The Ravens have returned from their bye week, as they put together to tackle the New York Giants within the Meadowlands. The Ravens are at the moment listed as prohibitive 14 ½ level street favorites. May there be considerations about overlooking one of many league’s worst groups and the nice Drew Lock?
John Harbaugh addressed the query on Monday:
“We’re excited to get back to work. We had a good week. I think our guys made the most of the [bye] week – different guys [did] different things. We had some rest player-wise; we also had a bunch of guys training and working and getting ready for what’s ahead. We have a four-game season in front of us right now. This is the season; it kind of begins now. The season is important to determine the important outcomes for the rest of the way – that’s what we’re focused on. We’ll be focusing on this game, putting everything we’ve got into it, and then we’ll go from there.”
So, there you’ve got it.
Form of…
The bye week gave the staff a chance to relaxation their our bodies, clear their heads and put a ways between themselves and previous errors that hopefully aren’t repeated. Time will inform in the event that they’re profitable.
The Ravens sit at (8-5), two video games behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, a staff that lacks the expertise of their feathered arch-rivals. However the Steelers simply appear to have a knack of discovering methods to win. They don’t beat themselves, however they do pressure opponents to make errors, one thing that the Ravens do all too usually. The expertise is there for Baltimore, for essentially the most half. However the execution in key moments has been missing in every one among their losses. The Ravens are the Ravens most threatening opponent to this point.
And that’s a mirrored image on each the gamers and training workers. Zach Orr appears to have stabilized the protection with the assistance of Kyle Hamilton and Ar’Darius Washington. Particular groups are inconsistent at greatest and the man sporting No. 9 looks like an imposter.
The offense can look unbeatable at time however once they face groups with stout defensive tackles, all bets are off. Monken’s group then morphs right into a rudderless ship. Hopefully the bye week offered some options.
Shock The Monken
I’ve been listening to opinions about the way forward for Todd Monken and most recommend that his days with the Ravens are numbered – that he can be a major head teaching candidate as soon as the season ends.
Actually?
Shade me shocked!
Monken is a effective offensive coordinator who has zero head teaching expertise within the league, a dismal head teaching document (13-25) in his solely gig as a skipper at Southern Miss from 2013-15, and he can be 59 years outdated in February. Monken doesn’t match the profile of the younger, up-and-coming coach on the quick monitor that groups throughout the league appear to desire.
And there’s another factor…he gained’t be capable of take Lamar Jackson with him.
Put me down for this – the one manner Monken leaves his present gig is that if he surprises everybody and retires.
Assist Wished
Whereas the Ravens roster is stronger than that every one 5 of the opposite (8-5) groups, which suggests underachievement, a roster that they will’t compete with is that of the Eagles. It was on full show throughout the conflict between these staff again on December 1.
Earlier than the season started, the massive considerations concerning the Ravens had been as follows, and in no specific order:
• Offensive Line• Edge Rusher• Changing Patrick Queen
Let’s choose them off one after the other, we could?
Offensive Line
Daniel Faalele just isn’t a beginning caliber offensive guard. He’s clumsy when attempting to get to the second degree, he pulls like he’s dragging a Steinway grand piano and if he’s up in opposition to a faster opponent, nicely I’ve bought the identical recommendation for Lamar that others have for unlawful immigrants – RUN!
Patrick Mekari has been an important soldier for the Ravens – a Johnny on the spot, filling in wherever and each time wanted. However these days, he’s been the bass drum to Dave Grohl’s thunderous pedal. He seems to be worn down, overwhelmed up and lunges just like the contributors at a senior middle train class.
Making this look even worse, is the truth that the Ravens let guard Kevin Zeitler depart Baltimore for peanuts – Six. Million. {Dollars}. Possibly they erroneously thought that somebody would step up and carry out at Zeitler’s 2023 Professional Bowl degree. Possibly the docs suggested the Ravens personnel choice makers that the knee Zeitler injured in the direction of the top of the 2023 season wouldn’t maintain up in 2024.
Nicely, in that case, they had been flawed!
All of them!
Per Professional Soccer Focus, Zeitler is the league’s 2nd-highest performing guard. Comparatively talking, Faalele and Mekari rank 59th and thirty ninth, respectively. In addition to this week pair of beginning guards, the Ravens have Andrew Vorhees who the staff graded as a Day 2 choose within the 2023 NFL Draft if he had been wholesome, and Ben Cleveland, a 2021 Third-round choose taken 4 picks forward of Quinn Meinerz, at the moment PFF’s Fifth-highest graded guard. Cleveland can’t even sniff the sphere, besides on particular groups the place his singular contribution all season is a blocked discipline aim try.
Edge Rusher
The Ravens crossed their fingers and hoped that Odafe Oweh would step up his recreation, and at occasions he has. Additionally they hoped that the sunshine would come on for David Ojabo this season, as soon as regarded as a first-round worthy prospect earlier than he injured his Achilles at The Combines. Sadly, as an alternative of including to his sack stats, he racks up wholesome scratches on recreation day. Apparently he hasn’t paid his utility invoice.
Nobody ought to fault GM Eric DeCosta for letting Jadeveon Clowney go. He’s a little bit of a employed gun – a mercenary seeking to money in on his career-high sack totals from 2023 (9 ½). However identical to the offensive line, the following man up at edge simply hasn’t gotten it completed.
No Extra PQ
The Ravens mishandled Patrick Queen. They thought that he was a plug-and-play asset enjoying beside and benefitting from Roquan Smith. They thought he was a replaceable widget and the alternative, Trenton Simpson, would merely be a marginal step again that they may overcome. Nicely, they thought flawed.
And Queen’s departure not solely weakened his vacated weak-side off-the-ball linebacker spot, nevertheless it additionally harm Nnamdi Madubuike. Why? As a result of Madubuike benefitted in 2023 from Queen’s explosiveness as an inside blitzer. With out Queen, Madubuike has been first rate however nothing like he was final season, and now, he’s a participant not enjoying to the extent of his contract.
Extra Personnel Points
Talking of gamers not enjoying to the extent of their contract, there’s Marcus Williams, one other horrible security signing by DeCosta, one practically as unhealthy as Earl Thomas. It’s no coincidence that since Williams was benched, the Ravens cross protection has been among the many league’s greatest. In the meantime, Williams nonetheless receives his weekly direct deposit of $666,666.67 whereas being a drag on the cap to the tune of $18.7M in 2024. Virtually $19M of cap area parked on the bench, invested in a participant who doesn’t even contribute on particular groups.
And let’s be trustworthy, the 2024 draft hasn’t offered a lot of a punch both. First-round choose Nate Wiggins has performed decently however he can’t even take full command of the beginning job. Wiggins has performed in 11 of 13 video games and has began in simply three. PFF has him ranked because the league’s 63rd greatest nook. And apparently, he isn’t adequate to wrestle management of Brandon Stephen’s beginning job regardless of his rank of 166 among the many 213 CBs graded by PFF. In the meantime, a participant the Ravens may have drafted as an alternative of Wiggins, one who is way extra versatile, is Cooper DeJean, who by the way in which is PFF’s Seventh-ranked CB.
In addition to Wiggins, the one 2024 draft choose that has made any noteworthy contribution is 2nd-round Roger Rosengarten. Third-round choose Adisa Isaac (Edge) has dressed simply 4 occasions and has 4 tackles. WR Devontez Walker (4th) has been a wholesome scratch for 8 of 13 video games and has but to be focused as a receiver. Security T.J. Tampa (4th) has spent extra time within the coach’s room than on the sphere. RB Rasheen Ali (Fifth) has had a number of kick returns however is virtually pointless. QB Devin Leary (sixth) picked up some Ravens swag and a pair months of free lunches earlier than he was reduce unfastened. C Nick Samac (Seventh) has completed nothing aside from eat up a roster spot and security Sanoussi Kane (Seventh) looks like a good particular groups participant.
That’s it!
That’s the Ravens 2024 draft class.
By the commerce deadline, DeCosta managed to commerce for 2 gamers no one wished – Tre’Davious White and Diontae Johnson and the latter, apparently the Ravens don’t need both. It hasn’t been an excellent season for the previous NFL Govt of the 12 months.
Hope Stays After The Bye Week
With the bye week behind them, there’s nonetheless an opportunity that the Ravens can go on a run and end the season at (12-5). There’s additionally an opportunity they may end (10-7). We’ve seen Ravens groups up to now head into December struggling but pull it collectively and efficiently dash to the end line. In a league that has no dominant staff, that is still a chance. However they’ll want consistency and to date, if something, the Ravens have proven themselves to be extremely inconsistent. And let’s not overlook that starting on Sunday, they’ll be pressured to play three video games over the course of 10 days, Christmas included.
That’s a slippery slope.
However there’s at all times hope.
You’ll have reached this level of the article pondering that I’ve painted an image of gloom and doom. However right here’s the factor…if throughout the bye week, the Ravens haven’t taken a tough look inward, an trustworthy evaluation of themselves and completed some important self-scouting, they usually fail to return out on Sunday with no sense of urgency, this painted image will turn out to be actuality.
After which the actual soul looking will start a month from now.
[Related Article: Looking Way Ahead]
