ExtremeRavens Posted December 5 Posted December 5 The Ravens knew what type of game they were entering. Cameras filming for HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series captured defensive coordinator Zach Orr saying they would have to “bully the bullies” to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles. Orr wasn’t speaking to the Ravens’ offensive line, but the sentiment was the same throughout the team’s facility. The Eagles were built to win wars in the trenches. The Ravens would have to match them in a straight-up alley fight. The anticipated scrap did not go their way, and that was especially true for their offensive line, which allowed 19 pressures on 46 pass blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Philadelphia defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Milton Williams dominated, combining for 17 pressures (PFF does not charge every pressure to an individual offensive lineman). The relentless heat on quarterback Lamar Jackson was a major reason the league’s most efficient offense failed to score a touchdown for eight straight drives in the 24-19 defeat. And the lost battles upfront revived one of the major concerns that confronted the Ravens going into the season: Would their revamped offensive line hold up against top competition going into the postseason? Penalty woes aside, the unit has been a pleasant surprise for much of the year. The lineup stabilized four weeks in when rookie Roger Rosengarten took over as the starting right tackle and Patrick Mekari shifted inside to replace Andrew Vorhees at left guard. Daniel Faalele worked past early struggles to become a competent right guard. Tyler Linderbaum delivered the Pro Bowl play expected of him at center. Ronnie Stanley’s good health supported his return to Pro Bowl form at left tackle. It was all general manager Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh hoped for when they rolled the dice in the offseason, saying farewell to dependable veterans Morgan Moses and Kevin Zeitler in favor of a youth movement. Harbaugh said the poor performance against Philadelphia did not shake his confidence in what they’ve built: “I think we’re pretty well set there. I think those guys could come in — the other guys that are working hard can come in — and help us, but I’m not down on anybody on the offensive line. That’s a really good front we played against. I think we could have played better, especially in pass protection. Those guys would tell you that it could have been better, even in the run blocking sometimes, for sure, but I don’t think it merits any drastic changes right now.” The “other guys” he alluded to include Vorhees, who underwhelmed as a starter early in the season, and guard Ben Cleveland, who’s still searching for a chance to get on the field in his fourth year with the Ravens. It was not hard to find fans and analysts calling for changes after Mekari played his worst game of the season against the Eagles’ fearsome defensive tackles, surrendering nine pressures and earning a horrid 11.3 pass blocking grade from PFF. Faalele graded significantly better as a pass blocker but earned his own share of ire as a clip circulated of him whiffing on a run block against Eagles linebacker Zach Baun, who promptly dropped Derrick Henry. The play highlighted the 6-foot-8, 380-pound Faalele’s struggles when he’s asked to block a quicker defender in space. Ravens coaches remain adamant that they’re pleased with Faalele’s progress, especially given his lack of experience at guard before this year. Though his mistakes will always be easy to pick out because of his size, they see plenty of good work that’s less noticeable to casual observers. Ravens offensive line coach George Warhop feels confident in his position group despite a poor showing against the Eagles. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) “What’s really impressive is to watch him change direction in short area and get his hands on guys,” offensive line coach George Warhop said. “That’s still a work in progress — his hands. But the way he moves laterally, and the things he can do in pass [protection] I think is pretty impressive, so I’m excited about him and his future.” Warhop was then asked about Faalele’s failure to leverage his power as a run blocker. “He’s a big man, [and] sometimes it’s hard to uncoil your hips when guys are right on top of you,” the veteran coach explained. “It’s a matter of also adjusting where you are at the line of scrimmage. We tend to crowd the ball sometimes, which negates our power at the point of attack in the run game. Really, if you want to get technical about it, all your power is generated on your second or third step. If you’re crowding the ball, and you don’t get your second step in the dirt, you’re not generating enough power, so that’s part of his issue is getting his feet in the dirt to go forward.” As for Mekari, he’s in his sixth season but also on new ground as an every-week starter. Guard was the position he’d played least coming into this year. Until his subpar game against the Eagles, penalties were his greatest undoing. He leads the offensive line with 13, two more than Stanley. Harbaugh expressed no concern that the increased workload is wearing on Mekari, whose great contributions in past seasons came as a super-utility lineman. “That’s an accomplishment, because that had been a challenge for him in the past,” he said. “So I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. He’s played very good football. [It’s been a] big plus.” We’ve seen the Ravens make significant lineup changes — Ar’Darius Washington in for Marcus Williams at safety, Rosengarten in and Vorhees out of the starting offensive line — after weeks of poor performance. But their message was uniform coming out of the Eagles loss: not yet with the offensive line. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken joined Harbaugh in saying he’s pleased with the group’s progress, and he declined to pin the inefficiency against Philadelphia on one player or unit. “Overall, offensively — forget the offensive line — we did not play as well as we’re capable of,” he said. Have a news tip? Contact Childs Walker at daviwalker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6893 and x.com/ChildsWalker. View the full article Quote
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