In the aftermath of their 30-23 overtime win against the Atlanta Falcons, the Ravens now look ahead to another road game, this time an AFC North battle with the Browns in Cleveland on Oct. 18.
Former Ravens Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator and longtime Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis joined Glenn Clark Radio Oct. 13 for his weekly segment to discuss the Ravens performance on “Sunday Night Football.”
Lewis was asked about tight end Mark Andrews and his recent struggles that were evident in Atlanta. This included a dropped touchdown on the opening drive, a lost fumble returned for a score by Jessie Bates III and a failed two‑point conversion in the third quarter. Lewis said “it’s a concentration thing.”
Lewis said everyone still remembers his dropped two‑point conversion at the end of the 2024 divisional round loss to Buffalo but emphasized Andrews must move forward and not let that moment define him.
“Mark’s just got to go back and focus on catching the football — and I mean, there were some bang-bang hits on those plays, but still, he’s paid to catch the football and he’s not going to shy away from that and nobody needs to shy away from that,” Lewis said.
“There’s a lot of football to be played and we get to the end of this and he’s doing what he normally does and he has 70-plus catches, everybody will feel pretty good about everything,” the former coach added.
The Ravens’ defense allowed 367 yards of total offense, but Lewis was impressed with the unit’s progress in its performance in Atlanta. He made note of how the defense held star running back Bijan Robinson to just 86 rushing yards and sacked quarterback Michael Penix Jr. three times.
“I thought they managed [Robinson] and you can come away after a football game thinking you managed the back,” Lewis said. “They didn’t let Penix throw up those rainbows very often, throws which he specializes in. When it came time to get pressure, they really did a good job.”
Lewis added that they were several Baltimore defenders who emerged in the Atlanta game, including linebackers Mike Green (one sack, two tackles for loss) and Tavius Robinson (one sack, six total tackles). Those players helped fill in for injured edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
Lewis broke down Green’s one-on-one matchup against Atlanta left tackle Jake Matthews.
“He has the initial burst, the twitch, the Gumby,” Lewis said. “He’s able to open his hips [in order to] get him through the blocker and he is not going up against any slouch over there in Matthews.”
“When you go up against a great offensive tackle like he is, it’s an all-day sucker,” he added. “You have to keep coming each and every play and every time he makes a mistake, you’ve got to capitalize on it.”
Lewis then analyzed the film of safety Malaki Starks, who played closer to the line of scrimmage than usual and helped limit Robinson. Lewis said Starks did a good job of “reading his keys” in the run game.
“It’s all about the discipline of executing your job and then when the ball comes your way, you go ahead and make a play,” Lewis said. “It’s not a guessing game. It’s not like, ‘Well, I’m just going to run up there and we’ll see what happens.’ … That 11-man defense is what you’ve got to play and they did a nice job of that, obviously limiting Bijan Robinson to what they did in the running game.”
The Browns are coming off a 17-12 loss to the New York Jets. Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson completed 15 of 33 throws for 155 yards and one touchdown. Lewis said “Deshaun didn’t have a bad day, he just made no plays down the field and they weren’t able to run the football.” He said the key for the Ravens is for them to run the football and to not allow Watson to make explosive plays down the field.
Lewis was asked whether this past game against the Falcons can start the Ravens trajectory throughout this season.
“I really do think this an opportunity to keep building upon their success they’ve had,” Lewis said. “I mean, to be sitting there at 4-1, that’s a pretty good spot right now.”
For more from Lewis, watch the full interview here.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox