The Ravens hosted the Houston Texans on Sunday for their 2023 season opener at M&T Bank Stadium and went to sleep with a costly but unique 25-9 win under their collective wings.
The victory, albeit positive, came at a steep price if only because of the many banged-up and lost-for-long players that went down throughout the game. That was only one of the negatives, of course, as the whole team looked a bit rusty at times and never fully clicked against a lowly, inexperienced opponent.
Of course, the win was also possible because of some positive and encouraging signs showcased by the Ravens' Flock and their members--from coaches to players--that should end up painting a brighter picture as the season grows older and everybody starts to get more into the rhythm of play and the newly installed systems.
With that said, here are some positives and some negatives from the Ravens' Week 1 historic 25-9 win over the Texans on Sunday to kick their 2023 season off with a 1-0 record.
Positive: A win is a win, and the Ravens are 1-0
Hear me out. Four AFC North teams played a football game on Sunday and only two of them won their games: Baltimore and Cleveland.
The Browns demolished the supposed division favorites and Super Bowl contenders Cincinnati Bengals beating them 24-3 with Joe Burrow passing for fewer than 90 yards on the day.
The Steelers went down hard losing 30-7 to the 49ers and looking even worse than everybody expected on Sunday.
Baltimore wasn't even remotely close to the peak of their game and expectations and what they know they can do, but still put 25 points past Houston while allowing the Texans to score fewer than 10 points on them through four quarters of play.
Negative: Mark Andrews didn't play... and he was joined by four more injured starters
A couple of hours before kick-off we heard about the final injury report, and it was later confirmed when the Ravens took to the field of M&T Bank Stadium and Mark Andrews was simply standing on the sidelines watching the rest of his buddies warm up while in street clothes.
That was already bad, and Lamar Jackson not having his safety blanked for the first game of the season surely hurt the offense. The most painful damage, though, would come during and after the actual game, though, and as impossible as that sounds considering Andrews' value to the Ravens.
Just for a healthy breakfast full of bad news, here's your list of banged-up Ravens after this ugly Week 1 game:
- Running back J.K. Dobbins tore his Achilles and is done for the season.
- Safety Marcus Williams (feared torn pectoral muscle) might miss multiple weeks/months.
- Offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley got caught by an opponent's body and hurt his knee.
- Starting (and only in the roster) center Tyler Linderbaum got rolled up on and suffered an ankle injury.
And that's only the "official" tally, as many others had to leave the field briefly suffering different scares throughout the game. To name a few: Kyle Hamilton and Ar'Darius Washington, both members of an already-ravaged Ravens secondary.
You can't do anything about this type of thing, so at least this is only a negative point in nature but not a thing the Ravens did on purpose or could control in any possible way.
That said, the health bill is far from being clean, and if any of the above-mentioned players are forced to miss ample time, then Baltimore's run toward winning the third Super Bowl in franchise history might be over with the season barely started.
Positive: Todd Monken's offensive gameplan showed up nicely
A lot of fans were anticipating a massive blowout of the Texans in Week 1 following the hiring of NCAA ruler, offensive football savant, and back-to-back champ OC at Georgia Todd Monken. Didn't happen.
However, the signs for a promising future were surely there on the field for everybody to watch on Sunday with Monken leading the offense off the field and Lamar Jackson on it.
The Ravens, according to PFF.com, lined up in 11 personnel on nearly 44% of their total offensive snaps. That was a much higher rate than those reached in years past under former OC Greg Roman, and it meant only one running back and one tight end were on the field on those 44 percent of plays while paired with three wideouts.
Lamar led the team in rushing yards with 38 on six rush attempts. Those two figures aren't good in isolation, and they weren't good in the context of the backfield either as all running backs carried the rock eight times each but none surpassed 32 yards.
Rookie Zay Flowers was the only receiver getting more than three targets, but Jackson scattered his passes all across the field targeting six different players and completing passes to five of them for at least four yards each.
Negative: Shaky offense adapting to Monken's system and struggling offensive line
Speaking of the new Monken Offense, what about that performance by the offensive line? Ugh.
While there were new concepts applied through the afternoon, they didn't work to perfection and the team looked rusty and going through some growing pains as the game advanced.
The offensive line, most of all, was terrible in the first half and only started to click after halftime. Of course, many bodies went down injured or were at least partially banged up against the Texans.
Starting center Tyler Linderbaum and left tackle Ronnie Stanley suffered injuries and are awaiting results from their MRI evaluations and tests. Utility reserves Patrick Mekari and Sam Mustipher (who was elevated from the PS ahead of the game) were tasked with backing them up in emergency calls.
In the first half, Jackson was sacked once and that number could have been higher with the difference able to be measured in centimeters. Not to mention the Ravens committed 13 penalties for 106 freaking yards, nine of them in the first half alone.
It's just one game, but things have to improve massively on this front.
Positive: The Ravens drafted the prospective Rookie of the Year in WR Zay Flowers
How about that for a debut!?
Not only did Flowers start his first professional game on Sunday with the Ravens, but he also made freaking history through the Week 1 victory against the Texans at The Bank.
Flowers' 78 yards fell short of the marks posted by other members of the Baltimore Ravens organization who went for larger amounts of yardage in their debuts, but the 10 targets and nine receptions became franchise records.
The rookie was simply unstoppable. He paced every receiver by a good chunk with Rashod Bateman getting the second-most receptions with three. He racked up more than double Odell Beckham's yards (37), and the only thing missing in his tally was a touchdown.
He also added nine yards on two runs, and the best of all is that Flowers lost eight yards late in the game in a couple of blown-up screens that could have brought his final tally closer to 100 yards than the figure he ended up with.
Negative: Baltimore and Lamar dominated the score but not the game
The Ravens won on Sunday. That's cool! They beat the Texans by 14 points worth two touchdowns of distance. That's great! The problem is that this wasn't even close to a total domination by the actual on-field action by Baltimore. Far from it.
The main cause, because quarterbacks rule the game and are the one piece making it all work (or not), was the mediocre performance of Lamar Jackson in his first game since last December. Call it rust, call it what you want, but there's no lie about that.
Jackson failed to complete a pass for a touchdown and to score a rushing touchdown. He fumbled the rock twice and threw a costly interception on a red-zone pass. He was sacked four times, and sacks are a quarterback (not offensive line) stat.
Lamar had an efficient 17-of-22 day, yes, but he only completed passes for a total of 169 yards and although he led all Ravens players in rushing yards with 38, 14 of those came on a single play and he was never a true ground threat.
The interception was a bit confusing in that Jackson threw an ill-advised pass across his body in the first quarter that went nowhere other than the hands of Texans' cornerback Steven Nelson at the 16-yard line. No touchdown, and field-goal attempt wasted.
Jackson can excuse himself a bit on the poor performance by the offensive line in the first half of Sunday's game, but that's pretty much it. He can give you flashes and shadows in equal terms, but he's been better than worse most of the time.
Let's hope this was just a poor combination of a rusty quarterback not playing in months and under a new offensive coach, call it a day, and expect better results going forward.
Positive: The defense and the pass-rushing unit looked stronger than expected
It's been one of the offseason narratives around the Baltimore Ravens facilities. Can this defense, and mostly the pass-rushing unit, hold up and play to the level of the supercharged offense?
Welp, I guess if only for a week we have a (very positive) answer to that question.
Roquan Smith's 15 tackles are the most in a season opener in Ravens franchise history, per @ESPNStatsInfo.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) September 10, 2023
Ray Lewis had 14 tackles in three different openers.
Roquan Smith led all Ravens in tackles on Sunday and he also bested the mark put up by the most legendary of Ravens legends in Ray Lewis thanks to tackling 15 foes to Lewis' 14 in three different openings, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.
Patrick Queen finished the game with 11 tackles to his name, the third most among Ravens defenders and only topped by Smith and a game-wrecking Brandon Stephens (12) in the secondary.
Smith and Queen both put up at least one sack, one tackle for a loss, and one quarterback hit on top of their tackles.
Justin Madubuike had a hellacious game even though he only got two "official" tackles. He put pressure on the offensive line and quarterback C.J. Stroud in bunches. He eventually got his sack.
David Ojabo, who has been in the spotlight and under heavy criticism all summer long, was impressive and notched another strip-sack in just his third NFL game forcing a fumble recovered by Michael Pierce.
Starting outside linebacker Odafe Oweh couldn't get a sack but he got to Stroud three times for three QB hits while completing three tackles. Veteran Jadeveon Clowney went under the radar in the stat sheet but he was a steady and scary presence on the defensive front.
Even Ar'Darius Washington, who took on the nickel role to defend the slot in the absence of Arthur Maulet (inactive) got himself a sack, the first of his career.
For all of the questioning endured by the defensive line and the second level of the defense, this was a fantastic way to start the season. Let's see if they can keep up against stronger opposition.
Negative: The secondary escaped Week 1 unscathed, but there are some (health) concerns
If we're going by the pure, true, unadulterated stats, then the Ravens' secondary was good-to-great on Sunday. They didn't allow a single touchdown and limited C.J. Stroud to 242 yards on 28 completions (63% completion rate).
With Marlon Humphrey out and former Pittsburgh Steelers slot corner Arthur Maulet inactive, the Ravens started Brandon Stephens and Ronald Darby outside of the numbers with Ar'Darius Washington as the nickel cornerback.
Stephens completed eight tackles and Darby finished with six. Washington got to Stroud once and sacked him while getting six tackles on the day.
Surprisingly, Rock Ya-Sin barely played on Sunday although no news about potential limits was leaked ahead of kick-off. Kyle Hamilton had to leave the field briefly, and Marcus Williams (initially labeled with a "shoulder" injury) was forced out of the game with what seems to be a torn pectoral muscle.
According to Ian Rapoport's report about the feared torn pectoral, and the potential recovery timeline judging by prior cases (weeks to months), the outlook is hella concerning if the worst-case scenario is confirmed.
Williams already missed seven games last year, so this is more than worrying. If Williams misses time, Geno Smith is the next-man-up expected to fill the gap opened by the starter safety.
Williams, along with all other injured Ravens, will get MRI results on Monday to know more about the extent of his shoulder/pectoral injury.