In what was supposed to be the welcome party for a new era of football in Baltimore, Ravens fans were instead treated to an all-too-familiar sight of a fourth-quarter collapse in their home opener. There was still some good, definitely some bad, and a lot of ugly, so let’s get into it:
The Good
Rashod Bateman: People will focus on the last play of the game, but I’m not going to blame Rashod Bateman for the game-sealing interception. Lamar Jackson clarified that Bateman ran the correct route, which the veteran receiver confirmed himself. Instead, I’m going to focus on what was good. The Ravens needed at least one receiver to step up with Zay Flowers and Ja’Kobi Lane down, and after a quiet Week 1, Bateman produced like the top target. With seven catches for 88 yards and a touchdown, Bateman showed exactly what made him a first-round pick so long ago: top-tier elite route running and the ability to create space. His career hasn’t gone how anybody would have wished, especially after his massive foot injury, but he can still get open at will in the NFL. He was wide open on the 3rd and 1 questionable deep shot to Chris Moore as well.
Mark Andrews: Mark Andrews also stepped up on a day when the Ravens needed pass catchers too with a solid six catches for 49 yards. His peak explosiveness is behind him, but he is still a favorite safety valve for Lamar Jackson and seems to be exactly where he needs to be when needed most of the time.
Trenton Simpson: Simpson was by far the most eye-popping defender against the Saints. While he didn’t blow up the stat sheet – only six total tackles and one tackle for loss – he was everywhere on the field and seemingly involved on every single play. Whether he made the tackle or not, it felt like Simpson was wherever the ball was and laying big hits on blockers and ball carriers all day. I can’t wait to see how Minter turns him into a chess piece hunter when Teddye Buchanan comes back, and Simpson’s athleticism can be freed up even more.
Edge rushers: Though Baltimore’s defense largely struggled on Sunday, the team’s stable of edge rushers did flash during the game. All three of the sacks came from each of the top guys in the room. Trey Hendrickson pressured Tyler Shough all day despite his club-covered broken finge and rnotched his first sack as a Raven. Tavius Robinson got his second sack of the season to go along with a tackle for loss, continuing his hot start to a contract year. Mike Green also got involved after a quiet game last week, hunting down Shough for his first sack of the season along with two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. Green’s sack came two plays after Hendrickson’s to force a three-and-out in the third quarter, flashing the game-altering ceiling of this group.
Devontez Walker: It was only one play, but it was exactly what we know and expect from Tez Walker at this point. With the Ravens backed up at their own 11-yard line, Lamar Jackson launched a bomb for Walker down the field for a 49-yard gain. Walker was inexplicably not targeted the rest of the game afterwards, something I’m sure the coaching staff is probably regretting at this point. Hopefully we see him more involved in the future. Now that Bateman is being used and Walker is healthy, this could be a well-rounded top three wide receiver group once Zay Flowers returns.
The Bad
Pass protection: It was an issue last week, it was an issue this week, and it will probably continue to be an issue going forward as the offensive line grows and gels together. After being one of the better rookies in the league last week, Vega Ioane struggled next to center Jovaughn Gwyn against the Saints. While the total pressure rate was less than last week, it felt like New Orleans consistently converted those pressures into negative plays for the offense. Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley countered the Ravens’ shift to a more under0center offense by blitzing up the middle a ton into the A-gap, which is hard for a quarterback to handle when he turns his back for play-action. It’s something the offensive line should expect to see a ton going forward from other teams, especially until they prove they can consistently handle it.
Luckily, to my eyes, it seemed like the pressures and losses on the line were more from miscommunications and not correctly filling their assignments rather than just a lack of talent and losing hand fights. These kinds of errors are to be somewhat expected when you have two guys who are starting in the NFL for the first time and should improve.
Penalties: The one thing that I won’t give grace on for the offensive line is the penalties. Through two games, the Ravens offense has been flagged 12 times, but even more frustratingly, half of them are pre-snap penalties, and another two are simple errors you can avoid. Four false starts, two illegal shifts, an ineligible man downfield, and a chop block. They have got to get it fixed.
Referees: I won’t do this often because every team deals with it, but similar to the first Pittsburgh game last year, this one was filled with weirdness from the referees. The entire sequence at the goal line during New Orleans last drive was down right bad. It was fairly obvious to most viewers that Tyler Shough made it into the end zone on his first push attempt that was called short. Then on his second attempt, the refs both missed a facemask and then called Shough in when every angle of the camera showed that he wasn’t in. It almost felt like the refs kept the touchdown on the board because they saw they missed the facemask despite Shough’s body being short of the line. There were also two massive phantom holding calls called on the Ravens. Chris Moore had one that was iffy that eliminated a 12-yard scramble for a first by Jackson. The more egregious one was a non-existent holding call on Jaylin Hawkins during a failed two-point attempt that gave the Saints another try that certainly altered the game. The refs were bad. But, again, this is not unique to the Ravens, and they shouldn’t have put themselves in this situation to begin with.
The Ugly
Fourth quarter: I don’t know what it is. But the players on the Baltimore Ravens have some sort of mental hurdle they need to clear when the fourth quarter starts. The defense allowed 15 points in the fourth quarter alone, and the offense only scored three points in the entire second half, none in the fourth quarter. They’ve been statistically the worst defense in the NFL since 2018 during the fourth quarter in one-score games. They have no idea how to consistently kill an opponent on either side of the ball. They’ve done it occasionally over the years – like last week against the Colts – but more often than not it feels like, they panic, press hard to make a play, and let the game slip away in embarrassing fashion. They’ve got to get over themselves and figure it out. And it’s on Jesse Minter and the new staff to help them do it.
Derrick Henry usage: The Detroit Lions’ run game gashed the Saints in Week 1, so it felt like Derrick Henry would be ready to rumble in this one. He had a modest game at 4.3 yards per carry, well below his standard. More strange, however, was his usage in the game. In a game where the Ravens caught an early lead and were missing their top wide receiver, their future Hall of Fame running back had under 20 carries. Even worse, he had only five carries the entire second half when the Ravens led by 14-3 with less than 30 seconds in the first half. Baffling choice not to use Henry more, a complaint that dates back to his first year in Baltimore.
Personnel decisions: Among the more baffling choices, Chris Moore was seemingly the starter opposite Rashod Bateman in this game. After the coaching staff specifically mentioned Tez Walker and Elijah Sarratt as guys that could find rhythm following the Zay Flowers injury, Chris Moore outsnapped both of them combined, 32-17. That’s a fairly easy accomplishment, considering Sarratt didn’t actually have a snap the entire game, in any phase. The young tight end duo of Matt Hibner and Josh Cuevas also weren’t part of the game plan, it seemed; neither was targeted at all. Frustrating when the offense certainly had its struggle points, and Hibner seems to be a pretty explosive tight end that should be getting opportunities considering what Mark Andrews has left in the tank in the yards after catch department.
Third-down defense: The Saints went 8-15 on third down in the game. Five of those conversions came on 3rd and 7+. Two came on 3rd and 13. It’s hard to win games and play good defense when you can’t get off the field on third down, even when you set yourself up well by putting the opposing team in long third-down situations. It’s simply not good enough.
Secondary: After an incredible game last week by Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins, the entire secondary got bullied for their lunch money. Three different Saints pass-catchers went for over 60 yards and the secondary played soft all game, giving guys like Chris Olave way too much room to operate. That felt like a massive coaching mistake. The other worrying part is the safety play outside of Kyle Hamilton. Malaki Starks and Jaylin Hawkins simply don’t look confident in this system yet and are hesitating way too often. Minter is known for elevating his secondaries, so you have to hope that a lack of preseason time is what’s going on here and that at least one of those guys will get comfortable soon. Hamilton is still an elite, top-tier deep safety; he should line up there more frequently once Nnamdi Madubuike and Teddye Buchanan get back on the field. Baltimore won’t need as much help up front, and Trenton Simpson’s athleticism can be used in Hamilton’s front seven role then.
Special Teams: This might have been the massive turning point for the game. Special teams had what accounted for basically a nine-point swing. First, they allowed a field goal to get blocked, which took three points away from the Ravens. It also set the Saints up with great field position for an offense that had been struggling early. The Saints didn’t have to work much to get their own field goal, giving them three points. Then, with only 24 seconds left on the clock in the first half, after the Ravens took a 14-3 lead, special teams gave up a massive 53-yard return to put the Saints into Baltimore territory. Instead of kneeling out the half, the Saints had a couple of plays and kicked another field goal right before halftime. It did not feel like it at the time, but it ended up being massive.
