Behind enemy lines: 5 questions with Ravens Wire
Can the Bills make it 2-for-2in the 2020 postseason? The Ravens stand in their way.
Both the Bills (13-3) and Ravens (11-5) are teams led by a young core of players that are poised to make an impression on the NFL which will start with a win on Saturday. With kickoff right around the corner, it’s imperative as ever to scout out the opponent.
With such stakes on the line, let’s learn some more on Buffalo’s opponent now from the source. Bills Wire goes behind enemy lines with Ravens Wire managing editor, Matthew Stevens, right here:
What do you make of Lamar Jackson being dubbed a guy who couldn’t win in the playoffs? Do you think his play dips in the postseason?
MS: I think that quarterback is the face of the franchise, which means the team’s successes and failures automatically become the quarterback’s successes and failures. Any loss was going to be Jackson’s loss and not the team as a whole. While that fits into a much larger narrative Jackson’s biggest critics have for him, it’s true of any quarterback in this league as well, albeit to maybe a lesser degree at times.
I think it’s also fair to criticize Jackson for his playoff performances. He wasn’t great in either loss. But then again, neither was anyone else on the Ravens’ roster.
Let’s look at last year’s playoff loss to the Titans for a prime example. The defense got dominated on the ground and didn’t fare much better against Tennessee’s passing attack. Any time a defense gives up four touchdowns in a game, it’s not going to be easy on the offense to win, no matter how good they play. Unfortunately for Baltimore, the offense around Jackson didn’t do him any favors either. Guys were dropping balls left and right while the league’s best offensive line looked like one of the worst in that game. The injuries at running back also didn’t help, with Mark Ingram effectively out of the game early and offensive coordinator Greg Roman abandoning the run almost immediately.
Again, I don’t think Jackson is absolved of criticism, but we’d have a tough time finding quarterbacks that could thrive and win a game consistently in those circumstances.
One of Lamar’s favorite targets seems to be Mark Andrews but he looks underappreciated in a league with Travis Kelce and others. How much of a worry does he cause?
MS: Andrews really is underappreciated because Baltimore doesn’t have a 5,000-yard passing attack, so he doesn’t hit the 1,000-yard marker that seems to be the bar for top tight ends. Instead, Andrews comes up clutch and scores touchdown after touchdown but still gets ignored nationally.
The Ravens don’t have many weapons in the passing game that deserve to be gameplanned against, but Andrews is for sure that guy. He’s deceptively fast and he’s a great route runner, knowing how to find the holes in zone coverage and being a mismatch against both a safety and linebacker. That means opposing defenses need to try and chip him at the line so the pass rush can get home, or they need to use bracket coverage on him and hope Jackson isn’t as accurate that day. Unfortunately for them, the connection Andrews and Jackson have means they’re usually on target and you’ll see some amazing throws and even better catches from the duo to pick up chunks of yards at a time. And of course, Andrews and Jackson are deadly in the red zone.
While it might seem easy enough to just double cover Andrews, that tends to then open up throwing lanes to guys like Marquise Brown. Or it takes defenders out of the box, which is a mistake against this tough rushing attack. When things are going right, as they have been for the last six weeks, Baltimore has a “pick your poison” type of offense that can beat defenses in a number of ways depending on how a defense wants to play certain guys.
Where’s your confidence level in the Ravens’ O-line right now? Buffalo struggled against the Colts in the trenches last week, but they’ve got some pretty good talent there.
MS: I don’t know what happened but this offensive line took a complete 180 at some point this season, which is kinda miraculous when you consider who’s not in the lineup. Eventual Hall of Fame guard Marshal Yanda retired this offseason and All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley is on injured reserve. That alone should make this offensive line trash . . . which it was for a little while.
But with tackle Orlando Brown Jr. switching from the right to the left and playing at a ridiculously high level combined with some player swaps at center and right guard, things have finally settled down. The offensive line is playing physical football and offensive coordinator Greg Roman is masterfully scheming up ways of utilizing their speed and power. The pass blocking isn’t great all the time but with Lamar Jackson under center, it doesn’t have to be.
Speaking of turning things around, in the last four games the Ravens defense has to be the best in the NFL in terms of yards allowed. What’s been rolling for them on that side of the ball?
They’re finally getting healthy. At one point this season, Baltimore had five starting cornerbacks on injured reserve while seeing guys like Jimmy Smith and Marcus Peters miss games due to injuries. The team’s COVID-19 outbreak didn’t do them any favors either, seeing 13 defenders on the Reserve/COVID-19 list at one point. As guys like Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams returned to the lineup, the run defense got significantly better. As Smith, Peters, and Humphrey got healthy, the pass defense got better. Keep in mind, last week against the Titans, the defense was the healthiest it’s been since Week 9.
I think it’s also worth pointing out the development of guys like rookie linebacker Patrick Queen and safety DeShon Elliott have had this season. Both players have filled in admirably and have steadily improved while getting more consistent in their play. The trade for Yannick Ngakoue didn’t hurt anything either. Even if his stats look rather pedestrian, Ngakoue has created a ton of pressure and by opposing offenses gameplanning for him, he’s opened up opportunities for guys like Pernell McPhee and Matthew Judon.
In all, it’s just everything finally coming together for the Ravens over the last few weeks.
Who wins and why?
MS: This is going to be such a tough game thanks to Josh Allen’s emergence this season. But there are some question marks about Buffalo’s rushing attack and defense that can’t quite be ignored. Unless the Bills suddenly improve, they’re going to get bludgeoned by this run game. And if they sell out to stop it like we saw
Tennessee do last week, Lamar Jackson will take advantage of it with intermediate and deep passes while offensive coordinator Greg Roman starts hitting the edges with the run game to wear everyone down and chew up clock.
With Baltimore’s defense finally getting healthy and the offense starting to hit its stride, I have to choose the Ravens here — 30-24.
With that prediction down, I want to note that you should never count out a hot quarterback and Allen is red hot right now. If Buffalo wins, it’s because Allen had a fantastic game and carved up Baltimore’s secondary all night long.
