Pundits' Stock Report Through First Six Games
The first third of the Ravens' regular season ended with excitement after Baltimore rattled off four straight wins. Before the Ravens face their next high-octane opponent in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on "Monday Night Football," The Baltimore Banner looked back on what made the first six games so unique.
Most Pleasant Surprise
Jonas Shaffer: "Who could've predicted Kyle Van Noy ranking fourth in the NFL in sacks through Week 6? Certainly not me. But the 33-year-old outside linebacker, along with a handful of older teammates, keeps turning back the clock. Van Noy has six sacks and ranks ninth among edge rushers in ESPN's pass rush win rate, which measures how often a defender is able to beat his block within 2.5 seconds, ahead of more established stars like Nick Bosa, T.J. Watt and Matthew Judon."
Giana Han: "Daniel Faalele needs a shoutout. I was very uncertain about the right guard's upside after what I saw in training camp and the preseason. He just couldn't seem to move his feet, and relying on his length wasn't enough. Certainly, there have been times this season when his lack of mobility has been a problem, but it hasn't been nearly the liability I feared it would be. His teammates make sure to shout him out, and his improvements have earned their praise. I'm not sure how high his ceiling is, but he's been better than expected. This offensive line no longer has an incredibly weak link."
Biggest Disappointment
Shaffer: "The Ravens' safeties have to step up. Kyle Hamilton has started to look more and more like his All-Pro self after an up-and-down September, but the position has otherwise fallen well short of expectations. Marcus Williams has been a half-step slow in coverage all season. Eddie Jackson hasn't filled the Geno Stone-sized hole in the secondary. Ar'Darius Washington has played only sparingly. The Ravens' big-play woes can't be blamed entirely on the team's safeties, but they are the team's last line of defense. With a run defense as stout as the Ravens', the pass defense should never feel as insecure as it has."
Kyle Goon: "The secondary has clearly been beleaguered, but it would help if the Ravens could find their pass rushing chops outside of Kyle Van Noy's six sacks. While the Ravens' 19 sacks are tied for fifth in the league, their sack rate (20.1%) is middle of the pack, and they've registered only 10 QB hurries this season. This is in part due to a relatively conservative approach to blitzing, but Nnamdi Madubuike hasn't been as devastating a pass rusher as he was last season (two sacks). The other edge rushers, including Odafe Oweh (3.5) and David Ojabo (one), need to pressure more and finish better. It feels telling that Yannick Ngakoue rose so quickly to the active roster after being signed to the practice squad late last month. The Ravens are searching for more juice up front, from anywhere they can get it."
Offensive Sustainability
Han: "Barring injuries, it feels like there's nothing stopping the offense from not only sustaining but also improving on its performances. It's crazy how Lamar Jackson can have an outstanding game and still leave me wanting more."
Goon: "I will be shocked if the Ravens don't have a top-three offense by season's end. Offense is, in part, a math problem that the Ravens are winning: You can't stop Derrick Henry's runs with six (or sometimes even seven) men in the box. But if you present Lamar Jackson with man coverage, he's capable of picking you apart. The offensive line has improved from early hiccups, and even rookie Roger Rosengarten is mauling in the run game. The tight ends are now so versatile as pass catchers and blockers, defenses have a hard time knowing what the Ravens will run out of heavy sets. My biggest question is whether the wideouts are good enough to win at the highest level, but other areas are so efficient that they help compensate for one of the weaker areas of the roster."
The Best Lamar Jackson We've Seen Is Now
In 2019, Jackson delivered one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history, earning the second-ever unanimous MVP. Last season, he won a second MVP and nearly got all the first-place votes again. Yet through six games, he appears to be playing better than ever.
"By any number of metrics, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is playing perhaps the best football of his career," The Baltimore Sun’s Brian Wacker wrote. "Through the first six games, he has thrown for 1,529 yards with 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions while rushing for 403 yards and two more scores on 64 carries, numbers that are well ahead of what he produced through the first six games of last season when he went on to be named the NFL Most Valuable Player for a second time. Other numbers are eye-opening, too, with Jackson ranking third in expected points added per pass and eighth among all players in rushing yards."
After the Ravens started 0-2, Jackson's took his contempt out on the next four opponents with model efficiency.
"In Baltimore's four straight wins after two straight losses to open the season, Jackson is fourth in completion rate (70.3%), second in yards per drop-back (9.1) and has thrown eight touchdown passes to just one interception while rushing for 236 yards," Wacker wrote. "In wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders over the past two weeks, he threw for more than 300 yards in each, racked up 766 total yards and threw five touchdown passes with one interception and one fumble lost."
With Jackson playing at such a high level, all others around him have elevated their play, too, making the Ravens' the best offense though the first third of the season.
"Baltimore is tops in the league in yards per game (453.7), yards per play (6.9), red zone scoring (75%) and third-down conversion rate (51.47%), third in yards per pass (8.6) and fourth in points per game (29.5)," Wacker wrote. "Zay Flowers in his second year has quickly become a No. 1 wide receiver with two straight 100-yard games, which included a career-high 132 in the first half alone last week. His 401 receiving yards rank 11th in the league and has him on pace for more than 1,100 in the season.
"Meanwhile, fellow receiver Rashod Bateman leads the NFL with a separation rate of 72.73% against press coverage and has started to find his rhythm with Jackson. Tight ends Mark Andrews and the ascendant Isaiah Likely have been trustworthy targets and adept blockers."
Stats That Have Defined the Ravens' Season Through Six Games
The Ravens have some of the gaudiest stats in the NFL, and The Baltimore Sun’s Childs Walker selected the good and the bad to show what the Ravens are doing right, and what can be improved as they enter the second third of the regular season.
Here are three that stood out:
146 – Yards per game by which the Ravens are outrushing opponents
"It's not just that they have the most efficient and prolific running game — they also allow the fewest rushing yards per game and per attempt," Walker wrote. "They're the first team to outrush each of their first six opponents by at least 100 yards. As much as passing defines the modern NFL, a team that can count on such an extreme running advantage becomes difficult to beat. The Ravens were outstanding on both sides of the ball last season, outrushing foes by 47 yards per game — significant, but in no way outside normal bounds. Even in 2019, when they set an all-time rushing record, their average margin was plus-112.6. What we're seeing from them so far this year is freaky."
12 – Rashod Bateman's targets over his past two games.
"You know the last time the fourth-year wide receiver saw the ball that much in two games? Try the first two of the 2022 season," Walker wrote. "All of last year, we heard how Bateman was open, but Jackson would not throw him the ball. Would these two gifted players ever find the same wavelength? Bateman signed a contract extension in the offseason and finally enjoyed a summer of good health. Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta predicted a breakout. But then Bateman was right back to seeing the ball just 14 times over the Ravens' first four games. But they had to throw to beat the Bengals and Commanders, and Bateman was a big part of both aerial outbursts. He consistently found open ground, and Jackson showed no hesitation going to him in crucial moments."
5 – Takeaways for the Baltimore defense this year after it led the league with 31 in 2023.
"Turnovers are volatile. Analysts often look for inflated totals when scoping for teams likely to regress the next season," Walker wrote. "So it's not a shock the Ravens have come back to earth in this respect. At the same time, the low turnover rate is another reason why their defense isn't performing up to expectations. We've seen too many dropped interceptions, too few aggressive moves to the ball along the back end. Marlon Humphrey's interception, on which he muscled in front of Ja'Marr Chase, was as important as any play in the Ravens' overtime victory over the Bengals. It was also a reminder of how infrequently this star-studded group has produced such moments in the early going."
