ExtremeRavens Posted September 17 Posted September 17 Patrick Mahomes II Gardner Minshew II is not. Yet, there Minshew was down the stretch in Sunday’s Ravens home opener at M&T Bank Stadium leading the Las Vegas Raiders back from not one but two 10-point deficits, including one in the fourth quarter, to pull off a stunning 26-23 upset of Baltimore. He completed 79% of his passes for 276 yards, but was especially lethal in the fourth quarter, going 2-for-4 for 56 yards to set up Daniel Carlson’s 25-yard field goal, then 6-for-9 for 62 yards and a touchdown to Davante Adams after cornerback Brandon Stephens was flagged for pass interference on Adams, putting the ball on the Ravens’ 1-yard line. Of all Baltimore’s multitudinous problems during an 0-2 start to the season — a shaky offensive line and boneheaded and drive-crushing penalties among them — the most stunning has been the play of the secondary. Last season when the Ravens became the first team in NFL history to lead the league in sacks, takeaways and points allowed per game, their defensive backfield was at the heart of the success. Baltimore allowed the fourth-lowest completion percentage (60.5), sixth-fewest passing yards per game (191.9) and was tops in the league in fewest yards per pass attempt (4.7). Through the small sample size of two games, those rankings have been effectively the opposite. Their 257 passing yards allowed per game is the most in the NFL, while a 75.8% completion rate ranks 30th and the 7 yards per pass attempt ranks fifth-most. “The secondary overall is on track, but we’re not consistent … and it’s not just a secondary, we’re talking about pass defense,” coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “Pass defense is at all three levels. “The linebackers are involved in that and the pass rush is involved in that. We can play coverages better. Sometimes it’s a one-on-one thing where they make a good play. … There’s other plays where we’re not, you know, we don’t play it as well as we could. We’re not in position. We don’t see it quite the same way. We react a little late. … That happened, especially kind of down the stretch in the 2-minute stuff. … Certain situations, especially in the fourth quarter, that you can’t let the quarterback out of the pocket, because it just extends plays and makes it impossible. … So everybody takes responsibility for pass defense.” In Week 1, the Ravens could perhaps be given something of a pass facing Mahomes, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and three-time Super Bowl MVP and a restocked Chiefs offense in Kansas City. He is the best player in the sport playing on the best team in the league. But Minshew, a journeyman, bears no resemblance to Mahomes. Yet after holding the Raiders to just 43 total yards in the first half, the defense and in particular the secondary collapsed over the final 30 minutes. While Baltimore’s defense allowed only 23 rushing yards in the second half, Minshew threw for 194 yards on 16 of 22 passing. The Raiders also converted three of their six third downs (while the Ravens went 0-for-3) and Baltimore was again vulnerable in the middle of the field. While all three levels of the Ravens’ defense might be interconnected, the secondary — a unit that was touted as a strength with plenty of depth — has been one of the NFL’s worst thus far. Over the first two weeks, Baltimore allowed Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice 103 yards on seven catches and Raiders receiver Davante Adams 110 yards on nine catches. Las Vegas tight end Brock Bowers also had 98 yards on nine catches, and there have been blown assignments and coverage busts, including one that resulted in the decisive touchdown against the Chiefs. Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, right, recorded nine receptions for 98 yards against Baltimore. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Sunday, Stephens and fellow cornerback Marlon Humphrey allowed five and six catches on seven and nine targets, respectively, per Pro Football Focus. Safety Kyle Hamilton and inside linebacker Trenton Simpson, meanwhile, allowed seven and six catches on an equal number of targets. And safety Marcus Williams gave up three catches on as many targets. The Ravens were also without cornerback Nate Wiggins (neck/concussion) and have been without slot corner Arthur Maulet (knee) since before the start of the season. It’s also worth mentioning that the Ravens are operating with a first-year defensive coordinator in Zach Orr after Mike Macdonald became the coach of the Seattle Seahawks. They’re also without highly regarded defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson after he bolted for the Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator opening, leaving defensive backfield responsibilities to passing game coordinator Chris Hewitt and new secondary coach Doug Mallory. “It’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish,” safety Eddie Jackson said Sunday. “Right now, I feel like we’re gonna have to rally around each other more than ever.” And not just in the secondary. Offensive line concerns On offense, the line, with three new starters at both guard spots as well as right tackle, has struggled mightily. Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby are among the NFL’s best at their positions, but Baltimore’s problems up front have extended beyond protecting against elite pass rushers. “We’re just too inconsistent, and you talk about the offensive line, I think that’s a fair evaluation is inconsistent,” Harbaugh said. “It’s almost randomly inconsistent.” Things won’t get any easier with games against the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals on tap. Asked if he has seen progress with first-year left guard Andrew Vorhees, first-year right guard Daniel Faalele and rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten, Harbaugh said there are going to be growing pains. He also is bullish, however, on keeping Faalele in over the more experienced Ben Cleveland. “If Ben had earned the job right guard, he’d be the starting right guard,” Harbaugh said. “You look at the tape, you know, he didn’t beat out Daniel or anybody. I think Ben’s a good player. I like Ben. I want Ben to take the next step. “Ben knows what he needs to do. If he wants playing time, he knows how he needs to play and he knows how he needs to practice when he gets that chance. So, our evaluation right now is that Daniel outplayed Ben, just fact, straight up.” Penalties are still a problem Sunday, the Ravens had 11 penalties totaling 109 yards. In Week 1, they had seven for 64 yards. And that doesn’t include the ones that were declined or offsetting. It hasn’t just been the volume of the penalties, either. It’s been the critical nature of them, be it Derrick Henry’s false start midway through the fourth quarter on a third-and-1 that ultimately led to a punt or Stephens’ pass interference on Adams that led to the game-tying touchdown. “It’s a massive point of emphasis,” Harbaugh said of addressing penalties with his players. “It’s just not OK. “You can talk about some calls here, talk about a holding call, definitely talk about a call that was called as a facemask. You can talk about one of the pass interferences; those are game-changing plays, no doubt about it. But you can’t talk about a false start. You can’t talk about obvious holding, you know, things like that, you can’t talk about not lining up correctly.” “We cost ourselves more plays than our opponents do right now on both sides of the ball and that’s something that just we have to clean up.” View the full article Quote
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