I think the Ravens are fine.
Relatively speaking, anyway. I think the Ravens are OK. I think that losing to the Browns could have been really bad. I truly believe that one of the most significant factors in a team’s ability to succeed in the NFL is the ability to prevent spiraling. I don’t know who to credit for the concept, but I’ve long shared the sentiment that “the hardest thing to do in sports is stop losing.” My former radio partner Drew Forrester and I used to talk about it constantly. “Spiraling” isn’t just the second-best Jimmie’s Chicken Shack song.
Did we think a single failed two-point conversion would direct the Buccaneers to four losses in five games? Or that blowing a fourth quarter lead in London would send the Packers to a three-game losing streak capped by the absolute indignity of a loss to the Washington Commanders?
This doesn’t mean those teams’ seasons are over. Far from it. But once losing creeps in, it can become difficult to shake. Sometimes it lasts for the rest of a season. Sometimes it lasts far longer.
The Ravens have been through disappointment a few times this season. They’ve responded to it well. They haven’t been anywhere close to the realm of perfection. But nothing has overwhelmed them. Whether we want to admit it or not, there’s something to be said for that.
I’m well aware they have problems. In fact, I’m not exactly certain which position group on this team (save for special teams) you’d be inclined to say has played particularly well this season. We’d say the tight ends, but we’re really only talking about Mark Andrews (who of course had a goose egg against the Browns). It was the quarterback at the beginning of the year, but even that’s been not quite perfect of late.
Every group has had its moments. Every group has had its moments to forget. I’ve said before that I feel like it would be easier to judge this team if its issues could be pinned to one specific thing. (“They’d be fine if they could just get __ back on the field or trade for __,” for example.)
Through it all, they’re a first-place team in a league where every team (save for the Bills, Eagles and for the most part the Chiefs) has felt mediocre. It would be nice if the Ravens were 7-0, and it’s frustrating because despite their warts it feels like they could be. And they have a really favorable (on paper) schedule in front of them which features just one opponent (Cincinnati) that currently has a winning record.
Which doesn’t mean the Ravens can simply sit back and cruise to 13 or 14 wins. It will be interesting to see if their commitment to run the ball in Week 7 reflects a shift back to the ground-dominant offense we expected from a Greg Roman offense. The offense has been statistically very good but inconsistent and hasn’t trended up in the most recent weeks.
Fans will clamor for Roman to be fired (as they always do) … as if firing coordinators isn’t a move teams only make mid-season out of desperation. I don’t know that Roman has been particularly good this season (and I said a week ago that I don’t understand why the Ravens would have brought him back only to get away from his style of offense). But coordinator changes are drastic moves. The Cam Cameron to Jim Caldwell switch in 2012 is by far the exception, not the rule.
So Roman needs to be more consistent. The Ravens need to have an offensive identity. Gus Edwards looked good in his return to the offense and perhaps, as much as fans might be bothered by it, a return to a run-first, run-often attack is exactly what they need.
Lamar Jackson absolutely must improve at taking what’s in front of him. It stood out during his late-season struggles against Cover Zero last year and it hasn’t gone away. While play-call decisions are often fair to question, there’s no defending Jackson not getting the ball out to the left on the game-sealing strip sack against the Giants or failing to check down to Gus Edwards on the first play of the second half against Cleveland. Lamar Jackson is an unbelievable player. He’s a top-tier quarterback. He deserves a contract that will make him generationally wealthy.
But he has to make these plays. He has to have an internal clock that helps him work through his progressions a bit quicker. He has to have an appetite for making the best play instead of the biggest play.
The Ravens’ defense played really well outside of two drives (and a bomb to Amari Cooper) against the Browns. They could use a lot more of that version of Patrick Queen. The pass rush was much better and should continue to improve with Tyus Bowser and David Ojabo still slated to return.
And I’m still interested in exploring the trade market for a legitimate receiver.
But they’re fine. As of right now, they’re fine. And that’s all they need to be after seven weeks.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox