ExtremeRavens Posted September 21 Posted September 21 Two weeks into the NFL season is hardly the time to hit the panic button, but the Ravens’ 0-2 start has rightfully stirred reason for concern. Baltimore hasn’t lost three straight games to open the year since 2015, and now comes a trip to AT&T Stadium to face the Cowboys on Sunday. Dallas, meanwhile, is coming off an embarrassing loss of its own, a 44-19 thrashing at home to the New Orleans Saints. In other words, something has to give between teams with high postseason aspirations in a game that will ultimately be viewed as stanching the bleeding for one and more alarm bells ringing for the other. It will also mark the first time that quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott have faced off and is Baltimore’s first trip to AT&T Stadium since 2016, which the Cowboys won, 27-17. The Ravens, meanwhile, won the most recent showdown, 34-17, in 2020 at an empty M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore Sun reporters Brian Wacker, Childs Walker and Sam Cohn answer questions about the Ravens’ offensive line, what has plagued the team the most so far and their upcoming schedule with a tough slate of games ahead. Will the Ravens make the playoffs? Wacker: It’s too early to write the Ravens’ playoff chances off, despite what history says about teams that start 0-2. Also, except 2021, when Lamar Jackson missed the final four games of the season because of an injury, Baltimore has made the postseason every year of the quarterback’s career and that’s not changing this year. There are some cracks in the foundation, but not yet enough to bring the house down. The Ravens have too much talent on the roster to not cover them up. It also helps that after the top four or five teams in the AFC, there is a significant drop-off, so nabbing one of those final two or three playoff spots even with a rough start is likely. Walker: Yes. An 0-2 record is no joke to be shrugged off. The Ravens had started this poorly just once in John Harbaugh’s previous 16 seasons, and they finished 5-11 that year. But most teams that open with two losses are bad, and it’s too early to call the Ravens that. They still have Jackson, who’s won 73% of his regular-season starts. They still have Pro Bowl talent all over their defense. They were the best team in football nine months ago. It’s premature to say none of that matters based on a pair of one-score losses. The answer might be different if they lose this weekend at Dallas. At some point, the numbers stack up against you. But for now, this feels like the rare team qualified to dig itself out of an 0-2 hole. Cohn: Are you sick of hearing that one statistic? The one that puts the Ravens in a deeply unfavorable category to answer this question? Since the NFL switched to a 17-game schedule, 21 teams have started 0-2 and 19 of them missed the playoffs. Cincinnati in 2022 and Houston in 2023 — the two outliers — had easier paths bouncing back than the Ravens do. But there’s too much talent in Baltimore to write them off in September, still fairly healthy. As of today, yes, the Ravens make the playoffs behind the reigning Most Valuable Player and a high-upside pass rush. If they get swept by the Cowboys, Bills and Bengals, let us revisit this question. What change, if any, would you make to the Ravens’ offensive line? Wacker: The Ravens bet on youth and numbers when it came to filling three starting jobs on the offensive line and it hasn’t panned out, so they need to be nimble. Trading for a capable guard would be ideal, but good luck finding any team willing to deal one anytime soon. That leaves the next best option of being less stubborn on trying Ben Cleveland, who at least in games last season handled himself without any glaring struggles. He also has far more experience than Daniel Faalele, who in addition to being too big and slow for the role is playing the position for the first time. The other change that should happen is giving rookie second-round pick Roger Rosengarten the bulk of the snaps at right tackle. He’s mobile, has shown improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 and doing so would allow Patrick Mekari to return to his valuable role as a versatile plug-and-play contributor who can be deployed as needed anywhere across the line. Baltimore’s offensive line, outside of left tackle Ronnie Stanley, has largely struggled through the first two weeks of the 2024 season. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Walker: The Ravens can stick by their youth movement without stubbornly tossing their season away. They should try a rotation at right guard, just as they have at right tackle. Coaches might not love the way Cleveland practices, but if he outperforms Faalele in game situations, that should be a path toward him taking the job. At least see if Cleveland’s decent work from past seasons carries over to a more regular role because it’s not clear Faalele will ever move well enough to be above average at the position. The Ravens should also shift more right tackle snaps to Rosengarten after he held his own against the Raiders’ Pro Bowl edge rusher, Maxx Crosby. Mekari’s versatility and professionalism are valuable, but Rosengarten’s mobility gives him more upside against the likes of Crosby. Keep the rotation; just lean it toward preparing the rookie to start later in the season. Cohn: It’s hard not to think the Ravens’ offensive line could use a retooling of some sort as their unit ranks 25th out of 32 teams, according to Pro Football Focus. Subbing out Faalele seems to be picking up steam after the first-time starter repeatedly had his feet in dried cement in consecutive games. But Harbaugh wouldn’t entertain the notion of swapping in Cleveland, sharply saying, “If Ben had earned the job at right guard, he’d be the starting right guard. [When] you look at the tape, he didn’t beat out Daniel or anybody.” If that’s Harbaugh denying the possibility, the other option would be to promote Mekari, who’s currently rotating at right tackle with Rosengarten, a second-round pick. Let Rosengarten handle right tackle and slide Mekari to right guard. Offensive lines can take time to mesh and this is an inexperienced group, but the 0-2 Ravens don’t seem in position to stand pat for a group that’s hindering their winless offense. What’s the Ravens’ biggest problem? Wacker: There are two: the defense and a lack of an offensive identity. Both could eventually sort themselves out, but the sooner the better with a daunting schedule the next three weeks. After leading the league in sacks, takeaways and points allowed per game last season, there was going to be a drop-off with the departures of not just outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, but several coaches, including former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson. When Wilson was with the Eagles, he helped coach them to the top pass defense in the NFL in 2022. After he was fired, Philadelphia took a major step back in that area in 2023. As for the offense, Harbaugh acknowledged the conundrum of keeping opponents off balance and establishing a reliable identity, which the Ravens have yet to do. That puts them in a tough spot when it comes to tight games and challenging opponents. The Ravens go as Jackson goes, of course, but Baltimore doesn’t seem to have quite figured out how it will use running back Derrick Henry, operate with tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely on the field at the same time or find consistent ways to utilize its wide receivers. Walker: The defense was elite last season, allowing the fewest points while generating the most sacks and turnovers. That held up even in the Ravens’ AFC championship game loss to the Chiefs. They haven’t been nearly as good through the first two games of this season, and it starts with their three best defensive players: Roquan Smith, Kyle Hamilton and Nnamdi Madubuike. The Ravens signed Smith and Madubuike to huge extensions expecting them to be close to the best at their positions. Hamilton could be a long-term face of the franchise given his intelligence and playmaking from all points of the field. None of them have been great so far. Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton spoke with the media following practice in Owings Mills, Maryland. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Others have played well, from edge rushers Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy to defensive tackle Travis Jones. They have smothered the run. But as Harbaugh said Monday, they’ve been inconsistent, especially with games hanging in the balance in the fourth quarter. This isn’t a vote of no-confidence in first-year coordinator Zach Orr, who is smart, charismatic and learned everything Macdonald had to teach. But the Ravens’ defense went from a cornerstone at the end of last season to a work in progress. Cohn: There are a handful of fair answers to this one. Offensive identity seems to be the most pertinent. It’s unclear exactly what theirs is, compared with the 11 regular-season games of 25-plus points from 2023. Baltimore trotted out 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two receivers) on 40 plays against the Chiefs, then only 19 times against the Raiders, per PFF, meaning Monken got away from keeping Andrews and Likely on the field at the same time. Their play-action numbers dipped, which Harbaugh brushed off by saying he’s still a “big proponent” and it’s “something we do really well.” And it’s not clear exactly how much they’ll rely on their $16 million running back, Henry. Now, Harbaugh has said offensive identity is something you develop over the course of a season. Andrews pegged their mid-October game in London when they ironed out last year’s. The veteran coach wants this group to offer something new each week. It just hasn’t worked thus far. What’s most to blame for the Ravens’ 0-2 start, and what would be a success with the Cowboys, Bills and Bengals upcoming? Wacker: Penalties and mismanagement. The Ravens have the third-most in the NFL with 18 and some of them have come at the worst possible time, such as Henry’s fourth-quarter false start against the Raiders that wiped out a first down. If that doesn’t happen, Baltimore chews up more clock and the Raiders probably never have the chance to tie the game and eventually win it. Less notable but not insignificant, clock and time management along with questionable challenges and substitution and communication issues have also been a problem. The Ravens have committed an alarming 18 penalties through the first two weeks of the season. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Success going forward would be, as Jackson said this week, going 1-0 and beating a Cowboys team that has a vulnerable defense, especially against the run. Then winning at least one of its next two games, which would put the Ravens at 2-3 with winnable match-ups against the Commanders, Buccaneers, Browns and Broncos to follow. Walker: As players and coaches have said repeatedly, they’re their own worst enemy in all phases. Whether that’s a blown coverage, a missed block, a shanked punt or an ill-timed penalty. Jackson on Wednesday acknowledged he’s missed passes that could have turned games. “At the end of the day, we’re beating ourselves,” he said. If the Ravens win two of their next three, they’ll feel better going into an easier portion of their schedule. This opening stretch was always going to be rough. That’s why a tidy win over the Raiders felt so necessary. Instead, their game in Dallas feels like an early must-win, not ideal against an opponent that dominated on its home field until the playoffs last season. A prime-time home game against Buffalo and Josh Allen feels like a 50-50 proposition, despite the Bills’ injuries and loss of skill players. The Bengals also started 0-2 and will be fighting to dig out when the Ravens travel to Cincinnati in Week 5. But none of these teams is clearly better than the Ravens. Going into the season, a 2-1 record over this stretch seemed reasonable. It’s just more essential now that they’ve lost to the Raiders. Cohn: Harbaugh spoke for 23 minutes during his regularly scheduled Monday news conference. In that time, he said some variation of the word “consistent” — consistencies, inconsistent — 20 times. So it’s clear where he feels his team has gone astray through two weeks. The secondary is on track, he said, but they’re not consistently producing. Fourth-quarter implosions? Harbaugh credited late-game inconsistency. And the offensive line is “almost randomly inconsistent.” “When we become a consistent football team, then we’ll be a winning football team,” Harbaugh said. “Until then, it’s gonna be hard to do that.” View the full article Quote
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