The Baltimore Ravens have won two straight games and they just put together their best performance from start to finish on Sunday. Still, there are plenty of questions about this team moving forward from their 5-2 start. What do fans need to know?
10. Is the Baltimore Ravens offensive line about to take off?
Is it a surprise that the Baltimore Ravens best two games have come when the offensive line has been healthy for two straight weeks. The Titans and Lions games are the first games where the team started their expected offensive line from the offseason and they finished the game healthy. In week one they brought in a healthy line, but Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Linderbaum left that game.
The Indianapolis Colts loss came without Linderbaum and Stanley. Linderbaum returned right after to help beat the Browns while Stanley waited for the Steelers game. Still, with Stanley back, the Ravens had a backup right tackle against the Steelers. Against Tennessee, Morgan Moses returned, and all five lineman finished the game.
Against the Lions, it was the best the line has looked. That should be expected based on health and continuity. So, will we continue to see this group at their best when they take on the Cardinals?
9. Is Odafe Oweh in for a breakout year?
Odafe Oweh is another player with health questions in recent weeks. Oweh looked excellent against the Houston Texans, and it was notable because he spent most of that game against Laremy Tunsil. Then, he left week two with an ankle injury, and we have not seen him since. There was a thought that he may be back for the London game, but he was eased back in to be ready for the Lions game.
Oweh showed up, recording four pressures and a sack. He has twelve pressures this season. We wrote this summer that Oweh was actually playing well last year; he just was not getting the sacks that matched how often he was winning. The thought was that if he was able to win at the same rate or improve, he could be in from a breakout season. After two weeks, he has just one sack, but it looks like they may be consistently coming this season. He is finally healthy and back to what we saw in week one. When you add in that Jadeveon Clowney is having a throwback season
8. Can Lamar Jackson make another run for MVP?
The Baltimore Ravens are sitting at 5-2, and Lamar Jackson is coming off one of the better performances of his career. What was so impressive was that he did most of it through the air. Jackson had 357 yards with three touchdowns, the second-most yards of his career. So, the question now is, how deep into the MVP conversation is Lamar Jackson?
When you look at the candidates across the league, there is not a clear runaway candidate. Patrick Mahomes is the favorite, but he cannot win it every year, and he has the voter fatigue from last year. Tua Tagovailoa, Brock Purdy, and Jalen Hurts round out the top five. Hurts is not having nearly as good of a season as last year and just had two turnovers despite beating Miami. Speaking of beating Miami, Tagovailoa may be slipping after that performance, and Purdy is coming off a bad game against Cleveland, a team that Lamar Jackson owns.
Health seems to be holding Lamar Jackson back from the MVP consideration in recent years, but right now, he is playing as well as we have seen. There is a real reason to think that he could win the MVP this year.
7. Will the Baltimore Ravens get to sign any of these studs?
The Baltimore Ravens are getting the best play at the right time from Justin Madubuike, Patrick Queen, and Geno Stone. Now, the question is whether this is the last season we have any of them with the Ravens. Madubuike has already tied his career-high in sacks, and we are not even halfway through the season. He has always been a good run defender, but now that the money is on the line, he is showing he has upside as a pass rusher as well. He is going to get paid.
Patrick Queen has seen his game skyrocket since the Roquan Smith trade. It started last year, but now that he has had the time to grow with him, the duo looks amazing. Still, it was always tough to see the Ravens pay a Robin to be beside Roquan Smith who is the Batman, and gets paid that way. The thought is that Smith will make the person next to him better again.
Geno Stone has stepped in for Marcus Williams and has been as good as the Ravens could have hoped for Williams to be. Stone hit free agency last year and came back to Baltimore because he did not get much interest in the market. Now, he is going to be a commodity. He will not take cheap money to be the third safety, so what happens? All three are the reason the team is here, and they all may be gone next year.
6. Are the Baltimore Ravens leaning into heavier personnel?
One interesting note from the Baltimore Ravens win over the Detroit Lions was how much they used heavier personnel. The Ravens activated Charlie Kolar, and they played him a bit. They also got Isaiah Likely and Patrick Ricard more snaps than they typically see on Sunday.
This is something we saw coming for a few reasons. First, the Lions are bad against heavy personnel looks. Their linebackers are bad in coverage and were exposed on Sunday. Keeping the Lions heavy is the way to pass on them. More than that, the Ravens should lean heavier. They were built that way by Greg Roman. Todd Monken can bring in his passing looks, but he should do them out of their best personnel. There is a time and place to go with 11 personnel, and they have the receivers to do it with Monken more than Roman. Still, you have to wonder if we will start to see more Likely and Kolar as the month turns to November.
5. Should the Baltimore Ravens start to move Marlon Humphrey around?
One question we had entering the Lions game was whether the Ravens would use Marlon Humphrey like they used to and have him follow wide receivers around. The team had the chance against Amon-Ra St. Brown, who motions a lot and moves in and out of the slot. However, they did not.
The game was won in the trenches, and this note did not impact the game. Still, St. Brown had 102 yards, and a lot of that came in the slot against Arthur Maulet. Maulet is fine but is clearly the Ravens' weakest secondary member, so it is tough to see the Ravens decide to settle for lining him on the Lions' only threatening skill player in that game.
The Ravens are still working Humphrey back to health after his foot injury, so they may not have wanted to put that stress on him. We will not see him follow anyone against Arizona, so it may be a little more time until this question gets raised again. It will be interesting to see how they handle the slot moving forward.
4. Are Odell Beckham and Rashod Bateman ready to break out for the Baltimore Ravens?
It was not a massive explosion for either, but Odell Beckham and Rashod Bateman quietly had their best games on Sunday. Beckham produced 49 yards while Bateman hit 36, both season highs. Beckham also posted 2.33 yards per route run, which bumped his season average up to 1.35. Bateman saw his season average rise to 1.03 after averaging 2.57 yards per route run.
So, while it was not much, it was a huge step forward for both. This duo has gotten off to a slow start. Both of them are coming back from serious injuries last year, and both have been banged up to start this season.
However, both of them were healthy for the London game, and they both came back healthy and now have put together their best game. The health of these two coincides with the offensive line health. So, it should be no surprise that the best offensive performance of the season came when the team was healthier than they had been in recent weeks.
With that in mind, we should only see more from them as the weeks go by. Is this the start of something big for the offense, thanks to this duo getting going?
3. Will Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald get coaching opportunities?
One of the hottest coaching candidates in the NFL right now is the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. He is getting the most out of Jared Goff, and even without elite skill players beyond Amon-Ra St. Brown, the offense continues to create yards. It is clear that Johnson knows what he is doing.
That is why some were surprised to see the Baltimore Ravens shut down the Lions' offense in the manner that they did. A lot of the credit should go to Mike MacDonald. He has a solid unit on paper, but not enough has been talked about what he has done to this unit. It took some time, but the combination of Mike MacDonald getting his legs ready for the NFL and the Roquan Smith trade has launched this defense into being one of the best in the NFL. MacDonald shut down the Ben Johnson scheme and was in the head of Jared Goff early on.
2. Will we continue to see more Keaton Mitchell?
The Baltimore Ravens offense is starting to come together at the right time. The offensive line and skill players finally have continuity, and now they are adding a potential splash of speed with Keaton Mitchell.
Mitchell was activated from the IR last week, but he did not play. On Sunday, he played just two snaps, but he did catch a pass for nine yards. It is not a surprise that he is being eased in. Besides coming off of an injury, he is a rookie UDFA. Still, the Ravens need his speed in this offense.
Justice Hill has done a fine job replacing J.K. Dobbins, but it is clear that the team is missing the threat that Dobbins was. We are not saying Mitchell can be that, but he at least has a chance to step in and show that his dynamic running style is able to give this offense another dimension. It will not be a huge role, but the Ravens should continue to slowly bring him into the mix in the coming weeks.
1. What will the Baltimore Ravens do at safety when Marcus Williams returns?
The play of Geno Stone has been everything that the Baltimore Ravens need. He has stepped in for Marcus Williams, and it feels like there has not been any drop-off, or if anything, the defense has been better because of the interceptions that Stone has made.
Marcus Williams has a hamstring injury that should keep him out for at least another week. However, he did not go to IR, so he should be back in a week or two. Now, the question is, what happens to Stone? Last time when Williams returned, it meant Stone went back to the bench. Still, he has been far too good to make that happen. Arthur Maulet was hot when they benched Stone and is coming off of a bad game. If he does not play well in the coming weeks, do the Ravens move Kyle Hamilton back into the slot to keep Stone on the field? Do they show more than three safety looks?
There has to be a way to get Williams back and healthy but not take any snaps away from Geno Stone. How will that happen, and will Stone continue to make that a tough call?