ExtremeRavens Posted December 6 Posted December 6 The Ravens arrive to the latest bye week in the NFL at 8-5, coming up on an ultra-important four-game stretch that will determine their playoff path to the promised land. There have been no shortage of snowballing narratives. League scriptwriters had fun this offseason. Here’s a look back at this year’s biggest Ravens storylines: Personnel drama The offensive line was a dominant thread of discourse throughout training camp. Departures of Morgan Moses (New York Jets) and Kevin Zeitler (Detroit Lions) raised questions about how the group up front, with three new starters, might fare in a season with Super Bowl aspirations. When one of those first-year starters, Daniel Faalele, got off to a rocky start at right guard, Ben Cleveland became a cult hero among the fan base. His support followed the backup quarterback trope; a mythical figure conjured up as the savior because he hasn’t played enough to show them otherwise. “If Ben had earned the job at right guard, he would be the starting right guard,” coach John Harbaugh said at the time. “You look at the tape, and he didn’t beat out Daniel or anybody.” The happy ending to this one is Faalele took steps forward, particularly in pass protection, even if his hands are still a work in progress, according to offensive line coach George Warhop. And Cleveland returned to the spotlight in Week 6 when he blocked a 52-yard field goal try before halftime against the Washington Commanders. The other piece of stirring personnel drama came on the other side of the trade deadline. Baltimore brought in wide receiver Diontae Johnson from Carolina. He was said to be slowly ramping up into the new offense. Playing his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, last month was thought to be his potential coming out party. It wasn’t. Then when Rashod Bateman was unable to play against Philadelphia because of knee soreness, that should have been Johnson’s chance. It wasn’t. A statement from the team credited to general manager Eric DeCosta announced that Johnson was suspended for one game for “conduct detrimental to the team” after refusing to enter Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. Mark Andrews’ usage Mark Andrews is on the precipice of becoming the Ravens’ all-time touchdown leader. In Week 7, he passed Todd Heap for the most receiving scores in franchise history. Then his end zone grab Sunday tied him with Jamal Lewis for first place in career touchdowns with 47. One more and he’ll stand alone in Baltimore’s record books. That kind of production — seven touchdowns in eight weeks — is a far cry from where he started the season, when some fans took to social media postulating that the veteran tight end might have moved to left tackle (he was the best blocking tight end in the NFL). His scoreless first five weeks, which included back-to-back games without a catch, sure made it look that way. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews has seven touchdown catches in the team’s last eight games. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) “I’m always trying and striving to be better,” Andrews said. “My main goal is to help this team win games, and whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to do that, and it’s just going to continue to get better and better, and that’s my goal.” Now, he’s got the team’s second-most touchdowns and third-most receiving yards, putting that discourse to rest. Dead-last defense Baltimore’s defense looked like it had fallen off a cliff. The triple-crown, league-leading group from a year ago spent much of this season being thrashed by opposing receivers. They were ranked No. 32 in the NFL in pass defense. They led the league in dropped interceptions. They were on the wrong side of the best single-game receiving performance this season: Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase strolling to 264 yards and three scores on 11 catches. As cornerback Marlon Humphrey put it, “The brand of defense we were playing, it’s disrespectful to be in this Ravens uniform and play like that.” It was the worst partner for the NFL’s top offense. Like Andrews, the defense turned a corner. It’s not reading too much into it, defensive coordinator Zach Orr agreed, to pinpoint a team film session after Chase’s tour de force. They’re now 26th in pass defense, having allowed only one passing touchdown in three weeks. Credit goes to finding continuity on the back end. Safety Marcus Williams hadn’t been playing up to snuff and got benched. Eddie Jackson was eventually released. Now All-Pro Kyle Hamilton has an every-week partner in Ar’Darius Washington. “We took a step in the right direction, definitely, from early in the season,” Orr said, “but there’s still a whole lot we can get better at.” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has thrown 29 touchdown passes this season, second-most in the NFL. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) MV3? After two losses in as many weeks to start the season, a third NFL Most Valuable Player Award for Lamar Jackson didn’t seem likely. Now at the bye, his odds have sputtered from superhero-like frontrunner to a participation trophy for having his name on the ballot. That’s less a knock on him as it is indicative of how well Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Eagles running back Saquon Barkley have been. But for a significant stretch, it felt like every postgame locker room scrum included a Raven canvassing for their quarterback as a way to explain yet another mystifying performance. Jackson has thrown for 3,290 yards and 29 touchdowns — both second in the NFL behind Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. Jackson has also only coughed up three interceptions, the second-lowest mark of any starting quarterback this year. His step forward has been the driver for a potential third MVP conversation. “Last year,” quarterbacks coach Tee Martin said, “it’s like when you first start dating somebody. Like, ‘Can I believe what they’re saying? Is that right? I don’t see it that way, but we’re going to work it out.’ And then the second year, you’re like, ‘Yes, [Jackson] really sees that. He really knows exactly what he’s thinking, exactly what he’s doing, and he’s acting on it.’ “Last year he wasn’t so comfortable with saying, ‘This is what I want.’ This year he’s like, ‘No, I want it this way. This is how I want to do it.’ That’s just growth and development. Really proud of that from him.” Even if Jackson doesn’t bring home the MVP trophy to show for it, he’s playing the most well-rounded football of his career. Plus, he’s more worried about another shiny trophy. Sigh, Justin Tucker And Justin Tucker MISSES the extra point. The Ravens could've tied it with a made XP. pic.twitter.com/7p9ZWUowyS — Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) November 8, 2024 It’s the discourse nobody enjoys. Harbaugh hates fielding questions about it, Justin Tucker hates trying to articulate answers he doesn’t seem to have found himself and fans are coming to grips with what could be the beginning of the end for who many consider the NFL’s greatest kicker. Tucker has missed a career-high eight field goal attempts and knocked a pair of extra-point tries off the uprights. Nine of the 10 have hooked left. The first PAT sent play-by-play announcer Al Michaels’ cadence spiraling. Is it possible Fresno State special teams coordinator John Baxter has the answer? In an interview with SB Nation, the veteran college coach was adamant Baltimore’s snap and hold operation is “the envy of the league.” But the minutiae of his aging mechanics are leading to a left-leaning strike. “Everybody always wants there to be a reason,” Baxter told SB Nation. “There comes a point for all of us where performance is going to fall off. The biggest question for me is are we at that point?” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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