Asked about matching the Ravens' physicality after his team's 24-19 win at M&T Bank Stadium, Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni said, "they had to match ours."
The Ravens bested the Eagles in just about every major category Sunday evening. They outgained them in yards, 372-252. They were better on third down, they won time of possession, and they had fewer penalties and zero turnovers.
In several of the Ravens' previous losses this season, they beat themselves more than they got beat. Sunday against the Eagles, they just got beat up front by a physical Philly defensive line, and that had a far-reaching effect on the offense's fizzle.
Here's a look at this week's film:
Eagles defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Milton Williams wrecked the game.
Last week, we wrote in this same weekly film review that the Ravens' offensive line had become a team strength. It didn't look that way against the Eagles' strong defensive front, however.
The Eagles blitzed just 13.6% of the time but had a 25% pressure rate, per Next Gen Stats. When they did bring five or more rushers, the Eagles' pressure rate jumped to 66.7%.
According to Pro Football Focus, Philadelphia defensive tackle Milton Williams had nine pressures and Jalen Carter had eight. The Ravens double teamed Carter on 25 of his 43 pass rushes (his third-highest rate in a game this season) and he still caused havoc.
Williams' 14.8% pressure rate is the best among all NFL defensive linemen this season (minimum of 150 pass rushes), per Next Gen Stats. He ranks No. 3 among all NFL interior defensive linemen in PFF pass rush grades and Carter is No. 4.
The bad news is the Ravens offensive line struggled. The good news is they won't face many (or maybe any) defensive lineman tandems as good as the Eagles' the rest of the way (unless they meet in the Super Bowl).
Asked about whether the Ravens might make any changes on the offensive line coming out of the bye, Head Coach John Harbaugh said he thinks they are "pretty well set there."
"I'm not down on anybody on the offensive line," Harbaugh said. "That's a really good [defensive] front we played against. I think we could have played better, especially in pass protection. Those guys would tell you that it could have been better, even in the run blocking sometimes, for sure, but I don't think it merits any drastic changes right now."
Lamar Jackson's mom saw rushing lanes.
Nobody is tougher on Lamar Jackson than himself – except for maybe his mother. Jackson said his mother, Felicia Jones, cussed him out after Sunday’s loss for not running more.
Jackson is having the best passing season of his career. Entering Sunday's game, he led the league in passing yards, and he's now thrown 29 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He has a career-high 116.3 quarterback rating this year.
But what Jackson isn't doing as much is scrambling. He's mostly leaving the pocket with the intention of throwing, which has often worked out in his favor this season.
Looking at the film, Jackson perhaps had some more chances to take off and run, but there was nothing obvious. In some of those instances, he still would've had to beat a defender with a juke (something he's done often), as the Eagles often had either a safety or linebacker with eyes on Jackson in the backfield, and their defensive line generally did well not over-committing.
Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken said, "I did not see that in the game, but 'mom knows best.'" Harbaugh pointed out that Jackson also could have run on his touchdown pass to Andrews, but his decision to wait and throw paid off.
"I trust Lamar to make good decisions," Harbaugh said. "He's too good, [and] he's too productive moving around the pocket; he's too much of a problem for defenses, and he makes a lot of good decisions doing that."
Ravens got a taste of their own medicine with Eagles' rushing attack.
A major part of what makes the Ravens so difficult to defend is the tandem of Jackson and Derrick Henry in the backfield. The read-option plays are so difficult to deal with because both players must be respected.
The Eagles have a very good offensive line and the Jalen Hurts-Saquon Barkley tandem is another tough one for defenses to handle.
The Ravens held Barkley in check for much of the night, but Hurts gashed them for runs of 8, 9, and 11 yards, and Barkley's 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was a dagger.
Eagles got some no-calls on their three touchdowns.
The Eagles beat the Ravens, but it's also true that they benefitted from some non-calls on their three touchdowns.
CBS' Tony Romo called out the Eagles' false start on their "tush push" touchdown with Hurts.
Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata also got a bit of a running start on his key pull block on Barkley's long touchdown run.
And on the Eagles' first touchdown, a 17-yard pass to Dallas Goedert after faking a handoff, the Eagles' offensive linemen could have been flagged for an illegal block downfield, or wide receiver A.J. Brown for blocking well beyond the line of scrimmage before the pass was thrown.
Ultimately, the Ravens were penalized four times to the Eagles' eight. Philadelphia surely feels it should have benefitted from some calls as well. Penalties weren't the reason why the Ravens lost, but they were big non-calls considering they were all on touchdowns.
Extra Points
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