Tag: Greg Roman

Bills opponent outlook: Ravens history, statistics and more

Everything you need to know about the Baltimore Ravens, the Buffalo Bills’ Week 14 opponent.

Dec 1, 2019; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) runs during the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens square off this Sunday in a match up of AFC Heavyweights in Orchard Park. The Ravens are the hottest team in the NFL right now, defeating the Patriots and the 49ers over the last month. For the Bills, the chance to hang with a team of this caliber, is one to salivate at.

Here is all of the history that you need to know between the Ravens and Bills to get you ready for Sunday:

  • Since the Ravens inception in 1996, these two have played the Bills eight times.
  • They first played on Halloween in 1999, with the Bills getting a narrow 13-10 victory.
  • Their most recent encounter was the season opener just last year. The Ravens won 47-3 in that game.
  • Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson both made their NFL regular season debuts in last years game. Allen came in for a struggling Nate Peterman after he failed to move the offense down field, and Lamar was given the opportunity to get repetitions after the Ravens were well ahead.
  • The Ravens lead the all-time series, 5-3 , outscoring the Bills 180 to 112 in those eight encounters.

2019 So Far

Baltimore is way ahead of what many experts thought that they would be. Lamar Jackson’s growth, combined with excellent coaching from the Ravens staff, has propped the Ravens up as the best team in the NFL currently. Greg Roman, their offensive coordinator, is the dual-threat quarterback whisperer, and has this Ravens offense exciting to watch, and efficient, utilizing well sold trickery and misdirection.

After a good start, which saw them begin the season  2-2 with a blow out victory over Miami, a close victory over the Cardinals, and losses to Kansas City and division rival Cleveland, Baltimore hasn’t looked back since. Garnering eight straight wins, the Ravens have mostly dominated, with seemingly no end in sight.

Their major victories have been giving the Patriots their first loss of 2019 on primetime television, a double-digit victory over the Seattle Seahawks, led by another MVP candidate in Russell Wilson, lopsided victories over the Texans and Rams, and most recently, a strong four quarter effort to defeat the San Francisco 49ers.

It’s safe to say that 2019 has been good for the Baltimore Ravens. They currently sit at second in total offense, behind the Cowboys. Baltimore has accumulated 5,049 yards of total offense this season, with one fewer game than the Cowboys currently. Although they haven’t really needed too, they are the 26th ranked passing offense, with 2,555 yards passing for Jackson. By a long shot, they are the number one rushing offense, with 2,494 rushing yards in total, over 700 rushing yards ahead of the second best rushing offense, who they defeated in last week.

The Ravens also happen to be the highest scoring offense, by nearly 60 points ahead of the 49ers, who come in at number two. Baltimore is tied at first with Seattle for 26 passing touchdowns, and first in rushing touchdowns with 18.

Jackson comes in 18th for passing yard leaders this year, with 2,532 passing yards, just 59 yards behind Josh Allen. His 25 passing touchdowns are good for second in that category, only one touchdown behind Russell Wilson. Jackson is also 11th in completion percentage, with 66.5%. He’s doing well in the interception category as well, throwing only five this year, tied for 23rd with Matthew Stafford, Gardner Minshew, and Joe Flacco.

As for rushers, Jackson is in the top-10 of the NFL, 977 yards for him on the ground, with a good chance of crossing 1,000 this Sunday, averaging 81.4 yards per game. Mark Ingram, the starting running back, is not far behind, sitting at 12th with 837 rushing yards. Ingram has been a complementary and integral part of the offense, not only with yardage and production, but with selling fake handoffs. Gus Edwards sits at 32nd in yardage with 460 yards.

Obviously, with such a run heavy team, receivers aren’t having “career-years,” but it does not matter, they are doing their part to put their team in a winning position. Tight end Mark Andrews leads receiving for Baltimore, with 693 receiving yards, coming in at 32nd in the NFL. Andrews is fourth amongst tight ends however, just behind Travis Kelce, Darren Waller and Zach Ertz.

Marquise Brown is the leading wide receiver for the team. The rookie sensation is 58th in receiving yards with 520 yards by air, and six touchdowns of his own. Willie Snead is the next closest, ranked 125th with only 289 yards.

Historically, Baltimore has always been a defensive heavy team, and this year is no different. Despite losing some talented players, they traded for Marcus Peters and have a very young, and talented defense. The Ravens are currently the seventh ranked defense, allowing 3,881 yards against them. They are the 11th ranked passing defense, giving up 2,742 yards by air, and are the sixth ranked rush defense, allowing 1,139 yards on the ground. Baltimore is also the fourth ranked defense in points allowed, giving up 219 points so far, just behind the Buffalo Bills.

How do they match up versus the Bills?

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8 things to know about the Bills’ Week 14 opponent, the Ravens

Eight things to know about the Buffalo Bills’ Week 14 opponent, the Baltimore Ravens.

The Bills have an upcoming clash that might be the highlight of the NFL’s next slate of games in Week 14.

Not many predicted the Bills (9-3) and Ravens (10-2) would have the records that they have heading into this game.

Alas, here we are, potentially battling for the top spot in the AFC at New Era Field. With such an important matchup in mind, let’s update ourselves on the opponent.

Here are eight things to know about the Bills’ Week 14 opponent, the Ravens:

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Lamar a potential MVP?

The easiest place to start on the Ravens is exactly where everyone’s mind is. Quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Like Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Jackson is a dual-threat quarterback but in a much flashier sense. Both players are tough to bring down. Allen has the big body while Jackson has the elusiveness of Michael Vick. With those skills, Jackson leads the Ravens in rushing this season with 977 rushing yards, to go along with 2,532 passing yards. In total, Jackson has 25 passing touchdowns, seven rushing scores, six fumbles and five interceptions. It will be the first Lamar-Josh meeting at quarterback, too.

It’s hard to put into words how good Jackson is. He’s the current frontrunner for the MVP race and the Ravens are the only offense in the NFL to have scored more than 400 points (406) so far this season. Yes, that is good and yes he did this just last week:

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Behind Enemy Lines: Previewing Week 11 with Ravens Wire

Ravens Wire helps Texans Wire go behind enemy lines to set the table for the Week 11 matchup between Houston and Baltimore.

The Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens meet up for a Week 11 encounter at M&T Bank Stadium. To get ready for the matchup, Matthew Stevens, managing editor of Ravens Wire, took time to answer questions and give an inside look at the Ravens.

 

Texans wire: How much do Ravens fans fear Lamar jackson’s style of play will get him hurt?

Matthew Stevens: While many people look at how often Jackson runs and just see more opportunity for him to get hurt, it’s far more nuanced than that. The more you watch Jackson actually play, the more you see he does a great job avoiding big hits. He’s also a pocket passer primarily, using his legs when he has an obvious opening to make a play or when chased from the pocket. And considering how many starting quarterbacks have gone down with injuries this season by taking vicious sacks, him being able to avoid that pressure should be viewed as a positive towards his health rather than a negative. When Jackson does run, he’s been using the sideline a lot more often this season compared to his rookie year.

On plenty of his runs through nine games, Jackson has completely avoided being touched at all. So realistically, when you total everything up, Jackson probably takes no more hits than your average starting quarterback does. Though with the way Jackson has played thus far, he’s been able to see where those hits are coming from and been able to mitigate just how bad it’ll be. The reality is Jackson is undoubtedly going to get hurt at some point in his career, though everyone hopes he doesn’t.

There isn’t a franchise passer in this era of football that hasn’t gone down with a serious injury at some point in his career. The hope is Jackson can continue to be smart with how he plays in order to continue to not put himself at greater risk than any other quarterback.

TW: Who have been some big surprises for Baltimore?

MS: With a pretty young roster made up of a lot of new players, there have been a number of real surprises this season for the Ravens. But I think there’s been none bigger than the play from linebackers Josh Bynes and L.J. Fort. Both were midseason additions and have helped transform what had been one of the worst defenses in the league. Their individual stat sheets might not be much to write home about but their solid play has allowed so much else fall into place.

Offensively, I think running back Mark Ingram has been one of the best signings in the entire league this offseason. But without Jackson’s improvement as a passer and leader, the entire offense wouldn’t be nearly as impressive as it has been. While many expected Jackson to improve from last year, I don’t think many expected to see such a drastic improvement in such a short period of time.

TW: How hot of a commodity will Greg Roman be when it comes time to fill head coaching vacancies?

MS: While I think Roman should be at the top of plenty of coaching searches, I’m not too sure that happens. For as much praise as Roman and Jackson have gotten this season, featuring one of the best offenses in the league right now, I get the impression there are still plenty of people who either doubt the longevity of this scheme or how niche it is. And that makes some sense. Roman isn’t necessarily reinventing the wheel here. In fact, we’re seeing a lot of the same things he used when the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, just finding more success with Jackson at the helm.

But the thing that I think shouldn’t be overlooked is that Roman did cater his offense around the talent Baltimore has, especially at quarterback. He hasn’t been afraid to mix things up and go against the grain of traditional offense a little bit more often than you see elsewhere. That knack for not only finding and developing talent but creating a scheme to take advantage of it is something that should get him a ton of praise. It might seem like an obvious thing, but there are more than enough NFL teams that can’t seem to figure that philosophy out, including the Ravens for too many years.

TW: How big of a pickup was Mark Ingram?

MS: Ingram has been the best signing in the league this offseason bar none. Considering how much Le’Veon Bell cost the New York Jets, Ingram was a relative steal just in terms of pure cap space used. But he’s also on pace to set career highs in both rushing yards and touchdowns, improving the value so much more.

Ingram fits into what Baltimore wants to do, offering up the hammer to Jackson’s agility and in turn, the offense is flourishing because of it. He looks as strong as ever, often carrying defenders for extra yards. He still has plenty of speed, however, and has fooled defenses who though they could contain him on outside runs. It was the type of low-key, smart and efficient signing Baltimore has typically been known for in the past.

tw: is there a bettter cornerback duo than marlon humphrey and marcus peters?

MS: Boy, if there is, I’m drawing a blank on the names. Humphrey is the lockdown cornerback every team wishes they had, and Peters offers enough aggression and talent to gamble and notch some huge plays, as noted by his three pick-sixes so far this season. Considering Peters got traded to the Ravens before Week 7, he’s still undoubtedly learning the entire defensive playbook and turning things into muscle memory. Ideally, that means that duo can and will actually get better through the rest of the season and beyond. But what is often overlooked is that the Ravens also have Jimmy Smith and Brandon Carr as well — two solid cornerbacks in their own right. It’s not a stretch to say Baltimore legitimately has four starting-caliber cornerbacks on their active roster right now, and that’s even with slot cornerback Tavon Young on injured reserve. With Earl Thomas sitting over top in the free safety role, it’s hard to imagine a better overall secondary than what the Ravens have.

 

tw: any predictions or bold predictions?

MS:  For a bold prediction, I’m going to say Jackson throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns while going over 100 yards on the ground.

So far this season, no team has been able to accurately simulate what Jackson can do, and that has been to Baltimore’s benefit. While Houston has a unique talent at quarterback in Deshaun Watson, he’s not quite on the same level as a rushing threat or as fast as Jackson. And when I look at the Texans’ defense, I wonder if they have the speed to keep Jackson from running all over them without giving up big plays either to the running backs or through the air. If the Ravens can get an early lead, the defense has been able to make some really good quarterbacks pay this season.

While anything can happen on a football field, I can’t really see that formula changing much for Baltimore this week. I see Jackson forcing the Texans to sell out on containing him, which will leave a rather suspect secondary even more exploitable. Watson and Houston’s offense keeps it close, but the Ravens win. Ravens 34, Texans 27