Saturday, September 26, 2020

WEEK 3 NFL PICKS AND CHIEFS-RAVENS PREVIEW

      The first week of Purple Nightmare picks went about as well as one could have hoped.  We went 13-1 with the lone incorrect outcome from Monday night's Saints-Raiders game, but I shouldn't pat myself on the back too enthusiastically as most of last week's games were not terribly competitive matchups.  This week, however, appears to be a far greater challenge.  As I look over the schedule for the week, nine games jump out at me as fairly evenly matched, and thus, difficult to predict.  Mind you, we're still in the first quarter of the season, so we have such a limited sample of statistics from which to derive conclusions.  We shall, nevertheless, press on and see which teams emerge as true contenders by the end of the week.

         No game will be as highly anticipated as the Chiefs-Ravens game on Monday night.  Both teams are not only unbeaten but also led by sensational young quarterbacks that appear on track to be the future premier rival AFC gunslingers for years to come much the way Tom Brady and Peyton Manning held that position for roughly a decade and a half.  Oddly enough, Lamar and Patrick aren't so different from Peyton Manning and Tom Brady even if their play styles contrast heavily.  Tom Brady led his team to a Super Bowl and won Super Bowl MVP in his first season as a starter.  Patrick Mahomes led his team to Super Bowl victory in his second season as a starter, and he too took home MVP honors after the game.  Peyton Manning won league MVP twice early in his career before finally reaching and winning a Super Bowl against the Bears in early 2007.  Lamar won league MVP in his first full season as a starter, but like Peyton Manning, has struggled in the post season early in his career thus far.  That doesn't mean he can't break that trend this season, but one must admit that there are curious similarities between the two pairs of stars.  

     Like Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes is guided by a head coach whose system tends to help mold and elevate young quarterbacks.  Lamar's head coach is no such guru, but he certainly hired one in Greg Roman.  Roman has a knack for designing a playbook around the talents of athletic quarterbacks.  He coordinated Colin Kaepernick to a Super Bowl that the 49ers came yards away from winning, and he guided Tyrod Taylor to a season that earned Pro Bowl honors in 2015 when Roman was offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills.  I must admit that after last post-season's first round playoff exit, I wondered if Lamar simply couldn't win a game when he had to come from behind.  When playing with a deficit, most teams are forced to largely abandon the run and rely upon the passing game to score quickly while conserving the clock.  It didn't appear as though Lamar was at the stage in his development last season that he could put the team on his back and come back against a Titans team that found success chewing up the clock with a strong rushing attack from Derrick Henry.  It easily also could have had to do with drops and poor performance from his receiving targets, but for whatever the reason, the Ravens just couldn't seem to put the ball in the endzone often enough last post-season.

     Week 1 of the 2020 season certainly showed that Lamar Jackson is capable of taking over a game with his arm when a team has committed to stopping the Ravens rushing attack.  It must be noted that the Browns secondary was missing notable starters, and the Ravens likely knew they were going to spend most of the afternoon attacking Cleveland's apparent weakness.  As luck would have it, the Chiefs suffered injuries to defensive pieces as of late, and without defensive end Alex Okafor, starting defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, and starting cornerback Charvarius Ward, the Chiefs were weakened to the point where they were taken to overtime by an unquestionably inferior Chargers team.  It seems reasonable to conclude that if the Chargers can take the Chiefs into overtime, the Ravens should be able to do significantly better.  The Ravens' biggest worry will be slowing down the Chiefs explosive offense.  Patrick Mahomes can make every conceivable throw, and he has no shortage of impossibly fasts target to which to distribute the football.   The Ravens have two top-level cornerbacks, but they'll need more than that to slow down a Chiefs offense that also boasts an all-world tight end.  The Ravens can't expect to keep the Chiefs out of the end zone most of the day the way they did with the Texans and Browns, but they can aim to outscore Mahomes and company if they can simply force a handful of key stops with a turnover or two added into the mix.

     The Chiefs succeeded in taking away the Ravens rushing attack last season, and Lamar struggled to mount drives until there wasn't quite enough time to truly overcome the deficit.  Greg Roman will always try to establish the run, but if the Chiefs commit to stopping it early this time around, Roman knows he can trust Lamar to attack the Chiefs' uneven secondary.  The strategy for this week may very well be to use the pass to open up the run rather than the other way around.  The beautiful thing is that Lamar finally appears ready and more than capable of attacking a defense no matter where it appears weakest.

      The Chiefs are not nearly the only team dealing with key injuries.  Major and season-ending injuries swept across the league last Sunday, and they must be taken into account as we examine each upcoming contest.  For the Ravens, last Sunday saw the loss of starting nickel corner, Tavon Young, but many other teams lost even more pivotal players.  The Giants lost Saquon Barkley while the 49ers lost Nick Bosa to an ACL tear and could be without Jimmy Garoppolo for the foreseeable future due to a high ankle sprain.  The Broncos were hit equally hard with the loss of Von Miller and the 3-5 week loss of starting quarterback Drew Lock. One has to wonder if the shortened, unconventional off-season contributed to the calamitous rash of early injuries, but I suppose there is no way to draw definitive conclusions.

      I write this as I watch the Dolphins unexpectedly suffocate the Jaguars.  I had planned to pick the Jaguars to win, so we'll count this one as a loss in the predictions column.  With that said, let's get to the picks!

WEEK 3 PREDICTIONS

BEARS AT FALCONS-  The Bears had a single player listed on their injury report this week.  The problem is that he is one of the top 5 defensive players in the NFL.  Khalil Mack was limited in practice for the second straight day, but I would be shocked if he didn't play on Sunday.  The Bears are 2-0, but I was not exactly blown away by either of their wins.  Most recently the Bears squeaked by a Giants team that lost Saquon Barkley.  The Falcons, on the other hand, lost an impossibly frustrating game to the Cowboys last week with a score that I've never seen in a professional football game before: 40-39.  The Falcons seem content to just not play defense, but do not believe the bears will be able to keep up with the Falcons from an offensive standpoint.  Old Matty Ice is finally going to win won.  FALCONS 31-27

RAMS AT BILLS- The Rams showed they can go on the road and annihilate another NFC team last week with a 37-19 win over the Eagles in Philly.  The Bills, meanwhile, held their own in wins over two of their 3 divisional opponents, but neither one of those was the Patriots.  One thing is for sure, the Bills defense does not appear to be nearly as strong as the thunderous unit from last season against which even Lamar Jackson and company struggled to consistently move the football.  Despite their undefeated record thus far, I'm going to need to see more from the Bills before I can pick them to beat another undefeated team like the Rams.  RAMS 27-20

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM AT BROWNS- The Browns have enough playmakers to shred a secondary as thin as Washington's.  The team formerly known as the Redskins mustered a thunderous pass rush in Week 1 to come from behind and beat the Eagles, but their secondary was still repeatedly exposed.  The Skins do not have defensive backs capable of shutting down Jarvis Landry and OBJ.  They'll have enough trouble dealing with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to take pressure off of Baker Mayfield and offer the third ear QB some clean shots deep downfield.  BROWNS 28-14

TITANS AT VIKINGS- It's difficult to see the Vikings stopping the Titans.  They have yet to put the brakes on any opponent, and the Titans are red-hot.  TITANS 38-20

RAIDERS AT PATRIOTS- The Patriots will take a big step up this week.  They lost an impossibly close game in Seattle last week, and although the Raiders looked strong in their win over the Saints, I also don't believe the Saints are an elite team anymore.  This one will be close though. PATRIOTS 34-27

49ERS AT GIANTS- The 49ers are without Jimmy Garoppolo, George Kittle, and Nick Bosa, and the Giants are without Saquan Barkley. The 49ers are going on the road against a bad team, but they're probably missing too many integral cogs in their system to win a game right now.  GIANTS 20-14

BENGALS AT EAGLES- In a matchup between two winless teams, it would make sense to give an edge to the home team, but the Bengals have been highly competitive in both of their losses, while the Eagles have been beaten like a drum.  I'm not sure how this team has fallen so hard from a Super Bowl win in the recent past.  They even made the playoffs last season.  Joe Burrow will find his footing and Joe Mixon will rumble for 100+ yards in the first win for Cincy in 2020.  BENGALS 26-17

TEXANS AT STEELERS- The Texans have some nice receivers and a talented young quarterback, but their offensive line won't be able to give him enough time to find open receivers against this Steelers defense.  The Steelers barely beat a wounded Broncos team last week, but they'll continue to get better as Ben Roethlisberger continues to round back into form.  STEELERS 28-14

JETS AT COLTS- This is one of the few easy predictions.  The Jets don't have enough around Darnold to make an honest go of this season.  The Colts aren't Super Bowl contenders, but they'll win 8 games.  COLTS 31-20

PANTHERS AT CHARGERS- The Chargers took one of the top teams in the league down to the wire last weekend, and the Panthers have had an embarrassing start to the season.  It's tough to imagine the Panthers traveling all the way across the country to get their first win against an objectively better team.  CHARGERS 21-17

BUCCANNERS AT BRONCOS- The Bucs will continue to improve this week over a severely wounded Broncos team.  Brady might even finally find rhythm with Gronk.  BUCCANEERS 35-21

LIONS AT CARDINALS- The Lions are atrocious again, and I maintain my lofty opinion of the Cardinals from the beginning of the season.  I don't know whether to characterize Matthew Stafford's career as a mountain of wasted potential or a total farce...or both.  Either way, they're not going on the road and upsetting one of the top teams in the league.  Kyler Murray will find more rhythm through the air this week.  CARDINALS 24-13

COWBOYS AT SEAHAWKS- Russell Wilson is playing at too high a level right now to lose a home game to a team that just gave up 39 points to the Falcons.  The Cowboys look as though they'll likely win  the absolute worst division in the league, but they'll win that division with 8-9 wins--tops.  This will still be a close one. SEAHAWKS 33-30

PACKERS AT SAINTS- Aaron Rodgers is still an elite quarterback, and he appears to be gunning for MVP honors thus far.  Drew Brees is no longer that guy, but he has impressive weapons.  This will almost certainly be the NFC's shootout of the week.  I don't expect a ton of defense to be played, and the game likely won't be decided until final 2-4 minutes.  PACKERS 38-35

CHIEFS AT RAVENS- The loss of Tavon Young certainly hurts the Ravens as they face one of the fastest offenses in the league.  The ace up the Ravens sleeve will actually be their former top shutdown corner, Jimmy Smith.  Jimmy possesses the length and strength to be able to both jam and cover Travis Kelce.  Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters will be tasked with covering Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins, while Anthony Averett will likely cover Demarcus Robinson.  Averett is the weak link in this chain, but I worry more able safety play against the elite speed of the likes of Hill.  Chuck Clark is solid in coverage, but DeShon Elliot still struggles at times despite his willingness to lay the wood at a level that Earl Thomas simply isn't capable or willing at this point in his career.  Patrick Mahomes' ability to throw accurately on the run will make life incredibly difficult to a Ravens defensive front that has already struggled to get consistent pressure on lesser quarterbacks.  With that said, the Chiefs defense doesn't possess a J.J. Watt or even a Whitney Mercilus type player to present problems to Lamar.  The Ravens can attack the Chiefs defense in ways they couldn't manage to last year, and they're just as explosive as the Chiefs, if not more so.  The major difference will be the Ravens ability to get several key stops and 1-2 pivotal turnovers.  This is a Ravens defense that has already limited a host of high-level receivers over the first two weeks of this season.  This will be a tougher test, but Baltimore is currently the more complete team.  RAVENS 31-24

GET READY FOR THE WAR OF THE WEEK ON MONDAY NIGHT!

AS ALWAYS

GO RAVENS!!!



     

Sunday, September 20, 2020

WEEK 2 NFL PICKS

      I sit here writing these as we watch the Browns take it to the clearly useless Bengals, and I must apologize for not having released these in time to have predicted the outcome of that game prior to it beginning.  For what it's worth, I would have picked the Browns, but in a much closer game.  

     Cleveland's offense clicking on a short week answers some questions I had following Sunday's blowout loss to the Ravens.  The Browns are, as I mentioned several days ago, absolutely loaded with top tier weapons.  Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb are two of the best backs in the league and they happen to be on the same team. Neither Odell Beckham Jr. nor Jarvis Landry needs any introduction. The question that remained after Sunday was whether or not Baker Mayfield simply isn't good enough to get these weapons the ball, or if the Ravens defensive backfield is truly as good as advertised.  Considering how little pass rush the Ravens got from Matt Judon and Jaylon Ferguson, I think it's safe to say that the 83 yards that Landry and Beckham Jr. combined to total on 16 targets are a testament to the elite coverage skills of Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters--oh, and it doesn't hurt to have a healthy Tavon Young back too.  That trio is easily the best group of corners in the NFL (fight me), and the fact that Hunt, Landry, Beckham Jr., and Chubb were all kept out of the end zone in a 38-6 rout last weekend means the glaring issues with the Ravens probably aren't as worrisome as I may have thought.  After all, that same Browns offense is currently up 28-13 as I type this.

    The Bengals are also not exactly devoid of playmakers.  Joe Mixon, A.J. Green, Giovanni Bernard, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, and John Ross offer a level of speed and elusiveness that on paper should scare teams.  Joe Burrow has also displayed some talent despite likely going 0-2 in his first two starts.  I fully expect the Bengals to find themselves at the bottom of the AFC North by the end of the season, but they've got more than enough to build around within the next few years.  Bottom line: the Browns and Bengals each have a host of weapons and young talent at the quarterback position that should allow them to both prove at least solid teams this season, and the Ravens are likely just that much better. 

    I can't say the Texans showed much in their first game to scare the Ravens, but this Sunday's game will show how the Ravens are able to perform in their first road matchup.  The Texans no longer possess one of the most explosive wide receivers in the league as DeAndre Hopkins is now an Arizona Cardinal, and his presence last year did not seem to mean much as Houston was blown out in a trip to Baltimore.  That isn't to say there aren't still formidable receivers on the Texans roster.  Brandin Cooks, Randall Cobb, Kenny Stills, and Will Fuller are all quality targets, but they didn't exactly light it up against a Chiefs secondary that possesses far less clout than that of Baltimore's.  David Johnson had a solid performance on the ground with 77 rushing yards on 11 carries, but his yards per carry average over the past three season has been an underwhelming 3.6.  The Ravens will face an unquestionably better quarterback in DeShaun Watson than they did last week with Baker Mayfield, and this will be a chance for the Ravens edge rushers to redeem themselves against an elusive target.  It will also be a chance for the Ravens rushing attack to find its footing and help grind clock late if Baltimore finds itself with a lead.

     The one AFC North team I have yet to mention has a good opportunity to show that it can do more than just pull away late from the rebuilding New York Giants.  The Steelers host a Broncos squad that just lost a painfully close game to the Titans.  This is a game the Steelers absolutely should win, but how they perform will tell us much about their potential to contend for the AFC North Crown that they relinquished two years ago.  Big Ben is still a wily playmaker, and the Steelers defense may be one of the top if not the top unit in the league this season.  I reserve my judgement for a larger statistical sample size before making that pronouncement because it's still the same defense that lost to the Ravens backups last year 28-10 when their playoff hopes were on the line and Baltimore rested its starters.  That same Steelers defense allowed Gus Edwards to rumble for 130 yards on the ground without Lamar on the field to present a threat to run the ball himself.  With that said, having Ben Roethlisberger back to sustain and finish drives does much to keep a defense rested, and James Conner and/or Benny Snell Jr. should be able to take enough pressure off Ben and help chew up clock.  I can't say at first glance that I believe this Steelers team to be as explosive as it was a few years ago with Antonio Brown and Le'veon Bell, but the defense is certainly improved to the point where they appear to be getting back to the old Pittsburgh formula for success of a strong rushing attack and being hard-nosed on the other side of the ball.  Not that I don't enjoy the Ravens sweeping Pittsburgh, but it honestly would be nice to see Ravens-Steelers get back to violently aggressive slugfests decided by a field goal in the waning moments.  Ok, let's get to the picks!

WEEK 2 NFL PREDICTIONS


GIANTS AT BEARS- The Bears had a nice road win last week over the Lions, and Mitch Trubisky had a decent enough showing to convince me that they'll be able to grind out a solid win over the Giants this Sunday. BEARS 24-17

FALCONS AT COWBOYS- Despite having the player with the greatest name in the NFL, Younghoe Koo, the Falcons are a constant disappointment.  Matt Ryan has had faaaar too many elite receiving weapons over the course of his career to be this inconsistent.  The Falcons have never struck me as a team that travels particularly well, and they allowed Russell Wilson to be too successful through the air last week to let me believe they'll be able to slow down Dak and company on the Cowboys' turf.  Tough to envision much defense in this matchup.  COWBOYS 33-27

LIONS AT PACKERS- Aaron Rodgers appears so incredibly motivated by his franchise drafting his presumptive successor that he began the season showing why he's still unquestionably elite.  The Lions are starting a 147 year old man at running back, and don't give me any reason to believe they can go into Green Bay and win this game.  PACKERS 38-20

JAGUARS AT TITANS- I was rather shocked that the Titans only barely edged the Broncos last week, and though Tennessee is the overwhelming favorite to win this game, I have a feeling it'll be far closer than their fans would prefer.  TITANS 20-17

VIKINGS AT COLTS- I thought the Colts might look decent with Philip Rivers out there--I was mistaken.  Rivers threw a single touchdown and a pair of picks last week, and it might take him a little while to really develop chemistry with this receiving corps after spending a decade and a half with another team.  The Vikings produced enough offense to win most football games last week, but they allowed a dismal 43 points.  It's hard to believe how hard the Vikings defense has fallen from the scariest unit in the league only a few seasons ago to the disaster that took the field last week.  Let's just have some fun and say that this is a week that Philip Rivers wins a shootout at home.  COLTS 35-28

BILLS AT DOLPHINS-  The Bills are too strong up front on both sides of the ball and too defensively stout to lose to a Dolphins team that managed to put up 11 points in their opener last week.  BILLS 23-13

49ERS AT JETS-  It's kind of difficult to know what to make of the 49ers after a season-opening loss to the Cardinals, but I also believe the Cardinals are going to be a serious Super Bowl contender this season with the addition of DeAndre Hopkins and as Kyler Murray continues to develop.  The Jets simply don't have serious weapons surrounding Sam Darnold.  They vastly overpaid for an overrated (that's right, I said it) aging Le'veon Bell, and their receiving corps is filled with no-name players and draft busts.  49ERS 31-14

RAMS AT EAGLES- There was a point last weekend where it looked like the Eagles were a solid team trouncing a perpetually rebuilding Washington Football Team.  That simply didn't last long.  Carson Wentz found himself running from his life, and it's tough to assume Aaron Donald and company won't be able to harass him to no end as well.  I don't, however, expect this to be a blowout. RAMS 24-20

BRONCOS AT STEELERS-  I am not nearly as high on the Steelers as some people I know, but theit defense should be able to limit the Broncos to under 20 points, and the offense will find its rhythm in the second half.  Losing Von Miller was a big deal, and it likely killed any shot the Broncos had of being some kind of surprise playoff team.  STEELERS 30-17

PANTHERS AT BUCCANEERS- I have made it no secret that I don't expect this group of thrown-together big names to suddenly turn into a Super Bowl contender.  Tom Brady has already been on a serious decline for two years coming into this season, and that was all within a finely-tuned system with which he was familiar on an unprecedented level in football terms.  Losing on the road to the Saints is no reason to hang one's head, but the WAY Brady lost was rather telling.  With that said, the Panthers likely don't have the defensive clout to stop the Buccaneers from eventually getting into a rhythm and mounting 3-4 successful second half scoring drives.  Allowing the Raiders to score 34 points on them at home last week didn't exactly instill confidence.  BUCCANEERS 35-24

REDSKINS AT CARDINALS- The Redskins showed some impressive ability to get to the quarterback last week, but their secondary looked unimaginably bad.  The Kyler Murray to DeAndre Hopkins connection should be off the charts today, and the Cardinals will further solidify their status as one of the best teams in the NFC.  This doesn't mean the Redskins won't still win some games; they just happen to be traveling across country to play one of the best teams in their conference.  CARDINALS 27-17

CHIEFS AT CHARGERS- The Bengals just allowed the Browns to score 35 points.  The Chargers barely beat those same Bengals 13-10.  The Chargers simply won't be able to hang with the Kansas City offensively.  CHIEFS 42-16

RAVENS AT TEXANS- The Ravens will be seriously challenged soon, but it won't be this week.  The Texans will give solid effort for about the first 3rd of this game, but they looked utterly confused facing the Ravens last season, and they haven't upgraded their roster enough to give me reason to believe they'll be any different this season.  They do still have some solid receivers, but the Ravens shut down a pair of elite receivers last week.  Fortunately for Baltimore, both Ronnie Stanley and Jimmy Smith returned to practice over the course of the week and appear ready to go.  Coach Greg Roman was not please with the ground attack last week, and I expect him to give plenty of carries to J.K. Dobbins after the rookie scored two touchdowns in his NFL debut.  We'll see how this balanced attack compares with what the Chiefs were able to do to the Texans in Week 1, but I also expect the Ravens defense to limit the Texans much more effectively than the Chiefs.  RAVENS 31-13

PATRIOTS AT SEAHAWKS- Cam Newton did a nice job of getting back to winning in Week 1, but Russell Wilson has been my objective favorite quarterback in the league for years, and he has never been afraid to face the Patriots defense.  This will be Wilson's 4th time facing the the mind of Bill Belichick, and Bill has only come out on top once--it just happened to be in the Super Bowl.  Newton is not yet to the point in that system where he can lead several rapid scoring drives like Brady did for years.  Wilson, on the other hand, is more than capable of doing exactly that at home, and he's even done it against the Patriots more than once.  I don't enjoy it when the Seahawks have beaten the Ravens in the past, but I otherwise love to watch Russell Wilson play and am happy to see Lamar developing into a similar type of duel threat player.  This is still a strong Patriots defense though, so I don't expect and utter blowout.  SEAHAWKS 26-20

SAINTS AT RAIDERS- They may have beaten up on the Buccaneers at home, but the Saints typically struggle as a road team.  The Raiders are a bit banged up with injuries to their starting right tackle and his backup.  The Saints are unquestionably a better team, but they're going to struggle to pull away in this game. SAINTS 24-21

     We're still in the opening month of the NFL season, and no appreciable amount of statistics currently exists to really make more educated predictions, but we'll have fun seeing which teams emerge over the next few weeks as true playoff contenders.

STAY SAFE, BALTIMORE

AS ALWAYS

GO RAVENS!!


Tuesday, September 15, 2020

RAVENS WEEK 1 BREAKDOWN

      I resisted the temptation to write predictions for the first week of the 2020 NFL season because the total lack of a preseason not only deprived us of a look at all of the teams, but also because each organization was unable to go through the usual process to prepare in the month leading up to their respective regular season openers.  It is, after all, wise to avoid crowning a team as champion based solely on big name play-makers on its roster.  Football is a sport wherein preparation, chemistry, and schematic fine tuning can absolutely outweigh pure athletic talent.  In most cases, one cannot simply emulate Lebron James and recruit several superstars to immediately dominate the league.  There are cases where a big name free agent can fill a major hole in an otherwise strong team and elevate the organization to new heights the way Randy Moss did with the Patriots in 2007. There are even rarer occasions where a transcendent leader can arrive at a new team and bestow his experience and maybe even his own system upon his new squad to bring unparalleled success the way Peyton Manning did with the Broncos in 2012 and his offensive record-setting 2013 season.  

     The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have thought they were getting just such a transcendent leader in Tom Brady, and I am sure they thought surrounding him with weapons such as Rob Gronkowski, Mike Evans, and Leonard Fournette would give him everything he needed to immediately catapult the Bucs into contender status, but Brady looked uncharacteristically out of sync with his targets yesterday.  I refuse to count him out purely based on his performance in Week 1 as Brady often struggled through the first 3 to 4 weeks of many seasons with the Patriots before making adjustments and dominating the rest of the way, but anyone looking to crown the Buccaneers as Super Bowl champs prior to the season must temper their expectations.  

     The Cleveland Browns are quite familiar with the temptation to prematurely celebrate their success because of major free agent acquisitions.  After a strong 2018 rookie campaign, many thought Baker Mayfield would run the league with the additions of Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr.  Reality shattered their hopes, however, as the Browns' 2019 season was a disaster, and yesterday's blowout loss to the Ravens offered even more evidence that one simply cannot underscore the importance of quality coaching and consistently strong drafting.  One announcer remarked yesterday that 45 of the 53 players on the Ravens roster were, in fact, drafted by the Ravens.  It did not matter that the Browns have two formerly elite wide receivers who should both still be in their athletic primes.  The Ravens got far better production out of a receiving corps that consisted of 3 wide receivers and a tight end on their rookie contracts.  Even the Ravens rookie running back J.K. Dobbins found his way into the end zone twice on Sunday.

     With all of that said, one must resist the temptation to crown the Ravens Super Bowl champs after a big first win.  The first 4 weeks of a season are not typically indicative of how strong a team will be late in a season for a few major reasons.  The first reason is that no one has seen the team on film in Week 1, and teams later in the season have far more film to utilize in preparation to thwart anything particularly gimmicky that may have caught other teams off guard early on.  The second reason is that no team returns all its players and staff from one year to the next, and even WITH a preseason it can still take several games for players to develop chemistry and for a system to be executed smoothly.  The third reason is that injuries can totally change a team--especially with a running quarterback.  I must admit that I was worried the Ravens would trot out the same run-heavy offense yesterday that would ultimately lead to a violent injury to Lamar Jackson at some point.  The Ravens rushing attack, instead, looked uncharacteristically weak.  Lamar was often bottled up when he tried to find room to run, and Mark Ingram seldom broke off a run for more than just 2-4 yards.  If you had told me that would be the case before the game, I would have predicted a Ravens loss, but just the opposite took place.

     Lamar Jackson took control of his offense through the air and absolutely shredded the Browns defense to the tune of 275 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns with no interceptions, and he did so without even just 30 rushing yards from any running back on his team.  Jackson, actually led the team himself with 45 rushing yards, but his ungodly completion percentage of 80% was the statistic that proved particularly impressive.  The touch on Jackson's passes was consistently superb despite often having to throw on the run.  Suffice it to say, this is the big step up we all wanted to see from the young superstar to allow him to grow into a complete quarterback capable of aggressively attacking a defense even when the Ravens rushing attack sputters.

    The Ravens rush defense performed equally poorly to the rush offense on Sunday.  Forget the fact that the Browns only scored 6 points; they still managed to amass just shy of 140 rushing yards.  That stat is totally unacceptable and presumably correctable, but it was baffling to see a team gash Baltimore on the ground after the disappointing first round home playoff loss from last season to the Titans came in large part because Derrick Henry rumbled for 195 yards and embarrassed a team that has long prided itself on being stout against the run.  I assumed the much of the Ravens' off season would have been devoted to making sure nothing like that would happen again in the foreseeable future.  That is not to say the Browns do not have two elite power running backs in Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, but elite running backs have seldom found success running the football against the Ravens in the past.  The Ravens once again appear particularly vulnerable to outside runs.  The 49ers first exposed that apparent weakness last season in what turned out to be a hard-fought win for Lamar and company, but San Fran provided a blueprint for how to attack an otherwise statistically elite Ravens defense.  

     It should not come as any surprise that the Ravens struggled against the run, particularly early.  Baltimore is young and relatively in experienced at the linebacker position.  Patrick Queen performed well for his first ever NFL game, but it will take time for the game to slow down for him to the point where he can truly utilize his outrageous speed and athleticism to carry out the tradition of the great run-stuffing middle backers that came before him in Ray Lewis and more recently C.J. Mosley.  The Ravens outside linebackers were particularly disappointing.  Matthew Judon and Jaylon Ferguson combined for 5 total tackles, zero sacks, and little in the way of pressure despite the Browns starting a backup offensive tackle.  I would be shocked if Baltimore's personnel department was not currently looking to sign a veteran pass rushing outside backer who also knows how to set the edge.  Things have not quite been the same in that department since Suggs became old and ultimately departed.  The acquisitions of Derek Wolfe and Calais Campbell proved immediately impact with multiple passes defensed between the two, but their presence must be complimented by consistent pressure off the edge as the Ravens face far more impressive quarterbacks than Baker Mayfield as the season presses onward. 

     Regardless of the host of issues on display last Sunday, the Ravens still absolutely obliterated a divisional rival with two elite wide receivers and two explosive top 10 caliber running backs.  The Ravens young receiving corps looked up to the task despite the absence of a wily veteran the likes of whom the Ravens have typically relied upon in the past with such names as Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith Sr., and Mike Wallace.  Hollywood Brown caught for more than 100 yards, Mark Andrews and Willy Snead combined for 3 touchdowns, and both Miles Boykin and Devin Duvernay occasionally got in on the action.  The fact that the Ravens were that dominant despite their glaring issues only means their ceiling on the season should be quite lofty.  Harbaugh's squad will have a great chance to correct many of the major issues against a Texans team that should not scare anyone without DeAndre Hopkins next Sunday before the Chiefs come to Baltimore the following week for a matchup that will undoubtedly establish conference supremacy in the minds of many fans and sports analysts.   Stay tuned later this week for Week 2 predictions!


GET PUMPED BALTIMORE

RAVENS FOOTBALL IS BACK!!