Resilient Ravens Sending Message to NFL – Clifton Brown
“This team is just resilient,” rookie outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said. “We don’t flinch. That’s our motto for the year; we just don’t flinch. We’ve been through a lot of adversity from the preseason until now, and it feels so good for us to keep pushing and win like that. We’ve definitely got favor on our side.
“We knew that they were going to try to make plays, and we were going to have to hunker down and really try to stop them. When adversity hit, we strapped our boots up, and we got it done.”
Here’s a warning for Ravens fans who are worried about their blood pressure when watching this team. They still have 12 regular-season games left, starting with Sunday’s Week 6 game against the Chargers.
It’s another game that will give the Ravens more insight on where they stand in the early-season AFC hierarchy. But they have already proven they are capable of doing special things. They have a unique player leading them in Jackson. They can come from behind. Their passing attack is more prolific that it has ever been since Jackson arrived. Their defense, even when not playing its best, can create game-changing turnovers.
Collectively, they are a group with exceptional fortitude that refuses to set limits on what they can accomplish, an AFC contender that cannot be easily dismissed despite their injuries.
Baltimore Ravens believe unreal finishes are the start of something special – Jamison Hensley
“Whenever you have that belief, you know as a team that the game is never out of reach, [and] it’s never out of hand,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. “I think they’re taking a couple years off my life, but it’s been fun.”
To say the Ravens have defied the odds doesn’t do Baltimore’s comebacks justice unless you exactly point out the disheartening odds.
The Chiefs had a 91.6% win probability after the Ravens punted the ball trailing 35-24 with 3:14 left in the third quarter. Baltimore ended up winning 36-35.
The Lions had a 99.9% win probability when the Ravens faced a fourth-and-16 and a 17-16 deficit with 26 seconds remaining. Baltimore ended up winning, 19-17.
The Colts had a 98.4% win probability after the Ravens fell behind 25-9 with 12 minutes left in the game. Baltimore ended up winning.
The reason Baltimore has failed to make an extended championship run with Jackson has been the inability to bounce back from a large deficit. In all three of Jackson’s playoff losses, the Ravens were behind by at least 14 points and failed to dig themselves out of the hole.
This year, Baltimore has dominated the end of games to roar back. During their four-game winning streak, the Ravens have outscored opponents 43-13 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Defensive Notes Week 5 Colts @ Ravens – Ken McKusick
Jimmy Smith played well, primarily on the back end in dime. He ran into Clark (Q1, 13:11), which was the major failure on the 76-yard screen TD. Otherwise, he had a nice PD by strip of RB Hines (Q4, 0:32) and made the tackle of WR Pascal for a gain of 2 on 2nd and 20 (Q4, 0:18) before the UR flag on Young.
Brandon Stephens led the team in tackles and did not have a miss. Unfortunately, his tackles included just 2 defensive wins (RL3, PL4) and 9 others (PM15, RM2, PL31, PL21, RL13, PL24, RL22, PR29, RL7) where he was most often the last line of defense. He had a QH off Oweh’s initial pressure (Q4, 0:32).
Odafe Oweh continues to deliver impact plays. He had contributions to 4 pressure events including the strip sack and a QH. Get off was one of the issues for Oweh that showed up in college, but he timed up the snap perfectly on the sack (looked like offsides from how badly he beats all other linemen) and blew by LT Fisher. I’m thrilled with his production to date and even more amazed by his growth.
Mark Andrews delivers while playing with heavy heart and what’s deal at RB, ILB? Observations from the Ravens’ win – Jeff Zrebiec
Struggles continue at ILB
Middle linebacker Patrick Queen’s night started with him seemingly hearing some boos when he was introduced, continued with him getting chewed out by teammate Marlon Humphrey after a missed tackle in the first quarter and also included him coming off the field more than he has all season. Queen played 50 of 69 snaps as Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale took the 2020 first-round pick off the field in different situations.
In a season where the Ravens hoped that Queen would take a significant step forward, he’s either stuck in neutral or going backward, depending on who you believe. He seems to be having a hard time diagnosing plays and taking proper tackling angles. His tackling has been poor. His struggles in coverage have mostly continued and his issues have been compounded by the fact that fellow second-year inside linebacker Malik Harrison is also playing poorly. In fact, Harrison was absolutely lost in coverage Monday and probably had a more disappointing game than Queen.
Martindale has gotten veteran inside linebacker Chris Board more and more involved over the past couple of weeks at the expense of Harrison. Board played 32 snaps Monday. The Ravens have veteran Josh Bynes, who was a healthy scratch against the Colts, behind Queen.
The Ravens want to give Queen every chance to develop and succeed. He’s young and inexperienced and the Ravens knew he’d have some growing pains. But they were obviously expecting him to be playing at a much higher level than he is now. As they head into Week 6, Queen and to a lesser extent, Harrison, have become two of the team’s biggest concerns.
Ravens are field-goal favorites vs. Chargers in marquee Week 6 matchup – Jonas Shaffer
The Ravens are field-goal favorites over the Los Angeles Chargers ahead of their much-anticipated matchup Sunday in Baltimore, according to Las Vegas sportsbooks.
With the Ravens favored by three, the game would be considered nearly a toss-up on a neutral field. The Ravens and Chargers are two of the AFC’s three 4-1 teams, along with the Buffalo Bills.
The Ravens and Chargers are both coming off wild Week 5 comebacks.
The Chargers trailed 27-13 in the third quarter Sunday before outgunning the Cleveland Browns in a back-and-forth second half and escaping SoFi Stadium with a 47-42 win.
The Ravens lead the all-time series 7-6, but the Chargers won their last matchup, a wild-card-round playoff game in Baltimore in January 2019. The 23-17 win avenged a 22-10 loss to the Ravens just weeks earlier. The Ravens have won three of their past five meetings overall.