Tag: Marlon Humphrey

How Ravens fared in the 2020 Pro Bowl

The Baltimore Ravens made up a large chunk of the 2020 Pro Bowl roster but how did they actually perform during the game?

The 2020 NFL Pro Bowl might as well have been another postseason game for the Baltimore Ravens considering they made up a large portion of the roster. Sending 12 players (cornerback Marcus Peters backed out of the game with an injury) to the Pro Bowl, there were plenty of opportunities for Ravens players to shine, even amongst the best the NFL has to offer.

And shine they did. Baltimore players led the charge on offense, posting up the most rushing yards, best passing stats and bet receiving performance of the Pro Bowl.

At the very tippy-top of the list is quarterback Lamar Jackson, who won the Pro Bowl offensive MVP award after completing 16-of-23 attempts (69.6%) for 185 yards, two passing touchdowns and one interception for a 104.4 passer rating. Check out highlights of Jackson’s performance in the game.

Running back Mark Ingram led all players in both rushing attempts and yards, posting up 31 rushing yards on five attempts for a 6.2 yard-per-carry average. Tight end Mark Andrews led all receivers in receptions, snagging nine passes for 73 yards and a touchdown.

But don’t forget the defensive stars the Ravens had on the Pro Bowl roster as well. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey led the AFC with three tackles and had a pass defended. Safety Earl Thomas had two tackles, one quarterback hit, two passes defended and an interception which he returned for 41 yards. While outside linebacker Matthew Judon might not have been able to get to the quarterback in this one, he still posted one tackle.

Kicker Justin Tucker had himself a perfect game, nailing all five of his extra points while kicking a 50-yard field goal.

Ultimately, all of Baltimore’s help notched a 38-33 win for coach John Harbaugh and the AFC over the NFC in the 2020 Pro Bowl.

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Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey considers Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins the 11th-best player in the NFL

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey revealed his NFL Top 100 ballot and had Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins at 11th overall.

Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins continues to get the respect and attention from his counterparts, and a recent NFL Top 100 ballot revealed as much.

According to Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who shared his NFL Top 100 ballot on Twitter on Friday, Hopkins is the 11th-best player in the NFL.

Hopkins is the best receiver in the AFC. However, he is the third-best in the NFL as the Atlanta Falcons’ Julio Jones is ahead of him at No. 7 and the New Orleans Saints’ Michael Thomas is No. 2 overall.

Curiously, Humphrey did not face Thomas or Jones in 2019, but he did face Hopkins. The three-time All-Pro produced seven catches for 80 yards in a 41-7 loss at the Ravens in Week 11. Coincidentally, the tenor of that game may have changed if officials had called defensive pass interference on Humphrey as he aggressively guarded Hopkins and knocked away an intended touchdown in the end zone early in the first quarter.

What makes Hopkins’ case as the best receiver in the game the most compelling is that he didn’t have the luxury of a Pro Bowl quarterback consistently throwing him the ball until 2018 when Deshaun Watson completed his first full season healthy. Since then, Hopkins continues to make his case as arguably the best receiver in the game, and cornerbacks such as Humphrey are taking notice.

Former Alabama DB Marlon Humphrey has a lot to say after post-season loss

Former Alabama defensive back Marlon Humphrey had plenty to say after the Baltimore Ravens lost to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Divisional round 28-12. Humphrey, who was a first-round pick by the Ravens in 2017, had two tackles in the contest. …

Former Alabama defensive back Marlon Humphrey had plenty to say after the Baltimore Ravens lost to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Divisional round 28-12.

Humphrey, who was a first-round pick by the Ravens in 2017, had two tackles in the contest.

The Crimson Tide product gave the media plenty of quotes after the game.

He kept this one brief and to the point.

While the words he used most likely wouldn’t have been spoken by other members of the team, he’s not wrong.

The Ravens had their season ended in the 2019 playoffs by the Los Angeles Chargers.

He also spoke on coach Harbaugh and what the mods was with the whole team after they were eliminated from their Super Bowl dreams.

It seems as if he is putting this season behind him, and he signed off on the year with this tweet:

He’s not apologizing to the fans, but acknowledges that something needs to change. Humphrey seems to be directing this tweet towards Ravens fans that were not too happy with the teams performance.

His reaction to the loss is warranted and expected, especially with how well the team has played in the 2019-2020 season, and with all the high expectations their fanbase had.

However, he still has 2020 to look forward to, plus the distance honor of being named to the 2020 Pro Bowl, along with numerous other Nick Saban products.

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Ravens optimistic about future but will need to rally this offseason

The Baltimore Ravens were disappointed but optimistic after their playoffs loss to the Titans. But they’ll have a tough road ahead.

The Baltimore Ravens had a remarkable regular season. They finished with the best record in franchise history at 14-2, held the longest active winning streak in the NFL, got 12 players named to the Pro Bowl and saw quarterback Lamar Jackson elevate himself to an MVP level. But with their loss to the Tennessee Titans in the NFL playoffs, none of that really matters now.

Following the Ravens’ 28-12 beating at the hands of the Titans, many players were disappointed in the outcome yet optimistic about the team’s future, according to WNST’s Luke Jones. In fairness to their hopefulness, Baltimore does have the likely MVP in Jackson and a roster full of great young talent that got them this far. It’s easy to see how they’ll be a regular playoff contender for the next few years.

But in reality, 14-2 seasons with an NFL-record offense and the No. 1 seed don’t happen every year. In fact, Baltimore had never held the top seed in the AFC in their 23 years of existence prior to this year and the rushing record they broke had stood for 41 years. Only four players have ever won the NFL MVP award in back-to-back seasons, dating back to 1957.

No, the Ravens had a golden brick road towards Super Bowl LIV and tripped with Emerald City gleaming within sight. It would be unfair to expect Baltimore will mirror that level of regular-season success in 2020. And in a sport where legitimate chances at greatness are fleeting, it’s not a stretch to wonder if the Ravens missed their opportunity.

This is the type of loss that can completely derail a team and get in their heads next season. It would be fair to wonder if last year’s playoff loss to the Los Angeles Chargers had a similar impact in this game, causing the players to get flustered and overextend themselves.

We’ve seen plenty of great teams that were favored to win the Super Bowl fall flat on their faces once they got to the postseason. Look at the former San Diego Chargers, who were perennial paper champs every January in the 2000s only to suffer heartbreak. Much like those Chargers, cornerback Marlon Humphrey noted Baltimore’s current identity is rightfully playoff choke artists.

 

John Harbaugh and the Ravens’ coaching staff is going to have a tough task ahead of them this offseason. They’ll have to get the players to shake this game from their memories or turn it into the type of fuel that makes them better.

Luckily for Baltimore, Harbaugh has some experience in this matter. After losing to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game thanks to a dropped pass and missed field goal attempt, Harbaugh faced a similar feat then. He and the team responded the following season, using the crushing loss as inspiration to not let it happen again. In the same scenario — against the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game — the Ravens grew and defeated their demons en route to their Super Bowl XLVII victory.

It’ll take a little bit of that magic over the next seven months to match the players’ optimism with results but Baltimore has the right coach for the job.

Can the Ravens’ defense stop the Titans’ offense?

A look at how the Tennessee Titans offense will match up against the Baltimore Ravens in this weekend’s NFL divisional-round playoff game.

The Tennessee Titans finished the 2019 regular season as one of the hottest offenses in the NFL. They managed to pile up the yards and the points despite an old-school offensive mentality. First-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has done a tremendous job featuring Derrick Henry while also getting production out of rookie wide receiver A.J. Brown.

Keeping the Titans quiet will not be an easy task for Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale and his players this weekend. Let’s break down the Titans’ passing and rushing attacks against the Ravens’ defense to see who has the edge in this game.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Titans’ rushing offense vs. Ravens’ rushing defense:

Like the Ravens, the foundation of the Titans’ offense is the running game. They have the league’s leading rusher in Derrick Henry, who finished the regular season with 1,540 yards and 16 touchdowns on his 303 rushing attempts. To put an exclamation point on the regular season Henry gained 182 rushing yards on the New England Patriots in the wild-card round to propel Tennessee to victory. Thanks to Henry’s deeds, the Titans averaged 138.9 yards on the ground per game which trailed only the Ravens and San Francisco 49ers in 2019.

At first glance, one would assume that this is a matchup that the Ravens have well in hand despite Henry’s dominance. The Ravens allowed the 5th-fewest rushing yards per game this season. However when we look closer we discover that the Ravens saw the second-fewest running back rush attempts in the regular season (296), thanks no doubt to their opponents being forced to abandon the run and play catchup. Opposing rushers averaged a not too shabby 4.4 yards per attempt against Baltimore, the 12th highest average in the regular season.

Rushing edge: Titans

If the Titans are able to keep Lamar Jackson and company in check and slow the Ravens’ offense down, Henry could be a huge thorn in the side of the Ravens defense. But it’s a very big if.

Rushing / Passing / Overall

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Fitzpatrick and Humphrey named to NFL’s 2019 All-Pro Team

Pittsburg Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and Baltimore Ravens DB Marlon Humphrey were named to the list.

On Friday, two former Alabama Crimson Tide players were named to the NFL’s 2019 All-Pro Team.

Pittsburg Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and Baltimore Ravens DB Marlon Humphrey were named to the list.

Humphrey, who was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, finished the 2019 regular season with 65 tackles, 14 pass breakups, 3 INT, 2 (FF) forced fumbles, 3 fumbles recoveries, and 2 touchdowns.

Oct 20, 2019; Seattle, WA, USA; Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey (44) recovers a fumble and runs it back for a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half at CenturyLink Field. Baltimore defeated Seattle 30-16. Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Fitzpatrick, who was drafted by the Dolphins in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft was traded to the Steelers in October of 2019. Since he arrived, he’s had 57 tackles, 9 pass breakups, 5 INT, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, and 2 TDs.

PITTSBURGH, PA – NOVEMBER 10: Minkah Fitzpatrick #39 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates after recovering a fumble for a 43 yard touchdown during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at Heinz Field on November 10, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

Both Humphrey and Fitzpatrick have also been chosen to participate in the 2019 Pro Bowl.

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How the NFL’s All-Pro voting system needs to be fixed

The 50 media members who vote for the NFL’s All-Pro team seem to need a little help getting it right. Here are a few suggestions.

There are those who will tell you that the votes for Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections aren’t a big deal. It’s just a popularity contest, right? Well, not really. A lot of players have bonuses built into their contracts based on their nominations on those teams. Hall of Fame voters absolutely take the number of Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections into account when deciding who is given the NFL’s greatest honor.

The All-Pro vote is supposed to be taken more seriously because there is not a fan element involved, but when looking at the selections from a panel of 50 media members, it’s hard to say that every vote should be given equal weight. And that, for all the reasons listed above, is a real problem. Here’s the list for the 2019 team; see what you think, and give these five suggestions for improving the process a look-see.

Give every voter a subscription to an advanced metrics website.

Frank Clark’s one defensive tackle vote was not well-deserved. (Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)

Whether it’s Pro Football Focus, Sports Info Solutions, or Football Outsiders, there are websites which, for a nominal subscription rate, give anybody a much better look at who’s doing what in the NFL. I’m not talking about PFF’s grades, per se — I find them far less accurate than their charting stats. But those charting stats have a lot of merit, as do the SiS and FO numbers. With these subscriptions, you can do everything from deducing which quarterbacks and receivers are the best on which routes, which outside cornerbacks and slot cornerbacks are the most effective in coverage, which teams run which defenses most effectively, and which pass-rushers are the most disruptive beyond just sack numbers. There are too many votes that are obviously skewed to old-school box-score thinking, and we should be way past that at this point in time. We have better metrics, and the game has exploded in both complexity and positional specificity.

PFF also has positional snap counts, which would have helped the one voter who wanted to add Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark to the list of interior linemen. Per PFF, Clark has 718 defensive snaps this season, and six of those are inside — one at left defensive tackle, four at right defensive tackle, and one at nose tackle. We don’t know what this voter was thinking, but we’d sure like to.

And speaking of that…

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The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

 

The worst Pro Bowl picks — and the players who should replace them

Every year, a group of undeserving players are named to the Pro Bowl. Here’s this year’s list, and the players who should replace them.

If you think the Pro Bowl is a meaningless exercise, don’t tell the fans, players, and teams when somebody on their side is snubbed in the process. Every year, there are deserving players who aren’t voted to the Pro Bowl roster, and every year, there are players who get on more through previous reputation than current performance.

Here are the most egregious omissions in the 2019 voting, with thought on which players these unfortunate snubs should replace. Because if you’re going to complain about a player who’s wrongly off the Pro Bowl roster, you should be able to find a guy who’s taking up space. That’s where things get a bit more difficult!

Quarterback (NFC)

In: Dak Prescott or Kirk Cousins
Out: Aaron Rodgers

(Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

Either Prescott or Cousins would be a better fit on the NFC roster than Aaron Rodgers, who had just three games with more than 300 passing yards this season, three games with less than 200 yards passing, and eight games with one or zero touchdowns. Cousins has been on fire after a rough start to the season, and Prescott ranks first in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics. Not that Rodgers has had a bad season, but this seems much more like a reputation pick than anything else.

Receiver (AFC)

In: Julian Edelman
Out: Jarvis Landry

(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Landry has been one of Cleveland’s few bright spots on offense this season, but it’s kind of ridiculous to have him in over Edelman, who was part of a total snub of New England offensive players that hasn’t happened since 2003. Yes, Landry has 74 catches on 1,018 yards and five touchdowns, but Edelman has 92 catches for 1,019 yards and six touchdowns in an offense so broken, opposing defenses can bracket him on just about every play. Edelman has faced more double teams than at any other point in his career, and he’s having arguably his most productive season.

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Alabama football: 7 former Tide standouts voted to NFL Pro Bowl

Alabama has become a factory for NFL teams looking to add high-quality talent through the draft. The recent voting for the 2019 Pro Bowl is a perfect representation of that notion. On Tuesday night, the rosters were revealed and included seven …

Alabama has become a factory for NFL teams looking to add high-quality talent through the draft. The recent voting for the 2019 Pro Bowl is a perfect representation of that notion.

On Tuesday night, the rosters were revealed and included seven former Crimson Tide standouts, including:

  • Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans
  • Mark Ingram, RB, Baltimore Ravens
  • Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
  • Dont’a Hightower, LB, New England Patriots
  • Marlon Humphrey, CB, Baltimore Ravens
  • Minkah Fitzpatrick, S, Pittsburgh Steelers
  • Eddie Jackson, S, Chicago Bears

In addition to those players, other former Alabama standouts, such as Raiders rookie running back Josh Jacobs and Colts offensive center Ryan Kelly, were named as Pro Bowl alternates.

The Crimson Tide continues its takeover of the NFL.

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