Lamar Jackson's five touchdown passes stole the show in the Ravens' 35-14 win over the New York Giants Sunday, but Baltimore's rookie class was also on center stage.
"I think this rookie class is really good class," Head Coach John Harbaugh said Monday. "I think they have a great future, and they're already contributing."
Here's what stood out on tape from the Ravens' Week 15 win at MetLife Stadium:
Nate Wiggins won his matchup with Malik Nabers.
The game's marquee matchup was between two first-round rookies: Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins versus Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Nabers was targeted four times when matched up against Wiggins. He caught one for nine yards, which was a wide receiver bubble screen.
On three occasions, the Giants tried to target Nabers against Wiggins on goal-line end zone shots. Wiggins broke up two of them and blanketed Nabers on the other.
Wiggins is still working on getting his head turned around on deep shots. He was flagged for a 24-yard pass interference penalty when covering Darius Slayton in the fourth quarter.
But there's no doubt that Wiggins, who played a season high 90% of the defensive snaps against the Giants, is improving as the Ravens head down the stretch. He said last week that he doesn't feel like a rookie anymore.
"When you watch corners, it's a technique game out there. It's a fundamentally sound game. It's a tough position to play," Harbaugh said.
"He is making progress across the board with that, and yet he knows he has a whole career's worth of improvement in front of him still. But he's doing a good job. He's made a lot of progress, [and] he's doing well."
Roger Rosengarten is playing winning football.
Second-round pick Roger Rosengarten's first snap as a starter couldn't have gone better, as he helped spring Derrick Henry for an 87-yard touchdown run against the Buffalo Bills.
Rosengarten has been a solid starter since then, and he's particularly heated up the past three weeks. Against the Giants, Rosengarten didn't allow a single pressure on 29 pass blocking reps and 23 of those snaps were in one-on-one situations.
"I think Roger is doing a great job," Harbaugh said. "He's definitely playing winning football at right tackle, so that's what you look for. ... He's really established himself out there and done a nice job. I like the way he looks out there."
There were a dozen offensive tackles drafted in the first two rounds of this year's draft. Rosengarten was No. 11 off the board. He currently has the second-best PFF grades of all of them, ranking as the 53rd best offensive tackle in the league and only trailing fifth-overall pick Joe Alt of the Chargers.
The Ravens are going to need Rosengarten to continue that solid play with the Steelers and a potential rematch with T.J. Watt on deck.
Backups play well in relief.
One of the perks of the Ravens' blowout win was that it gave some reserves a chance to get some valuable game reps.
Rookie wide receiver Devontez Walker scored a touchdown on his first career catch, showing impressive awareness on his toe drag in the back of the end zone.
The play was drawn up for Walker, and the All-22 look shows just how well the fake toss right to Derrick Henry worked to get Walker wide open. Walker said the Ravens worked on that play all week and it showed.
Fifth-round running back Rasheen Ali also got his first carries, and he showed good patience, impressive burst and cuts to make defenders miss, and physicality to pick up 32 yards on eight carries.
Ben Cleveland stepped in for center Tyler Linderbaum and Andrew Vorhees relieved left guard Patrick Mekari, and both backup offensive linemen were solid.
Lamar showed pinpoint accuracy throughout the day.
One of the storylines coming out of the bye was about Jackson's accuracy, which had slipped over the previous three weeks.
Consider that narrative dead after Jackson completed 21-of-25 passes against the Giants, throwing more touchdowns than incompletions.
Jackson's first touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews was a premier throw, as he read the linebacker's lost leverage immediately and put the ball in the perfect spot in a tight window to score on third-and-goal from the 13.
Jackson's second touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman was also a perfectly placed ball that had just a 30.6% chance of being completed, per Next Gen Stats.
Ravens hit their longest special teams plays.
The Ravens' special teams return units have had some struggles this season. It's partly because Baltimore has played a lot of younger players and projected returner Deonte Harty has missed most of the season.
Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton has said he's seen signs that it's coming together, and it did against the Giants, as the Ravens hit their longest kickoff return and longest punt return of the season.
Justice Hill popped a 59-yard kickoff return to open the game, thanks in part to good blocks by veteran linebacker Chris Board, wide receiver Tylan Wallace, and Ali.
Desmond King took over as the Ravens' punt returner in his first game activated off the practice squad and did an excellent job fielding a short punt on the run and making several Giants miss on a 22-yard return up the middle.
"It's a detailed technique, fundamental type of a play," Harbaugh said. "All the special teams plays are, and they're doing a good job. All of a sudden, you start doing that well, and guys [are] in the right spots. You start making some plays like that."
Extra Points
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