The Ravens-Bengals Week 5 matchup was so insane that it made our country’s presidential election blush.
I’m not sure how much there is to take away from the game itself. I mean, Lamar Jackson is still good (stunning, I know), the defense needs to be better but still managed to make some critical plays, a lot needs to be cleaned up and it’s really nice for Justin Tucker to be Justin Tucker again.
Two weeks and 57 minutes into the season, we were afraid the Ravens might end up in freefall. Instead they’ve become one of the best teams in football again despite their imperfections. It is in part a testament to how truly weird the sport is. Nothing about the Ravens’ performance would have been particularly different had Bengals kicker Evan McPherson made his overtime field goal attempt, but our reaction to it would have changed dramatically.
That’s a reminder of how silly our dramatic takery can be.
But this particular game also served as another reminder of an issue we’ve discussed here previously. It’s a reminder of how small the margins are. We’ve obviously collectively freaked out about the number of times a sizable Ravens advantage has turned into a close game in recent seasons, but what we miss is that games are … typically very close! Fifty-two percent of NFL games were decided by one score in 2023. The number is in that range again to start the 2024 season. Games like the Ravens’ win against the Bills are the rarity! It isn’t at all common for teams to win going away with any consistency.
Going into Week 5, the Kansas City Chiefs (you know, the consensus best team in football) are a perfect 4-for-4 in their games being decided by one possession … and of course a perfect 4-for-4 in those games. Games are typically determined in the margins. They’re less of a reflection of “which is the better overall football team?” (which you of course know if you’ve watched any football at all from week to week) and more of a reflection of “did the 60-minute mark hit while you still had the earth in the window like you were doing a manual burn on Apollo 13?”
Were the Ravens the better team against the Bengals in Week 5? They were the team that won, so they get to say they were. But who actually knows. They nearly lost in the margins. Had McPherson’s kick been good, we’d pinpoint things like John Harbaugh’s bizarre decision to call a timeout after no gain on a second-and-10 run late in the first half (setting up a Bengals touchdown drive), an uncalled face mask on Mark Andrews that forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal on their final possession of regulation, Marcus Williams’ continued struggles and of course Jackson not being able to handle the snap in overtime as the reasons (within the margins) for a loss.
But the point is that there will be more of these. This isn’t the last close game the Ravens are going to play this season. They have to clean up lots of internal issues. The incongruity of the play-calling/timeout decision late in the first half is inexcusable. The communication in the secondary has to get better. And speaking of better, the roster could still be as well.
The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 5 and surely marks the most significant thing that will happen on Tuesday Nov. 5. That’s still the better part of a month away, meaning there’s lots of time for Davante Adams to learn other things about Baltimore culture. By next week he could start posting picture of Juliet Ames-designed salt boxes or Jim Palmer in his underpants or the other flavors of Old Bay (like Old Bay Hot or Old Bay Blackened or Old Bay Lemon & Herb) that even Baltimoreans don’t realize exist because they’ve never actually bought Old Bay because somehow Old Bay just, like, exists in perpetuity in our pantries.
It’s easy to talk yourself out of the idea of trading for Adams because he might “rock the boat,” right? The Ravens had great success running the ball against the Cowboys and Bills. You wouldn’t necessarily want them to make a decision that would make them feel inclined to get away from that identity.
But the Bengals game also reminded us that games don’t always go to script. The Ravens will have to win games in other ways even if they prioritize running the ball. It’s not that they “need” a player of Adams’ caliber to be able to do that, it’s that it both can’t hurt and could be insurance should there be more injury issues as the season goes on.
I don’t think Davante Adams ends up being a Raven. I almost always think this way when it comes to potentially available star players. More often than not, I end up being correct! But I don’t think we should be dismissive of the concept. The Ravens can use upgrades. They still have issues up front on both sides of the ball. I don’t think their Super Bowl window is closing by any stretch of imagination but after recent playoff setbacks, it would seem as though this is the perfect year to be a bit more aggressive. That doesn’t mean reckless. They almost certainly won’t do that.
But it does mean consideration. And not living in fear of a little bit of boat-rocking.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox