Baltimore Beatdown
The Ravens found their first back-to-back win of the season and are rewarded with just being 1.5 games out of the division and a 10-day mini bye week. Lamar Jackson’s return was a beacon of hope for all, but it wasn’t perfect. Let’s dig into it.
Lamar Jackson: He got off to a slow start, but it’s hard to complain any day Lamar Jackson plays football. Jackson ended up finding his rhythm after an early miss to Bateman had him rattled. Jackson finished with four touchdowns and a 143.2 rating to finish the day, the fourth time he’s finished 140 or higher against the Dolphins in five career games. He might have an ownership stake in that Miami team at this point,
Derrick Henry: In Jackson’s return to the lineup, Henry’s performance was similar to how the season started. It was very boom or bust – he averaged 6.3 yards per carry, but was stuffed quite a few times in the first half as the Ravens struggled to find first downs and extend drives. Henry still looks like a world-class talent once he gets a little bit of room. He’s more frequently finding that by bouncing runs to the outside due to poor interior O-line play, and it’s working.
Zay Flowers: Flowers continues to be the top target in this offense, even if he isn’t finding the endzone often. He led the team in receiving yards again (for the seventh time in eight games), with 64 yards, catching all five of his targets. The big one was another shot down the right sideline like in 2023 against Miami, this one for 39 yards.
Tight Ends: Isaiah Likely finished with 60 yards on three catches. Mark Andrews had two touchdowns on two catches. Charlie Kolar had a touchdown for the second week in a row and a massive third-down catch with five minutes left in the fourth to keep the offense on the field and drain the clock to zeros instead of giving it back to Miami. TheRavens have the best tight end room in the NFL. Enough said.
Roquan Smith: Smith followed his solid performance last week with another good game this week. He isn’t making the flashiest plays like he did early in his career, but his impact has been massive the last two weeks. He once again led the team in tackles and made multiple third-down tackles to get them off the field. On one of them, he was the only defender around on a screen but still fought through his blocker and brought Achane down short of the sticks. Say what you want about positional value or Smith falling off a little recently, but somebody has to make the tackles to get the team off the field. Smith is leading the defense with that right now.
Kyle Hamilton: You can’t say enough about Kyle Hamilton. This defense would literally crumble without him. He’s the best safety in the NFL, and right now, he...
