The Ravens' 41-31 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, once again, provided plenty of good offensive tape.
Let's dive in for this week's biggest takeaways:
How Rashod Bateman has made his breakout come to fruition.
Even though Rashod Bateman's first three seasons didn't go as planned because of injuries, the Ravens re-signed him to a two-year contract extension this offseason.
They did so because they still had faith that Bateman could become the receiver they envisioned when they drafted him in the first round in 2021.
That player has arrived, and it's making a huge difference in the Ravens' top-ranked offense. Baltimore now has the threats on the outside to allow Lamar Jackson and the passing game flourish.
Here's a nuanced look at what Bateman is doing so well in recent weeks, including against the Bucs when he posted a career-high 121 yards receiving:
Bateman's route on his 49-yard touchdown in Tampa Bay was a work of art. He was working against Bucs cornerback Zyon McCollum, who is the top-graded cornerback in the NFL among full-time players (at least 80% of their team's defensive snaps).
Bateman released inside to get behind McCollum, then sold an out-breaking route before sticking his foot in the ground to get vertical. Even though McCollum is one of the league's faster corners, Bateman exploded away to get separation for the touchdown grab.
Per Next Gen Stats, Bateman had 1.1 yards of separation when Jackson let go of the pass and 2.1 yards when it arrived, showing his ability to pull away from cornerbacks.
Bateman has been making strong plays underneath in recent weeks. If he and Jackson can hit more big plays over the top, that will open up another dimension to Baltimore's offense.
"The media said that me and Lamar don't have a connection, but we do, and we showed it tonight," Bateman said. "I think we're doing a good job of showing it this season."
Lamar Jackson shredded Buccaneers' zone coverage, including a long TD pass.
Jackson had an all-time great night with five passing touchdowns – the third time he's done that during his career. He nearly finished with a perfect passer rating, finishing 17 of 22 for 281 yards through the air.
With Jackson throwing the ball at an elite level, as well as doing more at the line of scrimmage and reading defenses better than ever, defenses are struggling with figuring out how to defend him.
The new development was his high output against such heavy zone coverage. The Bills held Jackson to a season-low 156 passing yards in Week 4. They were the only team to call more zone coverage (81.8%) than the Bucs.
A week after the Commanders went 50/50 between man coverage and zone, the Bucs used zone 76.9% of the time. Jackson was 14-of-16 for 256 yards and three touchdowns against it.
The Bucs tried a combination of a lot of zone coverage and blitzing. Jackson, as he's done before this season, ate up the Bucs' blitz, going 11-of-15 for 166 yards and three touchdowns, per Next Gen Stats.
The 49-yard touchdown to Bateman came in zone coverage when Jackson saw All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. sneaking up to cut off an underneath crosser and chucked the bomb over his head to Bateman.
Why Derrick Henry was angry and amazed after the game.
It was a bit of slow going for Derrick Henry early on against the Buccaneers – so much so that the ESPN crew kept showing Henry on the sidelines and questioning why he wasn't seeing more action.
After getting four carries in the first half, the Ravens' bell cow gashed Tampa Bay with two huge runs of 81 and 39 yards. Here's how those two massive runs went down.
On the 81-yarder, the Ravens were in an offset I-formation with tight end Charlie Kolar on the end of the line next to Ronnie Stanley. They blew outside linebacker Joe Tyron-Shoyinka off the line of scrimmage, then Kolar worked up to also wall off middle linebacker K.J. Britt. Kolar's development as an in-line blocker has been critical in Baltimore's rushing attack.
Fullback Patrick Ricard put safety Jordan Whitehead, who tried to dive into the backfield, on his back. That left Henry with just Winfield to beat. Henry did so with a nifty inside cut without losing speed, leaving Winfield sliding and reaching for air in over pursuit.
It was off to the races from there with everybody – Henry, the Ravens sideline, center Tyler Linderbaum – thinking nobody was going to catch Henry. There was good reason for that. Henry reached a top speed of 21.72 mph, which is the fifth-fastest speed of any ball carrier this season and the third-fastest of his career.
McCollum had other ideas, however. Coming from the far side of the field, McCollum took a good angle and hit 21.85 mph. The other factor in his favor was, it seems, Henry didn't see him coming until the last second. Henry didn't attempt a stiff-arm or hesitation cutback.
"I'm slow as hell. I got knocked out of bounds," Henry said after the game. "I don't want to talk about it. … It pissed me off to see that. I'm pissed off by that."
While he was angry about that run, Henry was amazed by his 39-yarder later in the game, in which Jackson turned into his lead blocker.
The play was seemingly designed to run between right guard Daniel Faalele and right tackle Roger Rosengarten, but when the Bucs defenders crashed too aggressively in on that, Henry saw a cutback lane all the way across the formation off left tackle and hit the jets.
Jackson alertly realized he was now in the position of lead blocker and showed great instincts to get just a small piece of the first Bucs defender and move ahead to fend off Winfield and nearly spring Henry for a touchdown.
Jackson has many times directed his blockers during a run. With the roles reversed, he showed his prowess and competitiveness.
"That's unbelievable that a quarterback of his caliber to be that unselfish to be blocking downfield for your teammate," Henry said. "That's the type of guy that could have a helluva game and doesn't even know his stats. All he knows are the guys he threw to and the guys who scored. The dude is just incredible."
Has Marlon Humphrey become a ball hawk?
Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey is not known for his hands. He averaged fewer than two interceptions a season during his first seven seasons and never had more than three.
Even during training camp, after throwing multiple interceptions to Humphrey over the first several days, Jackson joked that he was doing it on purpose.
"He dropped a few last year, so I'm hoping I'm helping him out," Jackson said in August.
Well, seven games into the season, Humphrey already has a career-high four interceptions after getting two against Baker Mayfield and the Bucs.
Humphrey's two interceptions were situational game-changers, and both show a player that has maybe developed into more of a ball hawk.
Humphrey showed great instincts on the first, releasing his man to sag into coverage in front of wide-open receiver Jalen McMillan. On the second, Humphrey was in underneath zone coverage and read Mayfield's eyes before drifting back to make a leaping interception in which he trapped the ball against his helmet (kind of like David Tyree).
Maybe it's too soon to call him a ball hawk, or maybe Humphrey is just a gamer.
Defensive lapses were a combination of issues.
While Humphrey's interceptions changed the game, the Ravens' pass defense continued to be a sore spot, as Mayfield threw for 370 yards and three touchdowns.
Baltimore has fallen back into the NFL's cellar, allowing a league-high 287.1 passing yards per game.
The Bucs hit five passes of 20+ yards, including on their first touchdown with a 25-yard pass to Mike Evans. That was a creative play, as Sterling Shepard ran a speed motion across the formation and then stretched safety Marcus Williams vertically with a go route. That opened up a window between Williams and Brandon Stephens, who was dropping into underneath zone coverage.
The Bucs also connected on too many wide-open passes in the flats. Running back Rachaad White caught one in the final minutes that he took in for a 23-yard score.
"We didn't play screens well, it's a very good screen team, and too many big pass plays. They've been making them all year," Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh also noted that the Ravens also have to do a better job catching interceptions, as Ar'Darius Washington had one go through his hands. Washington also had one doink off his facemask last week, and Nate Wiggins has dropped multiple pick opportunities.
"You catch those things, [and] you don't have to worry about three more plays that you have to defend," Harbaugh said. "We can do it, they'll do it, and once we start doing it, it's going to be another turbo boost for our team."
