they didn’t call him one time. It’s a little bit of making me feel like I’m crazy, [that] I don’t know where I’m lining up.” With a week of focused practice, the Ravens will probably wipe out most of these alignment penalties. Their struggles against elite pass rushers won’t be as easy to ameliorate. Rosengarten, Faalele and left guard Andrew Vorhees will operate at deficits of power, explosiveness and experience, and even if they grow into dependable starters, it might not happen soon. This was the risk DeCosta embraced in designing his roster, and we’re seeing the short-term price. Linebacker Malik Harrison, left, and the Ravens defense couldn’t slow down Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy on a first-quarter touchdown run. (Ed Zurga/AP) Coordinator Zach Orr’s defense also debuted sloppily Marlon Humphrey put up little resistance as the fastest player on the field sprinted by him. He appeared to think a safety would pick up rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. That safety never appeared, and Mahomes floated an easy touchdown pass to extend Kansas City’s lead to 10 in the fourth quarter. It was the worst possible moment for a communication breakdown from Orr’s defense and a reminder that it too will be a work in progress despite the All-Pros at every level. “Obviously, we just didn’t play the defense the right way; there was nobody deep back there,” Harbaugh said. “We had certain mistakes during the game that were a problem. Substitutions were an issue. [Worthy’s touchdown] was probably the one big mistake we had. The rest of the way, I thought our defense played really well.” Mahomes feasted on single-high coverage, completing 12 of 14 for 151 yards — his best efficiency against the alignment since 2021, per Next Gen Stats. The Ravens did not adjust sufficiently as the game went on. Patrick Mahomes was most effective as a passer against the Ravens defense in single-high coverages. Mahomes finished 12 of 14 for 151 yards (+13.8% CPOE) against single-high coverages, his highest CPOE mark against single-high since Week 17, 2021. Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/xw9AcKhHWi — Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 6, 2024 “We did have some communication problems,” Harbaugh said. “That’s something that we’ll have to iron out for sure.” We tend to speak of last year’s AFC championship loss as an all-points Ravens failure, but that’s not accurate. Coordinator Mike Macdonald’s defense stood tall, holding the Chiefs to 4.4 yards per play (down from 5.5 in the regular season) and shutting them out in the second half. If anything, the performance was a final feather in Macdonald’s cap before he departed to coach the Seattle Seahawks. The corresponding elevation of Macdonald’s close friend and protege, Orr, drew huzzahs from Ravens players and fans alike. Macdonald, who hoped to lure Orr to his Seattle staff, said his former linebackers coach is destined to run his own team because “he’s that special of a guy.” All that optimism aside, what a pressure cooker the 32-year-old Orr stepped into — a prime-time rematch against the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, led by the best quarterback in the world. And fans would expect him to live up to the standard set by one of the most lauded young defensive minds in the sport. Never mind that Macdonald suffered growing pains — recall that blown 35-14 lead against the Miami Dolphins — in his early days as the team’s coordinator in 2022. Orr’s defense started sluggishly Thursday night, with Mahomes and wide receiver Rashee Rice carving up linebackers Roquan Smith and Trenton Simpson on a brisk 67-yard touchdown drive. But the Ravens held fast for the remainder of the first half, defending short fields with aggressive coverage and pressure from two of their top breakout candidates. David Ojabo unleashed a scream of pure release after he whipped around the outside shoulder of rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamatai to wrap up Mahomes for a 10-yard loss on the last play of the first quarter. Third-year defensive tackle Travis Jones powered through the heart of Kansas City’s line late in the second quarter, hurrying Mahomes into a rare misfire that landed in Smith’s arms. Simpson, another rising young starter, leaped to knock down a pass by Mahomes late in the fourth quarter, giving Jackson his shot at that final drive. Their impact plays were overshadowed by the lapses, but we should not ignore the promise of Orr’s defense. “This is the worst we’ll play all season,” Smith, their on-field leader, said. “I’ll promise you that.” Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely was Lamar Jackson’s favorite target Thursday night. (Ed Zurga/AP) Isaiah Likely might already be Lamar Jackson’s most potent target Likely established himself as a rising star last year when he stepped in for an injured Andrews and became the Ravens’ top touchdown threat during their best stretch of the season. He was nearly impossible to cover throughout training camp, running past bigger defenders and overpowering smaller ones. One question lingered: Could he share a field with Andrews and not get lost in the shadow of Jackson’s career-long favorite target? Likely answered resoundingly with a career-best performance in Kansas City. His 49-yard touchdown catch at the start of the fourth quarter, on which he outran or outmaneuvered half the defense, breathed new life into the Ravens. He was Jackson’s go-to target along the sideline in the two-minute drill. He did everything but touch his toe perfectly on the last grab that could have won the game. That despite the hard crash he endured two plays earlier. LIKELY A TOUCHDOWN@DaGorilla4 | Tune in on NBC! pic.twitter.com/LJ1DdZjpYf — Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 6, 2024 He even flattened Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis to spring Jackson for a 13-yard gain. “Isaiah played just a great football game, [the] craziest game,” Harbaugh said. “[He made] so many plays, especially down the stretch, play after play.” There’s no taking Likely out of the game plan at this point (he played 52 snaps to Andrews’ 58). He’s too adept at getting open, too dynamic a downfield and red-zone threat. If Jackson had been a little more precise, he might have approached 170 yards instead of the 111 he put up on 12 targets. We call him a tight end, but he’s really a giant wide receiver, just like his biggest fans said after the Ravens stole him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of Coastal Carolina. Jackson recognized this from the start, treating Likely as a guy who would matter a whole lot even before his production caught up. Ravens running back Derrick Henry, carrying the ball in the third quarter Thursday night against the Chiefs, will keep defenses from throwing everything at Lamar Jackson. (Christian Petersen/Getty) We saw an early glimpse of the problems posed by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry Jackson alone has guaranteed the Ravens an elite running game since the day he took over for Joe Flacco midway through the 2018 season. He’s that dynamic with the ball in his hands and demands that much attention from opposing defenses. Any running back becomes a high-efficiency problem when taking advantage of No. 8’s gravitational pull. So what might happen if the Ravens plugged the most productive running back of the last decade — an all-time physical specimen who easily cruises past 20 mph at 6 feet 2, 247 pounds — into that equation? The pairing of Jackson and Henry was the equivalent of a football sugar plum dancing through our collective imagination, and Thursday’s opener was Christmas morning. Finally, we’d get to see it in real life. It took less than one drive for us to see the horror defenses will confront when they try to account for both. As the Ravens pushed toward the red zone, Jackson faked a third-and-1 handoff to Henry and glided untouched around left end for 11 yards. He went left for 8 on the next play. Then he took a snap from under center and handed to Henry, who powered through a gap cleared by fullback Patrick Ricard to finish his first Ravens drive with a touchdown. Left, right, speed, power. Which poison would you like, sirs? There were questions coming in. How would Henry adapt to taking a higher percentage of his handoffs from shotgun formations? Would he and Jackson have instant chemistry on the read-option handoffs the Ravens have used to devastating effect? Would an overhauled offensive line have the mobility to set up the wide zone runs that were Henry’s bread and butter in Tennessee? The Ravens mixed up Henry’s looks Thursday, going to him from under center, from the shotgun and from the pistol. His role diminished when they had to play from behind in the second half, and his 13 carries for 46 yards won’t stand out in a career full of blazing stat lines. But we saw that as much as Jackson might set up Henry, Henry will keep defenses from throwing everything at Jackson. It was the quarterback who went off in Kansas City. Don’t be surprised if it’s the running back the next time we see this promising partnership in action. View the full article Quote
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