The Baltimore Ravens are entering uncharted territory in the Lamar Jackson era as they begin the 2024 season winless after two weeks. The Ravens were expected to dominate the Raiders as they were clear favorites in all areas, but failures in all aspects of the game dropped them to 0-2. Here are my winners and losers.
winner
OLB Odafe Oweh — The Ravens’ 2021 first-round edge rusher has been criticized for being great at generating pressure but unable to finish with sacks. Today, he finished his plays by sacking Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew 2.5 times, including a strip sack (recovered by the Raiders) on the first play out of the lineup. Had this game turned out differently, the talk of the day would have been that the pass rush, the defense’s expected weakness, was its strongest unit. In total, Oweh tallied five tackles, 2.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, three quarterback hits and a forced fumble.
OLB Kyle Van Noy — Similarly, Van Noy brought pressure against the Raiders by sacking Minshew twice. Van Noy’s participation was questionable because he missed all but Friday’s practice after suffering an orbital fracture 10 days ago against the Kansas City Chiefs. He was excellent at targeting the quarterback, finishing the game with two sacks, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hits.
DT Travis Jones — Nearly every defender participated in pressuring Minshew, and Jones was no exception. He won his reps and forced Minshew out of the pocket or into another defender.
WR Zay Flowers — The bond between Jackson and Flowers is getting stronger after the duo combined for 91 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.
Run defense — The Ravens were strong against the running game, holding the Raiders offense to 27 yards on 17 carries. At halftime, they had allowed just four yards of rushing.
loser
Pass defense — The expectedly strongest defense unit allowed the Raiders to go from 43 passing yards in the first half to 276 yards and a touchdown. In the second half, Minshew completed 16 of 23 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown, including six completions of 25 yards.
Secondary- Yes, the defensive pass interference penalty on cornerback Brandon Stephens was wrong. Even CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore said so. But other than that, the coverage was poor. Gardner Minshew dismantled a secondary that many expected to be in the top five in the NFL this season. The cornerbacks were underwhelming in the second half. The safety play was ineffective. Both Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton have not made the impactful plays expected of them over the past two weeks. The Ravens may be missing former defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson right now.
Pass protection, linebacker — In the last two games, the Ravens have struggled with tight ends and slot receivers, attacking Roquan Smith, Trenton Simpson and Malik Harrison. The Chiefs’ Rashee Rice stormed through the middle in Week 1. In Week 2, the Raiders’ Brock Bowers caught all nine passes aimed at him and managed 98 yards. The back row has not played at its level.
Inner attack line — Two weeks have passed and the Ravens’ attempt to bring young players onto the offensive line and believe in their development has not yielded any results. They had some early signs when they contained pass rusher Maxx Crosby in the second and third quarters, but the spoiler came through strongly in the first and fourth quarters. Defenses are going after their defenders and penetrating the interior to quickly put pressure on Jackson. Henry is frequently targeted at the line of scrimmage and the hope is that he can fight through 300-pound defenders and make an impact.
Head Coach John Harbaugh — Two challenges, both accepted. The first one didn’t look like he had a chance, and the second one didn’t look like he was going to win on the video board. The process for contesting these challenges appears to be flawed, because even though Harbaugh said he couldn’t expect to go undefeated in challenges, he has won only five of the last 18 challenges, according to Pro Football Reference.
Those lost tackles mean lost timeouts that they could have used to score points in both the first and second half of this game. Instead, they were forced to finish the first half more conservatively and had more difficulty mounting a comeback in the fourth quarter.
Collapse in the fourth quarter — Four times in the Jackson era, when Jackson played, the Ravens have blown double-digit 4th quarter leads. In 2022, they lost to the Dolphins and Giants. In 2023, it was to the Browns. Now, in 2024, they faltered against the Raiders after being up 10 points. The Ravens should have the defense to hold a lead. They have the offensive playmakers to hold a lead. Their special teams should be talented enough to execute. But they all falter at inopportune times, and their opponents take advantage. They’re missing the – and I hate that term – deciding factor.
Before this game, the Raiders had lost 49 straight games when trailing by 10+ points in the fourth quarter. They were 1-75 since 2013 when they trailed by 10+ points in the fourth quarter. They hadn’t won a game with fewer rush yards (27) since the 1990s. They were outgained by more than 100 yards, and the Raiders were 9-119-1 in such games.
P Jordan Stout — The Ravens needed a game-winning punt to stop the Raiders from making an easy push to the halfway line and take the lead. Instead, Stout threw a 24-yard punt with 2:27 left that put the Raiders in the plus zone and started their game-winning drive. But it all fell apart and this was another costly mistake in the fourth quarter.
