Mink: The Ravens don't have to deviate from their run-heavy bludgeoning of opponents until opponents stop it. The Cowboys and the Bills couldn't, so the Ravens kept hammering them. If defenses are set on playing two-high safety and putting a bunch of defensive backs on the field, the Ravens will size up and run them over.
With that said, I agree that the Ravens are eventually going to have to deviate and hit some big plays in the passing game. We've been down this road before. Baltimore piles up a ton of rushing yards throughout the regular season, then faces an opponent in the playoffs that slows the run and the Ravens struggle to make them pay through the air.
That time will come eventually. One would think that defenses, seeing what the Ravens have done the past two weeks, are going to cheat more towards the line of scrimmage. That should open up opportunities in the passing game.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens' passing game has been efficient. For the second consecutive week, Jackson did not attempt a tight window pass (i.e. less than one yard of separation) and he has now targeted open receivers on a career-high 58% of his targets this season, per NextGenStats. Jackson completed 72% of his passes against the Bills and 80% against the Cowboys. The next step is showing they can hit bigger chunks.
I think the Ravens feel they have the pieces to deliver big plays through the air with Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and others. I don't think rookie Devontez Walker is going to be active anytime soon because it's simply a numbers game.
Could the Ravens add a wide receiver? I'm guessing you're asking about Davante Adams, who has reportedly asked to be traded. Sure, I think Baltimore could certainly consider it, but it wouldn't be easy to pull off because they don't have much salary-cap space and may not be willing to match the compensation that would be required to pull it off.
Brown: I thought the defense received the biggest confidence boost.
The Ravens entered Week 4 yielding the most passing yards in the NFL, facing the Buffalo Bills who led the league in scoring (37.3 points per game) after three weeks. Not only did Baltimore hold Buffalo to 10 points, but Josh Allen had his lowest completion percentage this season by far (55.2%) and was sacked three times. The defense blanked Buffalo in the fourth quarter after giving up 19 fourth-quarter points in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Offensively, the Ravens had fewer questions to answer. They outgained the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders despite losing those two games. Against Dallas, they scored touchdowns on their first two possessions and Derrick Henry rushed for 151 yards.
Henry was even more dominant against the Bills, and it was a great night for the offense. But the defense started the game on the hot seat against Buffalo and rose to the occasion.
Mink: Roger Rosengarten played very well in his first career start. He held up in run blocking and was a solid pass blocker. Rosengarten had the Ravens offense's fifth-best grade against the Bills from Pro Football Focus.
The Ravens rode the hot hand on their offensive line in Dallas, sticking with Patrick Mekari at right tackle for the entire game because things were going so well. Much of this depends on if Andrew Vorhees (ankle) is ready to play this week after missing the Bills game, but even if he is, the Ravens could opt to stick with what's working and keep Mekari at left guard and Rosengarten at right tackle. Or, instead of the rotation being at right tackle between Rosengarten/Mekari, it could be a rotation at left guard with Vorhees/Mekari.
Brown: Henry is on a roll and to your point, the Bengals rank just 26th against the run, giving up 145.5 yards per game.
I expect Henry to have another busy day against Cincinnati. He carried it 25 times against Dallas and 24 times against the Bills. If Henry is moving the chains, the Ravens can control time of possession and keep Joe Burrow and Cincinnati's offense on the bench. That's a recipe for success.
Meanwhile, Jackson has averaged 69.6 yards rushing per game against Cincinnati during his career. It's a reason that Jackson has an 8-2 career record against the Bengals, who've had trouble containing him. Henry, Jackson, and Justice Hill will present a major problem for Cincinnati if its run defense doesn't improve.
