I wasn't wrong about Peyton Manning being noticeably less accurate this year than he has been in the past. I did, however, overestimate just how effective the Ravens offensive line would be against the Broncos pass rush. The Broncos corners were also far more impressive than I had anticipated--but then again maybe that's just what the Ravens look like without a legitimate deep threat on the field for the first time in nearly half a decade. It wasn't until the final drive of the game that the Ravens actually truly moved the football. It also appeared as though Marc Trestman has not yet fully mastered play-calling with his current personnel. Between offensive line ineptitude, a lack of deep threat speed, and subpar play-calling, the Ravens offense just couldn't find its rhythm last week. The bright side? The Ravens have a great opportunity to find that rhythm against an Oakland Raiders team that will likely be without both of its starting safeties.
Far more disappointing than a road loss to the Broncos was the loss of Terrell Suggs. Sizzle was the heartbeat of Baltimore's defense and the last remaining iconic Ravens defender from the last decade. I have faith that Suggs will absolutely return and have a productive season next year, but for now the Ravens have found a reasonable replacement in Jason Babin. Babin actually graded out as the 9th best outside linebacker in the league last season, and he'll essentially function as a quality one year rental. Who knows? He could stick around for another year or two beyond that considering that James Harrison is older and still productive for the Steelers. But Terrell Suggs will only be 33 when he takes the field next season. Not young or at his peak, but certainly not totally over the hill. Sizzle will have had far more time to recover from this achilles tear than he did for his last one, and he'll also have a year off from the wear and tear of the NFL. The rest of the Ravens defense looks absolutely fierce, and with Babin filling in for Suggs, we shouldn't see the drop off that some initially feared.
One of the fiercest aspects of the 2015 Ravens defense is Will Hill who has already graded out as the NFL's best safety. Obviously he'll need to do so for more than one week to truly be considered the NFL's best safety, but that's not a bad start against one of the NFL's premier quarterbacks. C.J. Mosley terrified Manning so much that the veteran QB crumpled to the ground when he saw Mosley bearing down on him. Many wondered about the Ravens defensive line depth with Timmy Jernigan out last week, but rookie Carl Davis actually graded out as the Ravens' highest rated defender last week according to Pro Football Focus. Well Jernigan gets back this week, and that means the Ravens defensive line rotation will be absolutely saturated with talent even without Haloti Ngata.
I heard no one worrying about the Ravens defense that held the Broncos offense without a single touchdown last week. The secondary is stacked, the defensive line looks explosive, and the linebacker corps might just be the best in the NFL. Yes, the defense will be fine, but we'll need the offense to click to put points on the board and win games. I'd like Joe Flacco to utilize the height of Marlon Brown, Darren Waller, Maxx Williams, and Crocket Gilmore to make up for the lack of a true deep threat. The Ravens do have a pair of quick, small receivers in Michael Campanaro and Steve Smith, and there's no reason they can't be utilized the same way that the Patriots utilize Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman. The Patriots, in fact, don't currently have an elite deep threat either. Like the Ravens, they have big targets and small, quick targets. The big difference, of course, is that the Patriots know how to USE those targets extremely well.
The passing game wasn't the only offensive disappointment for the Ravens in Week 1. The Ravens struggled to run the football, but they could find more success with the return of their big power back, Lorenzo Taliaferro, who will return this week against the Raiders. I have not been particularly impressed with Justin Forsett thus far between the preseason and last week, but that may be because Trestman needs to change how the diminutive back is used. Forsett can still likely make defenders miss in open space, but he appears to have lost his ability to run explosively between the tackles. That's ok because the Ravens have younger backs to do exactly that, but this team won't be able to do much if they can't run the ball right down the throats of their opponents on a weekly basis. Joe Flacco's greatest plays have historically been off of play action, but no one can sell a play action fake if they can't first establish the run. If the Ravens can't find offensive success this week, they need to truly go back to the drawing board.
Ravens fans shouldn't worry about the Raiders, but they should worry if the Ravens don't blow them out. The Bengals throttled the Raiders last week, and that was when the Raiders had a far healthier staff. This SHOULD be a week where Joe Flacco establishes a connection with many of his targets and where the rushing attack imposes its will. If the Ravens can't win this game by at least a two touchdown margin, it will absolutely be time to worry in Baltimore...and God help us if they lose this game. There are a lot of other interesting games in Week 2, so let's get to the picks!
WEEK 2 NFL PICKS
TEXANS AT PANTHERS- I don't know what to make of the Texans thus far. I would have assumed a defense with Vince Wilfork, J.J. Watt, Brian Cushing, and Jonathan Joseph would have been absolutely stifling in Week 1, but they allowed the Chiefs team without an elite quarterback to score 27 points in Houston. The Panthers, on the other hand, will be without Luke Kuechly. The Panthers beat the Jaguars on the road last week (not exactly an impressive feat) and now they'll face a flawed Texans team in North Carolina. I may regret this, but I'll go with the home team on this one because it's just too difficult to get a read on the Texans right now. PANTHERS 23-20
49ERS AT STEELERS- The 49ers may have looked strong against the Vikings last week, but I have a hard time believing they'll be able to keep up with the Steelers on the opposite side of the country. I'll certainly be rooting for San Francisco, but I can't see their secondary stopping Big Ben and company. STEELERS 31-24
BUCCANEERS AT SAINTS- The Saints don't scare anyone, but I don't bet against Drew Brees at home. SAINTS 35-21
LIONS AT VIKINGS- Divisional games are always difficult to predict, but I simply don't like the Vikings at this point. LIONS 33-17
CARDINALS AT BEARS- The Cardinals shouldn't absolutely be thought of as one of the serious super bowl contenders in the NFC. The Bears played a tough game against the Packers last week, but I'm still not buying them. CARDINALS 20-17
PATRIOTS AT BILLS- Rex Ryan's defenses have often played the Patriots tough, but now he has a far better defense to work with when he faces New England tomorrow. The Patriots defense looked porous and weak against the Steelers, and the Patriots offense faced a TERRIBLE Steelers defense last week in Foxborough. This will be the day the Patriots wish they still had Revis, Browner, Arrington, and Wilfork. BILLS 21-20
CHARGERS AT BENGALS- The Chargers SHOULD go to the playoffs this year, and the Bengals aren't nearly as good as many people believe. I'm looking for an upset in Ohio tomorrow. CHARGERS 30-27
TITANS AT BROWNS- Marcus Mariotta will continue to make waves this week in a hard fought win against a hopeless team that still has a surprising amount of talent at various positions. TITANS 17-16
FALCONS AT GIANTS- The Falcons looked good at home against the Eagles, but they won't be at home against the Giants. They'll be playing a decent team outdoors, and that decent team should have won last week's game against the Cowboys. Please note that the Cowboys absolutely deserved to win with their late game heroics, but I simply mean that the Giants had the ability to win that game and simply blew it. The Giants are, thus, far improved from the embarrassing team that donned their uniforms last season. GIANTS 31-28
RAMS AT REDSKINS- The Redskins are missing key weapons. Until they get those weapons back, they'll have a hard time winning football games. The Rams aren't as good as they always look against the Seahawks, but they're good with Nick Foles at QB. RAMS 21-13
DOLPHINS AT JAGUARS- The Jags are awful and Miami and this barely qualifies as a road game for the Dolphins. DOLPHINS 24-10
RAVENS AT RAIDERS- The Raiders might have some talented pass rushers, but that's about all they have. The Ravens will likely end up with a top 2 or 3 defense when all is said and done this season. The Raiders will be without their two starting safeties, and they weren't even good when those safeties were healthy. RAVENS 31-13
COWBOYS AT EAGLES- The Cowboys aren't a bad team, but they won't be nearly as good until Dez Bryant returns. EAGLES 35-28
SEAHAWKS AT PACKERS- The Seahawks simply won't be the same without Kam Chancellor. His contract holdout could spell doom for the Legion of Boom. PACKERS 30-21
JETS AT COLTS- The Colts should be happy they drafted Philip Dorsett, because they'll need a burner since T.Y. Hilton went down with an injury last week. The Jets trounced the Browns last week, but the Browns could end up losing 90+% of their games this year. I would like nothing more than a road upset for the Jets here, but I'm not expecting it. This should still come right down to the wire though. COLTS 28-27
There aren't many teams that have pulled away from the pack and established themselves as dominant as of yet, but we should know quite a bit more about the league after tomorrow. We'll definitely know a good deal more about the Ravens after tomorrow too. They lost a game most people predicted them to lose last week, but if they can win all of the games they are expected to win and some of the games they're not expected to win, they should once again be playoff bound.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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