ExtremeRavens Posted Thursday at 01:00 PM Posted Thursday at 01:00 PM In early October, Dan Orlovsky, the ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback, made headlines for a blunt assessment of the Ravens. They were nearing the worst start in organization history, still weeks out from the corner they’d eventually turn. Orlovsky tried to make sense of what was happening in Baltimore. “The Ravens lost their identity,” he said, calling out both sides of the ball. Later, on a video posted to X, a disconcerted Orlovsky deemed Baltimore’s play calling — particularly the lack of touches for running back Derrick Henry through four games — “shocking” and “unacceptable.” Orlovsky picked the Ravens to win the Super Bowl in September. That was a “swing and a miss,” he told The Baltimore Sun on a recent phone interview. Like much of the football world, Orlovksy couldn’t believe how far Baltimore had unraveled. Needless to say, with the Ravens now at 6-5, his opinion has shifted – slightly, but not all the way to picking an outfit for a parade in February. Orlovksy spoke with The Sun last week, before Baltimore’s win over the Jets, again trying to make sense of this seesaw season. He showered All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton with praise. Lamar Jackson, by Orlovsky’s estimation, has left much to be desired, partly because of injuries. And the longtime NFL quarterback turned pundit explained why “there’s hope” for the Ravens. (Editor’s note: Some questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.) Last month, you said, ‘The Ravens have lost their identity, and they’ve lost their way as an organization, and as a football team.’ Has this win streak changed your opinion on that front? I would say, defensively, yes. I was referencing a style of play. A personality. This is a defense that was getting pushed around. It wasn’t physical. It didn’t intimidate people when they walked into that building or on the road. The violence is back on defense. The way they run to the football is back on defense. I credit a lot of them. But I have to be candid that it’s been spearheaded by Kyle [Hamilton]. Kyle runs through offensive linemen right now. At least defensively, it looks, just when you put their film on, you feel them on defense more so than at the beginning of the year. So, I’d say yes. I’m not there offensively. I don’t want to lie to you. I’m just not there offensively. They’ve had some explosive runs, yes. I don’t see them mauling the line of scrimmage. I don’t see them changing and denting the line of scrimmage like they did in the past. There was a point last year they did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. They’re not there right now. Will that happen? As Lamar gets healthier and back into the flow of things, we’re going to find out. But defensively, yes. Offensively, no. What was your read on these Ravens and what they could be at the start of the season? And then at the bye week when they’re 1-5? And how do you make sense of where they are now? I picked them to win the Super Bowl. So, swing and a miss on that. Obviously, early on, the defense was a complete disaster, and the offense had some highs and lows. Derrick didn’t get touches and then had some uncharacteristic moments. Then the [Jackson] injury happens. They’re sitting at 1-5. The defense starts to play better. Kyle [Hamilton] goes down closer to the football. [Alohi] Gilman gets added. And you start to see, OK, the defense is improving. The offense, without Lamar, was a mess. They find a way to squeak one out [when] Snoop Huntley won a game. And then Lamar has come back, and they’ve been good — I don’t believe they’ve been great. So a team that looked to be dead five weeks ago, sitting here now, I’d tell you, I’d be surprised if they don’t get in just because the way the conference is shaking out and the style of defense that they’re playing. Do I think they’re scary? Not right now. The offense isn’t good enough to be scary. Not right now. Could they get there? I think they can get there because it’s the same people as last year, essentially. But there’s life. There’s light. There’s hope. And it wasn’t the case five weeks ago. Obviously, it has been a weird year for Lamar Jackson, missing a couple of games, and the offense is still getting its footing. The highs are really high and the lows are low. How would you evaluate Jackson’s season to this point? The words that come to mind: disappointing, uneven, much to be desired. A lot of that is around the injury, though. I think he’s warranted the grace period of let’s let him get multiple games back underneath him and back fully healthy, hopefully. Obviously, when he’s fully healthy, he’s one of, if not the best player in football. It’s disappointing because coming off the season last year and what this roster looked like, very similar to the one that was so good, it was a Super Bowl expectation. It obviously started off very slow. It seems like a long shot now. But with good coaching, good roster and a great quarterback, there’s obviously still a chance. But right now, obviously just disappointing. The Ravens haven’t had much success in short-yardage situations and red-zone scoring. They were nearly unstoppable in both those categories last year. Why do you think they’ve struggled so much this year? Obviously, no Lamar was a pretty significant loss. So that certainly hurts it. It’s never just one thing. Like, I would tell you it certainly feels, even since Lamar’s been back, it’s not just red zone for me, but it did show [in Cleveland] again. He hasn’t looked to be unstoppable one-on-one in space. I think it was one of the first plays of the game, [Carson] Schwesinger tackles him out on the perimeter in space. I never, ever, ever see that. I don’t know how healthy he is. He hasn’t made any really dynamic plays down in the red zone. And they’ve been just off in the pass game in the red zone a couple times, like a step off or a ball and a half too far in some of their passing game. They haven’t been as dominant. I don’t think Lamar has been as sharp and I don’t think he’s been as dynamic. So I’ll speak to it through the lens of having Lamar on the field. They’re just not very crisp right now, I think, in all areas. I saw someone smart on the internet say that Kyle Hamilton should be in Defensive Player of the Year contention. At this point in the year, is that a stretch, or do you feel like that’s a reasonable thought? I said that like two weeks ago. [Seahawks defensive lineman] Leonard Williams has been playing at a remarkable level. [Rams linebacker] Jared Verse is coming on. But, obviously, Ravens fans are very aware of my viewpoint on some of those awards. For a defense that was putrid, and then the one move, I don’t want to take anything away from Gilman, but the move was to take that person and put him down near the football. That turnaround can be centrally pointed to that. Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, center, unofficially moved positions a few weeks ago to play closer to the line of scrimmage. The result is an improved defense and a growing case that Hamilton is the best defender in the NFL. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) If the Ravens go on this run and get in, or win the division, it’s going to be hard not to have his name at the very top of the list, or obviously very near it. The impact, the versatility, the identity that I was referencing. It’s been pretty remarkable. He is flying through the football. So his name’s gotta be near the very top of the list. Just from a person who likes watching football, he’s fun to watch. The Dolphins game blew my mind. He was running through offensive linemen. That’s very rare. They were putting him at the SAM linebacker, WILL linebacker, nickel, on the line of scrimmage, off the line of scrimmage, pressuring. Watch when the football gets thrown to the other team and see what number and what color jersey is flying. It’s a very impressive thing to watch. The defense as a whole has turned a corner since the bye week, similar to how they patched things up last year. Other than Kyle Hamilton, who deserves the most credit for that? Gilman’s been really impressive. I think Gilman, in both facets, in coverage, it’s been impressive to see the communication still be pretty seamless. I think he’s been really good at the run and filling in the run the past couple weeks. I think Mike Green has had some bright spots. [Kyle] Van Noy coming back has been really good. Marlon [Humphrey]’s turned it around. Marlon had a rough start to the year. I think Marlon can even admit that. And then Marlon’s really improved. Roquan’s back to looking like Roquan, who, again, just did not look like himself at the beginning of the year. Urban’s been really good with some TFLs and whatnot. I think some of their youth has started to come on, and some of the vets have started to look like their traditional selves. As weird as this year has been, how does it end? We get asked that on TV. ‘Who’s gonna win the AFC North?’ The Steelers had such a big lead, it was hard to see them losing it. With the Rodgers injury, that’s a little bit in flux. My guess is Week 18 [in Pittsburgh] is going to be for the division. I don’t think that’s an outrageous thought. That would obviously be very cool. I just think the defense is playing at a pretty respectable level right now where you’re saying, ‘The offense will come together. They may not be what they were, historically great last year, but they will become so much more resembling what they were last year.’ I would assume that they get in, and once you get in, the AFC is wide open right now. It’s ridiculously wide open. More so than it’s ever been. 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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