Category: Ravens stats

Jon Gruden says he’s irritated by Ravens problems with penalties

Gruden went on to point how Ronnie Stanley, who he says is one of his favorite left tackles in the game, has nine penalties.

On the eve of the season opener, former NFL head coach Jon Gruden posted a video on his YouTube channel expressing his excitement for the potential of the Lamar Jackson-Derrick Henry backfield combination.

Gruden used a whiteboard to illustrate how the sky was indeed the limit for the Baltimore Ravens’ zone-read attack.

In a new video discussing the Ravens, Gruden’s tone has shifted from optimistic enthusiasm to angry disappointment.

“They have really irritated me with their slow starts,” Gruden articulated, referencing the games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals.

“They really have to get started faster, and that’s critical for their defense as well. Play with a lead, and make somebody chase ya.”

Chucky then brought up the biggest bugaboo of this Ravens season so far.

 “Very important that the Ravens eliminate the penalties. They’re No. 1 in the league in penalties, it’s ridiculous…they’ve gotta get rid of the penalties”

Gruden went on to point out how Ronnie Stanley, who he says is one of his favorite left tackles in the game, has nine penalties.

He then mentioned how left guard Patrick Mekhari has ten and right guard Daniel Faalele five.

“Now if you’re the offensive line coach, you’re probably gonna say ‘hey, you’re pissing me off.’ We gotta get rid of the penalties.”

No lies detected.

But the best part of this video, which appears to be in sponsored partnership with a sportsbook, is when Gruden mocks referees with jacked arms going out of their way to show off their biceps for the cameras.

Gruden does a great job imitating how a buff official will use the rule book gesture that indicates holding as an excuse to do the old “Which way to the beach?” routine.

Funny stuff!

And again, no lies were detected.

Ravens display elite red zone defense in blowout win over Broncos

While Bo Nix was able to “move the sticks” on the Ravens, his yards per attempt was just 6.8 and Denver found the end zone just once.

The Baltimore Ravens blew out the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium, 41-10 yesterday, despite not having a dominant advantage in the yardage comparison.

The Ravens gained only 77 more yards (396-319) than the Broncos, and first downs (25 to 20) were pretty even as well. Both teams had precisely ten drives, while Denver ran more plays (68 versus 54).

With only one turnover in the game (a Bo Nix interception to Ar’Darius Washington), you may be wondering what the difference was.

Red zone efficiency is the answer, as Baltimore perfectly embodied the ideal of “bend but don’t break” on defense while consistently capitalizing on offense. The Ravens scored in four of their six trips (66%) inside the red zone, while Denver went only one in four (25%).   

While Nix could “move the sticks” on the Ravens, his yards per attempt was just 6.8, and Denver found the end zone just once. And that lone touchdown came on a trick play, with Nix catching a two-yard pass from Courtland Sutton.

Last week, former superstar safety and nine-time Pro Bowler Brian Dawkins hailed Nix’s ability to move the chains while consistently avoiding critical mistakes.

“What you see from Bo is that with some of the creativity, he has to get the ball down the field to get first downs,” said the four time first team All-Pro, in an exclusive with RG. “It’s going to be imperative for him not to turn the ball over. That’s always the case for a quarterback – especially for a rookie – and to not beat himself up too much when he makes mistakes. Because mistakes will be made.

“They will be made, and you can’t beat yourself up to the point that it affects you on the next play on the next read, and that’s going to be the learning thing for him. But from what I’ve seen from him and from that relationship [with Sean Payton], it seems they’re clicking.”

Dawkins, who had a Hall of Fame nickname in Weapon X, is right—Nix and Payton had been clicking together entering this weekend. But the Ravens did a great job limiting his production in the vertical passing game and preventing the big play.

Baltimore needed to apply pressure, which would force Nix to make mistakes. They did just that, sacking him four times.

Tavius Robinson had half of those sacks with four quarterback hits. He was one of the brightest stars on defense for the Ravens yesterday.

“As a defense, we prepared well during the week and came out and did what we had to do today,” Robinson told the Ravens website. “[I’m] happy with how we responded to last week, and now we’ve got a quick turnaround for Cincinnati.”

Ravens fared much better versus Myles Garrett than they did against Maxx Crosby

Look at how the Ravens OL performed against Garrett today, versus what happened earlier this season against Crosby, it’s a great litmus test

You can call the Baltimore Ravens offensive line Sarah Connor or Kyle Reese because they just handled the Terminator. In case you missed it, Cleveland Browns franchise defensive end Myles Garrett showed up to the game on Sunday dressed as The Terminator in honor of the coming Halloween holiday.

Garrett typically wins Halloween and set the bar for costumes even higher this year. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Garrett’s Terminator mask collaborated with Mike Castro of Madness FX, a former Hollywood costume design team.

But Garrett wasn’t precisely a nightmarishly fearsome machine on the field today, as he recorded only one tackle and just one QB hit. To his credit, his team won, and they pulled off a major upset, but Garrett was anything but dominant on Sunday.

While he did sporadically generate some pressure on Lamar Jackson, the reigning MVP was pretty much consistently able to elude him, and thus, Garrett didn’t make much of an impact on the stat sheet.

This is the polar opposite of what happened the last time the Ravens faced one of the league’s top pass rushers in their week two loss to Maxx Crosby and the Las Vegas Raiders.

On that day, Crosby stuffed the stat sheet, registering two sacks, four tackles for a loss, five solo tackles, one pass breakup, and two QB hits.

Crosby is having a better season than Garrett so far, and he may be surpassing him as the league’s top pass-rushing threat.

In a recent exclusive interview, the Raiders DE explained the secret to his success.

“Consistency is everything,” Crosby said in a one-on-one with RG. “It’s consistency at work. A lot of people can do it for a couple weeks, a couple months, but the ones that do it every day – no matter what part of the year it is – when you know most guys are on vacation, having drinks at the beach, doing their thing.

“It’s the guys that are putting in the work 24/7 and that’s who I am. That’s what I feel separates myself.”

It’s only natural to compare Garrett, who has led the league in sacks the past three seasons, to Crosby, who is third in this category, over that span. (Nick Bosa is second). And when you look at how the Ravens OL performed against Garrett today versus what happened earlier this season against Crosby, it’s a great litmus test.

It’s pretty apparent that some progress has been achieved in a position group with new starters at three of the five positions.

If you flash back to just after the season opener, when the O-line came under heavy criticism for what many Ravens fans felt was an underwhelming performance at Kansas City, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh preached patience with this retooled unit.

He said back on Sept. 9: “I think by the end of the season, you’re going to feel real good about our offensive line.”

Maybe his words are indeed proving prophetic now.

Derrick Henry is developing into the Ravens’ dominant closer

Derrick Henry developing into Ravens’ dominant closer

The Baltimore Ravens’ 41-31 win on Monday Night Football over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a classic example of a game that totally changed course due to one player’s injury absence.

When Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans suffered a hamstring injury and left the game, his team was up 10-0. The Ravens then rattled off 27 unanswered points and never looked back.

It was reminiscent of the 2018 Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal. Notre Dame kept it close with Clemson until elite cover cornerback Julian Love (now a safety with the Seattle Seahawks) exited due to injury.

That opened up the deep ball for Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson receiving corps, and the route was on.

As the Ravens entirely turned the tide of the game, it was left to Derrick Henry to close it out, which he did with authority. Just like in the thrilling win at Cincinnati, Henry started very slow but finished with a flourish.

The King keeps getting stronger as the game goes on. Flashback to May, when Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said the following: “We want him to finish; we want him to be the closer.”

Henry has been doing that, and a look inside his situational stats on NFL.com verifies this theory.

He has 524 second-half rushing yards this season versus 287 in the first half. Henry’s second-half yards per carry average is 7.4, juxtaposed against his 4.9 avg. in the first halves of games.

Although it is a minimal sample size, especially when compared to the other stats, his overtime numbers pop off the page. He’s averaging 15.5 yards per carry (4 for 62 yards) in OT,

Henry is most potent in the third quarter, where he sports an elite 9.2 yards per carry average. His fourth-quarter YPC is his second-highest, at 5.9 yards per rush. He averages 5.0 yards per rush in the first quarter and 4.7 in the second.

He’s been improving as the game goes on, and his running sends a message to opposing defenses: ” From here on out, it only gets rougher” (in the words of Outkast).

Ravens will face the NFL’s second best offense in back to back weeks

The Buccaneers’ high-octane offense ranks second in a key category—scoring. The Bucs are tied with the Commanders for the league’s top spot in total points scored—178.

If you like scoring points, you have come to the right place. Last week, the Baltimore Ravens beat the Washington Commanders, 30-23, in a match-up of the NFL’s No. 1 (Baltimore) and No. 2 offenses.

And by top offense, we mean average yards gained per game. The Ravens still hold this distinction this week as they prepare to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football.

The Buccaneers’ high-octane offense ranks second in a key category—scoring. The Bucs are tied with the Commanders for the league’s top spot in total points scored—178.

However, the Detroit Lions hold the top spot for points per game at 30.2, scoring 151 points in one less game (5). The Ravens’ next opponent is tied with Baltimore’s most recent opponent, averaging 29.7 points per game.

The Ravens are the next team in both tables, with 177 points scored in total and 29.5 ppg. In other words, this sounds like a game where you should take the over.

Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry reach new statistical milestone as teammates

Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson accomplished this feat while running the ball at a very effective and efficient rate. 

Of the eight NFL players with 250+ rushing yards so far this season, two play for the Baltimore Ravens. Through the first three weeks of the season, Ravens running back Derrick Henry is fifth in the league with 281 rushing yards.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson is eighth in the NFL with 254 rushing yards. It’s been nearly a half-century since we’ve seen a pair of teammates both have two-and-a-half bills rushing through the first three.

The last time it happened was in 1976 when the Los Angeles Rams’ John Cappelletti had 315 yards, and Lawrence McCutcheon had 298.

But wait, there’s more.

Henry and Jackson have also accomplished this feat while running the ball effectively and efficiently.

See the tweet below:

Jackson averages 7.3 yards per carry while Henry averages an even 5.0, as the duo leads the way for the top offense in the National Football League.

The Ravens are averaging 430.3 yards per game, which is first in the entire league by close to 20 yards per game.

As a team, They have topped at least 100 yards rushing in their last 36 games. If they extend that streak by eight more games, they’ll break the record they currently share with the arch-rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers accomplished the feat first, from 1974 to 1977. The Ravens then tied it in 2018-2021.

Ravens have an eye-popping statistical disparity on defense

The statistical disparity between the Ravens rushing yardage allowed and passing yards allowed is truly something to behold.

A week ago, a reporter asked Baltimore Ravens strong safety Kyle Hamilton a question about his team’s problems defending the pass.

His answer referenced how good the Ravens are in shutting down the run:

“I don’t think we get caught up too much in numbers, but I think we’re knocking the run out so much that teams kind of abandon it,” he said.

“And that skews the passing numbers a little bit…because once you can’t run the ball, you got to pass it, or punt it.”

Looking at the chart below, you can see how much Hamilton is understating it all.

It’s not just that the Ravens are the top defense against the run but also dead last against the past.

It’s the fact that Baltimore is the best against the run by such a wide margin while also being the worst versus the pass by (again) a big gap.

Only a chart can genuinely do this phenomenon justice.

You see that purple bird logo, way off by itself, down in the right corner. The Ravens have allowed just 150 yards rushing this season, or 50 yards per game.

That’s very much elite!

Meanwhile, they’ve yielded 875 yards passing, or 291.7 yards per game. That’s very much abysmal.

They’re given up 1,025 total yards, or 341 ypg, which ranks 23rd overall.

That’s very much below average.

However, the Ravens average 430.3 yards per game, which is the top in the NFL.

They’re not just first; they’re first by a big margin, as the second-ranked Philadelphia Eagles put up 411.7 ypg.

When you add it all up, Hamilton is right—it’s not time to panic. This team could still be excellent. 

Will Zay Flowers break the Ravens’ single season-receiving record?

With the status as Lamar Jackson’s main target, Zay Flowers is expected to take a major step forward.

Zay Flowers had a rookie season that was so impressive it earned him the WR1 role for 2024. Now, with the status as Lamar Jackson’s primary target, he’s expected to take a significant step forward.

One NFL writer believes that this step will happen and will be massive.

The Athletic’s Robert Mays has pegged Flowers to break Raven’s single-season receiving yards record but with a caveat.

Mays, speaking on “The Athletic Football Show,” predicted Flowers would accumulate more single-season receiving yards than any Ravens receiver ever has.

“It’s not that high!” Mays said “1,202 gets there for Zay Flowers, and I truly think he has a chance to take that sort of step in his second season.”

The current benchmark of 1,201 belongs to Michael Jackson, whose 1996 season was a “thriller” to Ravens fans. He approached the game with an ambitious “don’t stop ’til you get enough” attitude.

If you “remember the time” that this record was set, the NFL was still playing 16 games a season. So, the Ft. Lauderdale native has the advantage of an extra game to surpass Jackson’s mark.

In true Ravens franchise fashion, the single-season receiving yards mark belongs to a tight end, not a wideout.

Current TE1 Mark Andrews racked up 1,363 receiving yards in 2021. Backing Flowers to break the club’s season receiving yards record sounds like a bold take at first, but this isn’t much of a reach when you break it down into specifics.

As it’s back-to-school season, let’s do some math.

Flowers averaged 53.6 yards per game last season. To hit 1,202, the former Boston College Eagle would need to average 70.7 yards per game more. That’s just 17 yards and more change per game, which is very doable.

For the mountain of 1,364 to be submitted, Flowers must maintain an average of 80.2 yards per game.

In today’s pass-happy NFL, it is certainly achievable.

Jamal Lewis reflects on what cost him the NFL’s single season rushing record

Jamal Lewis played for the Baltimore Ravens from 2000-2006, but it is his 2003 campaign for which he will be most remembered

Jamal Lewis played for the Baltimore Ravens from 2000 to 2006, but he is most remembered for his 2003 campaign.

It was the season when Jamal Lewis Lewis broke Corey Dillon’s single-game rushing record of 278 yards by running for 295 at home against the rival Cleveland Browns in week two.

It was also the season he earned his way into the highly rarified air of the 2000-yard season club.

Ultimately, his 2,066 total rushing yards fell just 40 yards shy of the all-time single-season record set by Eric Dickerson in 1984.

A couple of days ago, Lewis appeared on the Ravens’ in-house video channel as the featured guest for an episode of “Untold Stories.”

Lewis pinpointed the moment when the opportunity to break the single-season rushing record got away from him.

It was week 16 when the Ravens visited the Browns, and he had 22 carries for 205 rushing yards in a 35–0 victory.

Lewis came out in the second half when they were up 28-0.

“I think I ended up coming out the late third quarter, early fourth quarter, something like that,” Lewis told the video podcast.

“I would have gotten the 60-plus yards that I would have needed to break the season record—I can tell you that.”

The show’s host then asked him if, looking back on it now, he wishes he had stayed in for another series or two.

“Looking back, I wish I could have, but coach (Brian) Billick, he had a good point,” Lewis answered.

“We were going into the playoffs; I needed to be healthy. I didn’t want to risk my health or injury, being selfish.”

With the Browns bruised and beaten, week 16 was the opportunity that got away. The following week, the Ravens welcomed in their most hated rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

However, Lewis couldn’t get going enough to surpass 2,105. Despite the game going into overtime, which provided extra chances at the record, he fell short.

The following season, Lewis’s single-game rushing record was broken by Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings. Peterson got 296 against the San Diego Chargers, besting Lewis by just one yard.

Peterson also surpassed Lewis on the season, which moved him into second place all-time on the season rushing list, just ahead of Lewis.

NFL stats leaders: Where Lamar Jackson, Gus Edwards, Zay Flowers rank after Week 16

We’re looking at where Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers and Gus Edwards rank in the NFL stats after Week 16 and ahead of Week 17

The Ravens are 12-3 and have the NFL’s top defensive unit, but Todd Monken’s offensive unit is stout, ranking first in rushing, 21st in passing, and 5th overall.

Baltimore won’t lead the NFL in passing or receiving yards, but they’re 4th in the league with 27.8 points per game, and they’ll run you out of the building with a stout rushing attack and the top dual-threat quarterback in NFL history.

The Ravens will meet the Dolphins at M&T Bank Stadium for the top overall seed in the AFC, and with preparation underway, we’re looking at where Lamar Jackson, Gus Edwards, and Zay Flowers rank among NFL stat leaders after Week 16.