The Baltimore Ravens opened their 2021 season with a narrow 17-14 victory over the New Orleans Saints at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday night.
In so doing, they extended their historic preseason winning streak to 18 games, dating all the way back to the 2015 season.
Due to injuries, illness, and the general nature of preseason play, the Ravens mostly rolled out second and third-stringers for much of the game.
While they came away with the ‘W,’ it was far from a perfect showing, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
1. Tyler Huntley takes the lead in the battle for Ravens QB2
Head coach John Harbaugh understandably elected to play it safe and sit starting quarterback Lamar Jackson for the game. Earlier this week, Jackson returned from a 10-day hiatus after testing positive for COVID-19 for the second time in less than a year.
This left the Ravens’ offense in the hands of backups Trace McSorley and Tyler Huntley, who have spent training camp fighting for the coveted position of Jackson’s backup. If their performances against the Saints are any indication, it looks as though Huntley has the advantage.
Despite a decent 11-of-18 performance, McSorley could hardly generate any offense for the Ravens, with their only first-half points coming from three field goals.
In his defense, the Ravens’ makeshift offensive line didn’t exactly help his cause (more on that later), as the Saints’ defensive line constantly took advantage of this weakness and pressured McSorley into making throws he did not want to make.
McSorley also reportedly suffered back spasms throughout the game, so it’s somewhat of a miracle he generated as much offense as he did.
When Huntley took over in the second half, he had a slightly easier time of it, as the Saints rested their defensive starters. The more mobile Huntley, who at times came off as a carbon copy of Jackson, finally broke the Ravens’ offense out of its deadlock with his legs and his arm.
Huntley went 12-of-16 for 78 passing yards and rushed for 43 yards on seven carries, including the game-winning touchdown with 6:35 remaining.
2. The Ravens’ defense is key to victory
The Ravens’ defensive performance against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday night can be summed up in three words, “bend, don’t break.”
New Orleans outgained Baltimore 366-308 on the day and especially dominated the Ravens in the passing game, 272-160. Running back Tony Jones contributed with 82 yards rushing.
It should be noted, however, that 230 of the Saints’ total yards came in the first half, with Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill in charge of the offense.
The Ravens’ defense finally clamped down after halftime, shutting out the Saints the rest of the way and giving the struggling offense enough time to get their act together and score the winning touchdown.
Ultimately, the Saints shot themselves in the foot by committing six turnovers, including three in the first quarter.
Safety Geno Stone significantly boosted his chances at landing a roster spot by grabbing two interceptions, while Shaun Wade made the game-clinching pick late in the fourth quarter.
Despite taking few snaps, linebacker Patrick Queen also made a splash, generating the Ravens’ only sack of the game.
3. Ravens offensive line struggles with missing pieces
Lamar Jackson’s second bout with COVID-19 has not been the only significant absence the Ravens’ offense has suffered in the run-up to the 2021 season.
In fact, it may not even be the most devastating. At least Jackson recovered quickly and was back on the field within two weeks.
Kevin Zeitler, Ronnie Stanley, and Bradley Bozeman — three-fifth of the Ravens’ starting offensive line — may not be so lucky.
Zeitler (right guard) and Stanley (left tackle) both missed the game against New Orleans due to foot injuries suffered during practice. Things got even worse during the first quarter when center Bradley Bozeman suffered his own ankle injury which forced him to leave the game.
Fortunately, X-rays of Bozeman’s ankle turned out negative, so the injury may not be that serious. In addition, third-round pick Ben Cleveland did not even suit up for the game for “undisclosed reasons.”
The results of this offensive line reshuffling were lackluster, as the Ravens’ offense could hardly put anything together in the first half with Trace McSorley behind center.
The usually-dominant running game suffered, as J.K. Dobbins and Justice Hill combined for just eight yards on eight carries. Although the Ravens’ defense forced four turnovers in the half, all the offense could make out of them were two field goals.
The offensive line woes, along with injuries to wide receivers Rashod Bateman and Miles Boykin, are proof that 2021 will be no cakewalk for the Ravens’ offense.
4. It’s starting to feel like Ravens football again
Let’s be frank — there’s a reason that ratings plummeted for the “2020” Olympics in Tokyo. Okay, there are several reasons, but there’s one key reason — the lack of fans in the stands.
Sports on television just aren’t the same without the sight and the sound of cheering crowds to underscore the action. It’s why television networks go to the effort to insert fake crowd noise in the first place.
The bulk of last year’s NFL season felt largely the same — empty and joyless, like watching The Big Bang Theory with the laugh track removed.
Last season, the Ravens only allowed fans into M&T Bank Stadium for one game — the November matchup against Pittsburgh, where 3,000 “lucky” fans watched a heartbreaking 28-24 loss to the archrival Steelers. No spectators were allowed in the stadium for the rest of the season.
For this season, all NFL teams have had their seating capacity restrictions lifted, and Ravens fans have taken full advantage of it so far. Officially, the paid attendance for Saturday night’s game was 70,035 — just barely under a capacity crowd at M&T Bank Stadium.
That’s how eager fans are to finally be able to attend an NFL game in person again, even if it is a relatively meaningless preseason game where the home team’s star player never even took the field.
While humanity is not even close to coming out of the pandemic woods yet, the return of crowds to NFL stadiums should serve as an important step in the healing process.