Baltimore Beatdown
The Ravens had another grind-it-out win against the New York Jets. The rookie class is above .500 for the first time in their NFL careers. Let’s get into it.
Starks had another quiet but relatively mistake-free day, finishing with four tackles. He continues to be a steady presence in the run game, allowing the Ravens to trust him near the line of scrimmage or to fill holes when needed. It wasn’t the secondary’s best day of coverage as they allowed multiple pass plays of 15-plus yards. Starks had a touchdown-saving tackle on Breece Hall’s 40-yard catch-and-run. It obviously ended up being significant – two plays later, Marlon Humphrey ripped the ball That tackle down the field mattered.
Green continues to stack games and is finally looking like the first-round edge rusher talent the Ravens thought they were getting. He had another five pressures on Sunday with a sack and a quarterback hit and continues to play the run better and better each week as well. Green was the Ravens’ highest-rated defender according to PFF with a 78.0 grade (not including T.J. Tampa, who only played two snaps).
Jones made his first game-day activation this week but played no snaps. John Harbaugh has since said it’s in the plan to give him reps, potentially in a rotation along the offensive line at some point. But we’ll have to wait and see.
Buchanan continued his superb play alongside Roquan Smith and played 45 of 59 the Ravens’ defensive snaps. The rookie linebacker has good awareness when dropping into zone coverage and consistently hits his landmarks. He gets sideline to sideline quickly and tackles well in space; he’s still the Ravens’ leading tackler, though Smith is closing in. It’s been an impressive rookie year for the Day 3 pick, who is fully entrenched in his role now.
Vinson was a healthy scratch this week after being activated the last two weeks. With Emery Jones activated, the Ravens scratched the other guard in Ben Cleveland. With Cleveland scratched, the Ravens needed an experienced lineman for their jumbo packages on offense, so backup Joseph Noteboom was given a game-day activation to replace Cleveland. This left Vinson to be scratched. So, not an indication that Vinson has taken a step back, but rather just a roster need for a veteran lineman. Hopefully, one of Vinson or Jones will keep improving to take that role, so both can be active for future game days and neither has to be a scratch for a veteran.
Loop is officially the offense right now. It’s reminiscent of the 2010 Ravens behind Joe Flacco, where the offensive plan was to simply get into field goal range and bang threes from downtown all day. Loop hit three more field goals in this one, keeping the Ravens from being shut out in the first half and extending the lead twice in the fourth...
