The pendulum was supposed to be swinging.
During the offseason, it was notable that the Ravens finally seemed to prioritize their offense a bit more than their defense. It hadn’t been that way often during the history of the franchise, after all. Not only did the Ravens make Lamar Jackson one of the highest-paid players in the history of the sport, they used their only pick in the top two rounds of the NFL Draft to select a wide receiver (Zay Flowers) while also adding another (Odell Beckham Jr.) in free agency.
The Ravens didn’t sign an outside defensive player until May (cornerback Rock Ya-Sin), and they did not sign any other outside defensive players until after training camp had begun. It was decidedly anti-Ravens-like. Combined with the move to replace Greg Roman with Todd Monken at offensive coordinator, it felt like a new day had arrived in Baltimore. Instead of relying on their defense to carry them, it was finally time for the Ravens to acknowledge how football had changed and that the way to win was with a dominant offense.
The pendulum was going to need to swing. The Ravens were going to have to rely on their offense a little more than we were used to in order to make up for some potential defensive deficiencies.
And so naturally, six games in, the Ravens are … tied with the (checks notes) Washington Commanders at the middle of the NFL in scoring offense (22.2 points per game) while trailing only the 49ers, Chiefs and Bills (admittedly good teams!) at fourth in the league defensively while allowing 15.2 points per game.
“Glenn, are you saying that like it’s a bad thing?”
I’m not sure! We’re more than a third of the way through the regular season, so the sample size is officially big enough that we can start making judgments about the team. It’s hard to make a lot of sweeping judgments about this particular team because the Ravens are both clearly good and yet just as clearly imperfect. The 4-2 record (putting them back atop the AFC North) is what matters most, but it doesn’t matter alone. Every team in the division is now coming off a win, including the Browns’ stunning victory against the previously unbeaten 49ers.
The easy thing to say would be, “They’re good, but the offense needs to be better/more consistent if they’re going to make a significant run at a Super Bowl.” And that’s … probably true? I think? The teams in the bottom half of the league in scoring offense are decidedly not Super Bowl threats save for perhaps the Bengals after they got off to a slow start in part due to Joe Burrow’s health. (Denver, Minnesota, Chicago, Arizona, Cleveland, the Jets, Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, the Giants and New England are the others.)
It’s not unfair to suggest that the Ravens have to be more consistent offensively to break through among the other title contenders. But it would be unfair to suggest there isn’t reason to think they’re still improving. In their Week 6 win over the Titans, the Ravens comfortably outgained Tennessee 360-233 but went just 1-6 in red-zone opportunities. That would be more problematic if the Titans weren’t one of the best red-zone defenses in football and the Ravens, despite their struggles in London, weren’t still among the best red-zone offenses.
A woeful performance by Ravens pass-catchers against the Steelers in Week 5 conspired to hurt their overall efficiency, but those drop issues have not existed in other games. They still need to establish a more obvious offensive identity. They’re not particularly good at the “bully ball” style of running they had so much success with under Greg Roman. But there is much more to be encouraged than discouraged about at this point.
And moreover, perhaps what is most significant is that we’ve learned that the pendulum actually doesn’t need to swing at all. Instead of the responsibility falling on the offense to pick up the defense, these units appear to be closer to playing complementary football. Ironically, as well as the defense has played, I’m still probably more concerned about the edge rush unit than any other position group on the roster. Their six-sack performance against the Titans was encouraging but some of that was piled on late because Titans backup quarterback Malik Willis has a thing for holding on to the ball for too long. Five of their six sacks were recorded on the Titans’ final possession with Willis in the game.
So yeah, I’d still be interested in Danielle Hunter or Brian Burns or Chase Young if they’re truly on the trade market if I were Ravens GM Eric DeCosta. And the defense will get a better test with a visit from the Lions in Week 7, but there’s no reason to be dismissive of the job that unit has done so far.
So perhaps the pendulum didn’t actually need to swing at all. But if the offense can continue to take steps forward, the Ravens might have the chance to play the type of total team football that can make them a serious championship contender.
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