The ball isn’t round.
This is a saying we use often in football to describe the inexplicable. Truth be told, strange things happen in sports where the ball IS round, too. But the awkward bounces of a football and the drastic variable of 22 players being on the field at the same time have a tendency to lend to even stranger things happening in football than in the sports where the ball is as round as Charles Barkley.
I don’t really think the Baltimore Ravens are 32 points better than the Detroit Lions. As of today, the result states that they’re a better team than the Lions. But I don’t know what would happen if these teams played five more games against each other in the next five weeks.
What I do know is that the Ravens were 32 points better than the Lions on Oct. 22. They were downright sublime. It was one of the most emphatic performances we’ve seen in the history of M&T Bank Stadium if not the history of the franchise.
The numbers were eye-popping. But to me, six were defining. So this week’s column will be “by the numbers” style. Here are the six numbers that stood out (in descending order).
29
As in, after five more sacks against the Lions, the Ravens now have a league-leading 29 sacks on the season. I’m not sure how to make sense of it, to be honest with you. I’m still not sure that the Ravens shouldn’t consider significant edge rushers who might be available at the trade deadline. But defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald continues to push the right buttons in terms of scheming pressure, Kyle Van Noy continues to offer big-time help fresh off his couch and Justin Madubuike is playing like a man possessed (or simply wanting to secure the proverbial bag). It was also nice to see Odafe Oweh get back into the mix on a day when the defensive front generated eight total hits on Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
9
As in, the Ravens utilized a season-high nine pass-catchers in their dominant offensive performance. Perhaps most importantly, eight of them were all involved in the first half and the ninth (Gus Edwards on his 80-yard scamper) was involved before the midway point of the third quarter.
We’re going to say the phrase “this is what the Ravens’ offense can be” or “this is what we expected the Ravens’ offense to be” throughout the week. We should define it thusly. When the Ravens added another first-round wide receiver and spent real money (by their standards) on Odell Beckham Jr. in free agency, the excitement felt in this city was about having the deepest group of pass-catchers the franchise had ever assembled.
Assembling such depth is only helpful if you use it. The Ravens got everyone in the mix early, including a pair of big catches from Rashod Bateman. We had rightfully started to wonder about Bateman a bit after his drops against the Steelers and route-running issues that led to an interception against the Titans.
7
There are only so many different ways to say “Lamar Jackson was brilliant against the Lions.” As ESPN Stats & Info pointed out, it might as well be his middle name. It was his seventh career game with four passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown while completing at least 75 percent of his passes. No other player has more such games before their 30th birthday.
The numbers get even more fun, as FOX pointed out during the broadcast that Jackson’s 27.4 points per game as a starter (presumably his number before the game) was the third most of any quarterback in the Super Bowl era, behind just Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.
And speaking of Brady, CBS noted that this was Jackson’s third career game with a 155.0+ or better passer rating, which matches the total for Tom Brady’s career, which if I remember correctly lasted 58 years.
Jackson has been spectacular. He’s very much in the picture to win a second MVP.
3
As in, the Ravens did all of this offensively against the team that had the No. 3 DVOA defense in the NFL coming into the day. We shouldn’t undersell that. They’re not stat-padding against a bad team. They methodically dismantled what had been one of the best defenses in football. And it came just three weeks after they had systematically picked apart the Cleveland Browns, who came into the week as the No. 1 DVOA defense in the league.
The only top-three DVOA defense they haven’t roughed up this season? That would be their own.
1
As in, there was only one negative on the day, another botched mesh between Jackson and running back Justice Hill. We’ve seen the issues repeatedly, although it’s hard to have a grasp on the true number of issues the duo has dealt with because the fumble stats go to Jackson and not Hill. But as former Ravens Super Bowl XXXV champion fullback Femi Ayanbadejo pointed out on our “Project Gameday” postgame show, this is on the running back. Jackson had the running lane and wanted to pull it down.
There is so much to like about Hill’s ability in space and as a pass-catcher, but at some point you have to wonder if the fumbles will be his undoing. Speaking of “1,” that’s how many touches we saw for rookie running back Keaton Mitchell, who flashed his blazing speed. Unfortunately, he was banged up late and not able to get any more touches, but it will be interesting to monitor this dynamic in the next few weeks.
0
As in, the number of you I saw offering apologies to John Harbaugh for how you were trying to fire him a couple weeks ago.
But it’s also for the zero sacks allowed on a spectacular day for the offensive line. That effort was led by Ronnie Stanley blocking Kerby Joseph into the harbor on the first touchdown of the day.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox