The latest and greatest content covering the Baltimore Ravens.
Steven Ruiz, The Ringer
Through seven weeks, Lamar Jackson has been the NFL’s best quarterback. It’s time these rankings reflect that. The reigning MVP—and new betting favorite to win the award this season—has knocked Patrick Mahomes off the top line for the first time in 24 months. Mahomes hasn’t produced like we’re used to seeing so far, but this change wasn’t a result of him performing poorly. His overall grade, which determines the order of the rankings, has dropped only slightly since the initial preseason rankings—mostly due to some questionable decision-making early in the season. But Jackson has closed what had been a wide gap between Mahomes and every other quarterback in Week 1.
Jackson’s command of the pocket has been excellent, which is rare for a scrambling quarterback. And he’s so much more than a QB who scrambles—and happens to be exceptionally good at it. Jackson doesn’t run himself into sacks, and he generally gets the ball out on time. When he holds the ball, it’s typically for a good reason, whether he’s evading an unblocked pass rusher or has already worked through his progression and is looking for an exit from the pocket. Jackson’s accuracy has also improved. That was never necessarily a weakness in his game, but it is now a strength, and that precision combined with Jackson’s dynamic arm makes him one of the top pure throwers in the NFL. His decision-making has improved as well. He’s taking more ownership of Baltimore’s offense. And he might be on the cusp of the best rushing season of his decorated career.
Jackson is on pace to become the league’s inaugural member of the 4,000/1,000 club. That’s over 4,000 passing and 1,000 rushing yards in a season. He’s also sporting a 15-2 touchdown-interception ratio and averaging over 9.1 yards per pass attempt. And only his teammate Derrick Henry is averaging more yards per run than Jackson’s 6.2 figure. This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen at the pro level. Jackson didn’t even hit these statistical benchmarks during his Heisman-winning campaign at Louisville. We’re watching one of the best seasons in the history of the sport. There’s an argument that it could go down as the best if Jackson can keep it up for the next 10 weeks. That’s what knocked Mahomes down to second place.
Chris Branch, The Athletic
In a 41-31 road win over the 4-3 Buccaneers that wasn’t as close as the score suggests, the Ravens declared themselves as the NFL’s hottest — if not overall best — team. Baltimore ran up 41 points in three and a half quarters of play, all while snatching two interceptions. Lamar Jackson accounted for five touchdowns. The Ravens, who came into this game No. 2 in total DVOA, looked elite in every phase against a good team. Remember when they started 0-2? Looks far away now. Nobody wants to play this 5-2 team.
Yes, the Chiefs are 6-0, the NFL’s last undefeated team. But watching them is a slog, a crock-potting of the highest proportion. A tough defense and a just-good-enough offense helmed by the best quarterback alive. It very much works, mind you, but it does not dazzle the eye as the Ravens have. I can only hope the playoffs get us a second round of empirical data on this matchup.
Jonas Shaffer, The Baltimore Banner
Jackson’s presence has always created an advantage for the Ravens’ running game, giving defenses another player to account for in the box. Over his first six seasons in Baltimore, leaning on a dynamic read-option attack, the Ravens averaged an NFL-best 2.28 yards before contact per rush when Jackson was on the field, according to TruMedia. No other team in that span averaged more than 1.85 yards before contact.
This season, the Ravens have created even bigger runways. They’re averaging 2.93 yards before contact per carry overall, nearly double the league average (1.56 yards) and almost a yard more than the second-place Philadelphia Eagles (2.06). Incredibly, the Ravens have more rushing yards before contact on designed runs (667) than 13 teams have total rushing yards.
Running back Derrick Henry has been the biggest beneficiary. On several of his longest runs this season, he wasn’t touched until he was 30-plus yards downfield — if he was even touched at all. Henry’s averaging more yards before contact this season than any other running back.
Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic
The Ravens have now won five straight games to improve to 5-2. In doing so, they’ve left little doubt that they currently possess the AFC’s top offense. They’re averaging 35 points and 479 yards per game over their winning streak after putting up 508 yards on Todd Bowles’ team Monday night. Their 244 rushing yards Monday makes them just the fourth team since 1980 to have at least 1,400 rushing yards through seven games.
They have the league’s leading MVP candidate in Jackson, who is playing inarguably the best football of his career, and the NFL’s leading rusher in Henry, who added 169 more yards to his total and now has 873 for the season to go along with 10 total touchdowns.
Remember all those September questions about what’s wrong with Andrews? He has 11 catches for 162 yards and three touchdowns over the past three games. Remember the narrative that Bateman and Jackson could never get on the same page? Bateman now has 12 catches for 250 yards and two scores over his last three games.
