On a cold rainy day, the Baltimore Ravens escaped with a narrow 20-12 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Defensively, it was a terrific showing against the top passing offense in the NFL aside from a few plays. They limited Jameis Winston to 157 yards and an interception.
On the other side of the ball, it was a frustrating performance. Despite winning the time of possession battle by nearly 15 minutes and converting nine of their 16 third-down opportunities, Baltimore struggled to put points on the board. Although they had five red zone trips, the Ravens only amassed two touchdowns and two field goals.
1. Development is not linear
Regardless of how Baltimore’s 2018 campaign ends, Lamar Jackson’s development is the most important thing. He is the quarterback of the future, and he must be a dependable player for the Ravens to be competitive in the next few seasons. Despite being 4-1 as a starter in the NFL, Jackson’s five starts have provided mixed results. He is consistently making plays with his legs, which should have been expected. However, his passing has left a ton to be desired.
His inconsistent mechanics and footwork have often led to inaccurate throws. Inaccuracy has been his biggest issue as opposed to making the right the reads. Jackson’s ability to survey the field and progress through his reads have hardly been an issue. Mechanical issues in a quarterback’s throwing motion can often complicate things and skew the perception of his development.
The critical thing to remember is that Jackson is trying to break old habits, which will rear their ugly heads from time to time. Simply put, just because he makes a mistake does not mean that he is regressing. A crucial part of fixing mechanics is physical — feeling and recognizing awkward or incorrect movements. Another underrated part is mental — it is almost natural to focus on what his body has to do until it becomes second nature, which in turn could affect his overall play.
Quarterback development is often similar to a roller coaster. It will feature a ton of highs and lows instead of a linear path.
2. Out of sight, out of mind
Aside from some of Jackson’s poor throws, he delivered a couple of accurate, on-time darts. The biggest takeaway from Jackson’s up and down performance against Tampa Bay should be his ability to have a ‘short-term memory.’ For as bad as it was in the first half, Jackson shook off the early game woes and led an impressive eight-play 63-yard drive late in the second quarter that ended in a field goal. He delivered several ‘NFL-caliber’ throws, including a 28-yard connection to Willie Snead, on that series.
3. Welcome to the Twilight Zone
In one of the most bizarre first half’s for the Ravens’ offense this season, Marty Mornhinweg seemingly abandoned most of the concepts that worked well up to this point. The only logical explanation was that Mornhinweg was attempting to outsmart the Buccaneers, who were clearly loading up to stop the run. While in theory that sounds reasonable, Tampa Bay struggled all season against the run and the Ravens have had some success despite opposing defenses knowing a run-heavy approach is coming. By doing this, Mornhinweg was playing chess against himself. The offense was ineffective early on because of this upside down strategy.
Baltimore should instead use the run to set up the pass. If they have any success running the ball early, teams will begin to play single-high safety man-coverage looks, which in turn would open up the field for the tight ends and receivers. It will also allow the Ravens to run a ton of well-established man-coverage beaters, such as pick concepts or high-low concepts.
The other peculiar aspect of Baltimore’s offensive strategy was their lack of aggression. After a Marlon Humphrey interception, the Ravens started their drive on Tampa Bay’s 43-yard line up by eight points with a little over 13 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Instead of letting the Buccaneers hang around, Baltimore should have continued to stay aggressive and essentially seal the game with a touchdown. The Ravens were too conservative, and it resulted in a three-play, 31-yard drive.
However, the Ravens did make up for it with an impressive 7:08 drive to end the game. They were able to effectively run out the clock with a 12 consecutive running plays on the final possession of the game. Time of possession may not be the end all be all, but it certainly helped Baltimore seal the game.
4. Twilight zone Part 2
Heading into Week 15, the Ravens’ defense was in the top-10 in yards allowed to opposing tight ends. Each week, it seemed a new tight end would feast on Baltimore’s questionable coverage strategies. It would not matter whether it was Tony Jefferson, Eric Weddle, Kenny Young, C.J. Mosley, Jimmy Smith, or even Marlon Humphrey, the Ravens would give up a significant amount of yards to tight ends. This week was a much different story. Cameron Brate was held to only one reception for nine yards on two targets. Baltimore utilized different coverage strategies to shutdown Brate, who has been effective in the red zone this season.
5. Lockdown?
Aside from a 64-yard completion to Mike Evans, Baltimore’s secondary as a whole was overwhelming. They limited one of the best passing offenses to 156 yards. The coverage was outstanding, including a dominant performance from Marlon Humphrey. The former Alabama cornerback recorded four pass breakups and an interception. Although the Ravens only recorded one sack, their pass-rush was alive and well. Winston was constantly having to move around the pocket to stay upright.
6. Revolving door?
Earlier in the season, Baltimore had a revolving door at the returner spot. Tim White and Janarion Grant both had their opportunities, but neither player could hold onto the spot for long. In his second stint with the Ravens, Cyrus Jones was given the keys to the kingdom at the returner position. He has taken hold of the spot as of late. Jones had a punt-return touchdown against the Raiders and a clutch 55-yard return against the Chiefs but made a huge mental error against Tampa Bay. Instead of fair catching a punt, he opted to let it bounce.
To make matters worse, Jones attempted to field the ball, but he could not pick it up cleanly and fumbled the ball. Tampa Bay recovered the fumble, but luckily for Jones and the Ravens, they settled for a field goal. With seven cornerbacks on the roster, Jones does not have a significant role on the defense and Chris Moore could easily take over as the punt returner. It is unlikely Jones will be cut, but he could lose reps to Moore due to his mistake.
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