The Ravens (6-3) hit their bye week with a three-game winning streak and a one-game lead in the AFC North after rolling over the New Orleans Saints, 27-13, on “Monday Night Football” on Nov. 7.
Players have the rest of the week off before returning to focus on a second half of the schedule that, on the surface, looks forgiving; the next four opponents — Carolina, Jacksonville, Denver and Pittsburgh — have a combined record of 10-24, and the Ravens are expected to be favored in every game until at least the regular-season finale at Cincinnati.
John Harbaugh said the coaching staff will be doing a lot of self-scouting this week before enjoying a rare weekend off.
“We really need to evaluate where we’re at, where we’re going,” Harbaugh said as he met with the media a day after the win at New Orleans.
For the Ravens, the bye comes at essentially the midpoint of a 17-game season, and as the players rest up and heal up to prepare for the final eight games, here are five key numbers that help tell the tale of the season’s first half:
8.5 — Sacks for Justin Houston
The 12-year veteran admits he contemplated retirement this past summer after one season with the Ravens. Instead, Houston re-signed on a one-year, $3.5 million deal, and the 33-year-old figured to be a complementary role player and mentor. That’s a role he has embraced in Baltimore, frequently staying on the field after practice to work with younger players on technique.
Because of the lack of available outside linebackers, Houston played more than half the snaps in the first two games, a larger workload than the team anticipated, and it took a toll; Houston was sidelined by a groin injury for three weeks. Since returning from the injury, Houston has been a menace, becoming the first player in Ravens franchise history to record multiple sacks in three straight games. In his past three games alone, Houston has tallied 6.5 sacks — nearly the total that Tyus Bowser recorded (7) in leading the team last season.
Houston was the best player on the field in the Ravens win at New Orleans, recording 2.5 sacks and his fifth career interception, which set up a Ravens touchdown. He was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for that performance.
With the Ravens’ edge rush group getting healthier and deeper, the team has been able to ration Houston’s workload, and he has become the league’s most efficient pass rusher. According to Next Gen Stats, Houston has a sack on 6.4 percent of his pass rushes and a pressure on 19.5 percent, both best in the league for players with at least 100 snaps.
Bowser returned to action at New Orleans for the first time since he suffered a torn Achilles in the 2021 season finale, and rookie second-round pick David Ojabo should be primed to make his debut after the bye. The edge rush, a major concern throughout the summer, is rounding into form, with the ageless Houston leading the way.
15 — Catches by Rashod Bateman
After the Ravens traded Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals this offseason, Rashod Bateman was expected to ascend to the “WR1” position, and the team hoped the 2021 first-round draft pick could match Brown’s 1,000-yard season of a year ago.
Bateman showed great promise early, with touchdown catches of 55 and 75 yards in the first two games, but then he was slowed by a Lisfranc foot injury that sidelined him for two games and ultimately landed him on season-ending injured reserve. He finishes his second season with 15 catches for 285 yards.
In his absence, Devin Duvernay has emerged as the team’s top wide receiver, though tight end Mark Andrews remains the top receiving target. Andrews leads the team with 42 catches for 488 yards and five touchdowns.
Duvernay, who appears on his way to a second straight Pro Bowl honor as a return specialist, leads Ravens wide receivers with 25 catches — tied for 79th in the league among all pass catchers.
General manager Eric DeCosta did not bolster the position through the draft, or through a major free-agency acquisition, or at the trade deadline, even knowing of Bateman’s injury by then. The Ravens signed Demarcus Robinson in August after he was cut by the Las Vegas Raiders, and he has produced modest results, with 16 catches for 152 yards.
More recently, they signed veteran DeSean Jackson, hoping he can add a big-play dimension over the season’s second half. But the fact that Bateman totaled 15 catches in the team’s first nine games speaks volumes about the state of the Ravens passing attack.
19 — Team’s overall defensive ranking
The story behind this ranking isn’t its number but rather its trajectory; through the first three games under new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, the Ravens ranked dead last in total defense, and they squandered big leads in two losses in their first four games. It all looked painfully familiar to a year ago, when the Ravens finished No. 25 overall and dead last in passing defense.
But like temperatures this time of year, that number has been trending lower (better) — to No. 30, then 25, then 24, and now No. 19 after holding the Saints to 243 offensive yards, their lowest total of the season.
There’s every reason to think that number will continue to drop, too. The Ravens have bolstered the defense by aggressively trading for Chicago Bears All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith, who made his presence felt immediately with the Ravens by stuffing Alvin Kamara on two short-yardage runs.
The edge rush group is getting healthier, with Tyus Bowser back on the field and rookie second-round pick David Ojabo getting close. Rookie safety and top draft pick Kyle Hamilton looks the part after a rough opening stretch of the season in which he seemed to have issues with both communication and confidence. And safety Marcus Williams, who recorded three interceptions in the opening two games, is expected back in December from the wrist injury that has sidelined him for the past four games.
The schedule also gets softer, and Macdonald’s group has a chance to make a statement that, once again, defense makes the difference in Baltimore.
90 — Opponents points in the fourth quarter
The Ravens were the better team for almost the entirety of their three losses, and they easily could be strutting into the bye with a record of about 8-1. Instead, they spent the first month of the season lamenting lost chances, especially a spectacular meltdown in the final quarter against Miami, as the Dolphins roared back from a 35-14 deficit with four touchdowns in the final eight minutes to stun the Ravens, 42-38.
The Ravens also blew 10-point second-half leads in losses to Buffalo and the New York Giants, and through nine games, they have been outscored 90-45 in the fourth quarter. They have led going into the fourth quarter in eight of nine games, and were tied in the other one (against Buffalo).
To their credit, they did not let their season unravel in the wake of those collapses, and since that loss to the Giants — who scored the game’s final 14 points — they have reeled off three straight wins. They have preached about the need to “finish.”
At New Orleans, the Ravens outscored the Saints in the fourth quarter, 10-7, marking the first time all season that the Ravens won the fourth quarter.
635 — Rushing yards for Lamar Jackson
In their most recent two games, the Ravens got back to their roots with a run-first, clock-eating ground attack that wore down both Tampa Bay and New Orleans. The Ravens piled up 204 rushing yards in the second half against Tampa Bay, and totaled 132 after halftime against the Saints.
Through nine games, though, the Ravens have cycled through five running backs, with Kenyan Drake, Justice Hill and Mike Davis all serving as fill-ins while incumbents J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards worked back from injuries that cost them all of the 2021 season. Dobbins and Edwards are both dealing with injuries again.
No running back on the team is on pace for even 650 rushing yards, and yet their rushing offense ranks No. 2 in the league, largely because of Jackson.
Jackson leads the Ravens with 86 carries for 635 yards, and his average of 7.4 yards a run leads the league. He is on pace for 1,199 rushing yards, just shy of his total of 1,206 (in 16 games) in his MVP season of 2019.
Jackson had a 79-yard touchdown run — the longest of his career — against Miami in Week 2, and he kept the ball four times on the Ravens final drive to set up Justin Tucker’s game-winning field goal as time expired against Cincinnati.
Jackson has averaged just 163 yards through the air in the past three games, and his completion percentage (.623) ranks 27th in the league. To be sure, legitimate questions exist about the Ravens’ passing game, but Jackson continues to show that the Ravens’ run game runs through him.
As Harbaugh said after the win over the Cleveland Browns, “You can win a game as a quarterback a lot of different ways [other] than just throwing the ball around.”
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