Tag: Marquise Brown

Giants dropped by Ravens, 27-13: Instant analysis

Instant analysis of the New York Giants’ 27-13 Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

Oddsmakers did not give the New York Giants much of chance going into their game against the surging Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon and for good reason.

The Giants were coming off back-to-back deflating losses to Arizona and Cleveland, scoring a total of 13 points in the two games. The Ravens were trending in the other direction, entering the game on a three-game winning streak in which they amassed 121 points and appeared to be unstoppable.

Baltimore has been the kings of December winning 11 of the 12 games started by quarterback Lamar Jackson since 2018.

Make that 12 of 13.

The oddsmakers had it right. The Giants did have little chance in this game. To be fair, it’s hard to see any team stopping the Ravens’ offense right now. They are so dynamic with Jackson running the RPO, it’s not a fair fight. Throw in the fact the Giants are punchless on offense and you had a perfect recipe for a quick TKO.

Baltimore came out of the gate strong and didn’t let up. They held the football for 13:17 of the first quarter, running 23 offensive plays to the Giants’ three, 147 total yards (95 on the ground) en route to a 14-0 first quarter lead.

The second quarter brought more of the same. The Giants started out the quarter with the ball but quickly had to punt it back after rookie Austin Mack dropped a sure first down killing the drive after five plays.

Then it was all Ravens again with Jackson and rookie running back J.K. Dobbins providing a deadly 1-2 punch on the ground. Jackson, after hitting wide receiver Marquise Brown for an easy touchdown on the Ravens’ first possession, threw short, high percentage passes to move the chains and keep the Giants’ defense on the field, running up the lead to 17-0 midday through the second quarter.

With all the running, the clock ran down quickly. The Giants finally got their offense together late in the first half but once again, could not turn a red zone opportunity into a touchdown. The Giants ended up settling for a 31-yard Graham Gano field goal. The red zone problem is nothing new. They entered the game 31st in the league in red zone offense (45.95%).

It really didn’t matter since the defense could not stop Jackson & Co. Baltimore got the ball back with 1:08 remaining, drove it 65 yards in nine plays, settling for a Justin Tucker field goal giving them a 20-3 halftime lead.

The Giants settled down in the second half but did allow former nemesis Dez Bryant to score an easy touchdown to give the Ravens a 27-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Big Blue narrowed the lead later in the quarter to 27-13 after Daniel Jones hit Sterling Shepard for a 3-yard touchdown to cap off a 15-play, 76-yard drive.

The loss dropped the Giants to 5-10 on the season putting their postseason hopes on life support.

Notes

  • The Giants won the second half 10-7 but who’s counting? It just shows they were invested for the full sixty minutes.
  • The Giants rushed for under 100 yards for the third straight week. Their 54 yards were the lowest on the ground since they gained just 29 against Pittsburgh in Week 1. They are 0-7 when they rush for under 100 yards.
  • Baltimore rushed for 249 yards, the most allowed by the Giants this season — by a lot. The most the Giants had given up in a game this year was 159 against Arizona in Week 14.
  • This was only the fourth game this year the Giants did not commit a turnover. They created one — a Lamar Jackson fumble inside the five that was recovered by Logan Ryan. The Giants are 2-2 this year when they don’t turn the ball over.
  • The Giants had three hits on Jackson but did not sack him. Jones, however, was sacked six times in the game. For the second straight week, he was relegated to the pocket and did not attempt to rush the football until the final minute of the game.
  • Jones was sacked three consecutive times on a drive in the early fourth quarter. Rookie tackle Matt Peart was victimized by three separate Ravens.
  • Kicker Graham Gano’s two field goals tied Josh Brown’s franchise record for consecutive field goals at 29.
  • Tight end Evan Engram injured his ankle in the final two minutes of the game.

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Former Oklahoma WR Marquise Brown catches touchdown in pivotal game for Baltimore

Former Oklahoma wide receiver Marquise Brown pulled in a big touchdown in a pivotal game for the Baltimore Ravens.

Former Oklahoma wide receiver Marquise Brown had a bit of a slow start to his second NFL season with the Baltimore Ravens, but things have picked up as of late.

The positive uptick continued on Sunday, as he hauled in an early touchdown reception to give the Ravens a quick 7-0 lead on the New York Giants.

The reception was Brown’s second of the day for 15 total yards and was his sixth touchdown of the season.

At 9-5, Baltimore needs the win to keep pace with the Miami Dolphins who won last night in the AFC Wild Card race. They currently hold a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

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6 takeaways from Ravens’ 40-14 win over Jaguars

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 40-14, in Week 15. Here’s what we learned from the game as the Ravens chug forward.

The Baltimore Ravens did what they were supposed to do in Week 15, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 40-14, in a game that could be classified as pure domination by the Ravens. Baltimore never trailed in the game, and despite a slow start on offense, the defense was able to swing the momentum back in the Ravens’ favor on their opening drive to set a tone for the rest of the game.

It took a full team effort for Baltimore to dominate Jacksonville the way they did, but a few individuals stood out above the rest, including Lamar Jackson, Yannick Ngakoue, Patrick Queen, and more. The Ravens led 26-0 at halftime and made sure to never let the Jaguars even come close to sniffing a lead.

While the biggest and most obvious takeaway is how winning keeps them in the playoff hunt, there’s a lot more we learned about Baltimore this week that could pay dividends come the postseason. Let’s dive into six takeaways from this game and what they mean for the Ravens going forward.

Ravens activate Marquise Brown, 2 other receivers from Reserve/COVID-19 list

The Ravens will have all their wide receivers available to them in Week 15 against the Jaguars after activating three from the COVID-19 list

The Baltimore Ravens looked to once again be in a dire situation earlier this week after putting three wide receivers, including Marquise Brown, on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. On Saturday — one day before they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars — the Ravens announced wide receiver Brown, Miles Boykin, and James Proche had been activated back off the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

As expected and evidenced from the short time out, the three appear to have been on the list due to being considered “close contacts” after being around a coach who had tested positive. And while they’re eligible to play, the lack of practice time for the trio puts a question mark on if they actually will play. But with Baltimore needing to win games to get into the playoffs and having so little wide receiver depth behind Brown and Boykin, the Ravens might not have much of a choice but to put them on the field.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson would probably like to have Brown back out on the field after he made a clutch catch in last week’s win over the Cleveland Browns. While Brown hasn’t been nearly as good as advertised this season, he remains Jackson’s most-targeted player by a wide margin.

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Ravens place WRs Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin, James Proche on Reserve/COVID-19 list

The Baltimore Ravens added three of their wide receivers to the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday, including Marquise Brown.

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The Baltimore Ravens can’t seem to catch much of a break this season. Though it appeared the Ravens were finally finished with their COVID-19 outbreak, the list is once again growing. Baltimore announced it has placed wide receiver Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin, and James Proche on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, all three players are considered to be “close contact” with a coach that tested positive. The contact came on Monday, per Zrebiec, which would mean all three players could be eligible to play Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars as long as they don’t show symptoms or test positive themselves.

The difference in the two designations means a big difference in the minimum amount of time a player is held out per the NFL’s protocols. A positive test requires a player to be held out a minimum of 10 days or a certain number of positive tests while a “close contact” is held out for a minimum of five days.

It’s a potentially big blow to Baltimore’s offense. If all three players end up missing Sunday’s game, that would leave the Ravens with just four wide receivers available on the 53-man roster. Though that would mean guys like Dez Bryant and Devin Duvernay would have a more prominent role on the offense, it would give Baltimore next to no depth at the position.

The Ravens had found some rhythm Monday night against the Cleveland Browns, beating their division rival 47-42. Brown, especially, had an up-and-down evening, dropping several passes before catching a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson that put Baltimore right back into the game. But for his inconsistencies, Brown has big-play potential defenses have to take into account each game. Taking that away would dramatically alter how the Jaguars’ defense plays the Ravens’ offense, potentially causing the rushing game to stagnate with more of a focus on it.

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Fantasy Football Targets, Touches and TDs: Week 15

A deep dive into the wide receiver position as we near the end of 2020.

Wide receiver has been fantasy’s unquestioned deepest position for several years running now.

As a result, leagues with three starting wide receiver slots have become increasingly common, and the weekly lineup decisions surrounding those starters often are among the toughest to make with fantasy general managers regularly choosing from a pool of similarly productive and intriguing WR options.

So what separates one talented wideout from another or one WR2 from the next?

This week’s TT&T will attempt to answer some of those questions by taking a look at deeper and lesser-known wide receiver statistical metrics and see what light they can shed on actual efficiency and true productiveness at the position this season.

In the process, some underrated and overrated wideouts are sure to emerge along with some hidden gems, and that should help in regards to some of those tough weekly WR lineup decisions.

Team target share

(source: Lineups.com)

Top 10

  1. DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals 25.2 percent
  2. Stefon Diggs, Bills 25.1
  3. Keenan Allen, Chargers 25.0
  4. Davante Adams, Packers 24.8
  5. Marquise Brown, Ravens 24.2
  6. Terry McLaurin, Washington 23.1
  7. Jarvis Landry, Browns 22.7
  8. Robby Anderson, Panthers 22.7
  9. Allen Robinson, Bears 22.3
  10. Tyreek Hill, Chiefs 21.9

Notable

  • Brown (36th among wide receivers with 80 total targets ) and Landry (27th with 87) are the only wideouts ranked in the above top 10 who are not among the top 25 at the position in total targets. They also are the only ones in the above group averaging fewer than 8.5 targets per game with Landry averaging 6.7 and Brown averaging 6.2.
  • Aside from the just-mentioned Landry and Brown, Anderson (18th among WRs with 15.1 point-per-reception fantasy points per game) and McLaurin (19th with 14.9) rank the lowest among this group in fantasy production, and most of it is due to their combined five touchdowns. The other six (Hopkins, Diggs, Adams, Allen, Robinson and Hill) have 53 TD receptions between them with none with fewer than five.
  • 49ers rookie Brandon Aiyuk (17th with 15.8 fantasy points per game) has missed three full games due to injury and consequently owns the lowest team target share (13.9) of any current top-20 fantasy wideout. However, he’s drawn at least 23 percent of San Fran’s targets in each of his last five games with a minimum of seven targets in each outing.

Air yards before catch per reception

(min. 35 receptions, ProFootballReference.com)

Top 10

  1. Nelson Agholor, Raiders 13.0
  2. Calvin Ridley, Falcons 12.8
  3. Mike Williams, Chargers 12.5
  4. D.K. Metcalf, Seahawks 12.5
  5. D.J. Moore, Panthers 12.5
  6. Darius Slayton, Giants 12.0
  7. Jerry Jeudy, Broncos 11.9
  8. Justin Jefferson, Vikings 11.5
  9. Will Fuller, Texans 11.1
  10. Tim Patrick, Broncos 10.9

Notable

  • This is not only a good indicator of which wide receivers are getting targeted with the coveted/more fantasy-lucrative deeper passes, but how many of these deeper passes are actually being caught. The Bucs’ Scotty Miller (13.6 yards on 28 catches), the Packers’ Marquez Valdes-Scantling (13.2 on 31) and the Bills’ emerging Gabriel Davis (12.4 on 28) are among those who just fell short of the minimum-catch threshold.
  • Agholor popped again Sunday with five catches for 100 yards and a TD on nine targets in the Raiders’ 44-27 loss to the Colts, but even with that, he’s only averaging 11.1 fantasy points per game and has had more than twice as many sub-top-40 finishes (seven) than top-25 finishes (three) on the season — a true boom-or-best receiver with a few too many busts to be started with any confidence.
  • It’s not too surprising to find a pair of Broncos on this list, considering QB Drew Lock leads the league with an average of 9.1 intended air yards per passing attempt, but hopefully most fantasy GMs have realized by now that Patrick is by far the team’s best WR3/flex option as his 64.2 catch percentage is far superior to Jeudy’s 46.5. Patrick has a team-most six TD receptions while Jeudy and the rest of the team’s wideouts have combined for seven.

Yards after catch/reception

(min. 30 receptions, NFL Next Gen Stats)

Top 10

  1. Deebo Samuel, 49ers 12.3
  2. Mecole Hardman, Chiefs 7.6
  3. Danny Amendola, Lions 7.2
  4. Michael Pittman Jr., Colts 7.1
  5. A.J. Brown, Titans 7.1
  6. Hunter Renfrow, Raiders 6.7
  7. Valdes-Scantling, Packers 6.6
  8. McLaurin, Washington 6.5
  9. Moore, Panthers 6.4
  10. Robert Woods, Rams 6.2

Notable

  • Samuel, who could miss the rest the season due to Sunday’s opening-play hamstring injury, is averaging nearly five more yards after the catch than any other qualifying wideout. Samuel also has a negative-7 total air yards on his 33 receptions, meaning he has more yards after the catch (398) than he does total receiving yards (391) on the season. That’s truly a rarity for a wide receiver, but Samuel seems to be paying a price health-wise for his physical style as he’s played in only seven of 13 contests this season.
  • The rookie Pittman has drawn physical comparisons to his AFC South counterpart in Brown, so it’s wholly fitting that their YAC averages are near identical. Pittman, though, is averaging 2.4 fewer targets and 1.3 fewer receptions per game and has had five or fewer targets in three of his last four contests after a bright but brief midseason surge.
  • Woods and fellow Rams WR Cooper Kupp, rank fourth and second among wideouts with YAC totals of 463 and 473, respectively. That obviously beefs up their own fantasy numbers as well as QB Jared Goff, who ranks third at the position with an average of 6.0 YAC per completion. Only Aaron Rodgers and the Niners’ Nick Mullens, at 6.2 apiece, average more, and only Patrick Mahomes (1,965) has benefited from more total YAC than Goff’s 1,945 to date on the season.

Team red-zone TD share

(min. 10 red zone targets, Lineups.com)

Top 10

  1. Adam Thielen, Vikings 58.0
  2. Ridley, Falcons 55.0
  3. Allen, Chargers 44.0
  4. N’Keal Harry, Patriots 40.0
  5. Mike Evans, Bucs 38.0
  6. Adams, Packers 36.0
  7. Aiyuk, 49ers 27.0
  8. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Steelers 26.0
  9. Hill, Chiefs 26.0
  10. Amari Cooper, Cowboys, 25.0

Notable

  • Thielen ranks eighth at the position with an average of 17.5 fantasy points per outing, and he owes it much to his top-of-the charts red-zone efficiency. A league-high 11 of his 12 total scoring grabs have come in the red zone, and he’s done it on 16 targets (fourth) and 14 receptions (third) inside the 20.
  • Ridley and Allen are the only other wideouts to have snared more than 40 percent of their teams’ red zone TD tosses with rounded-up percentages of 55 and 44, respectively. It’s particularly notable that Ridley has been on the receiving end of six of the Falcons’ 11 TD throws. WRs Russell Gage and Brandon Powell have two apiece and tight end Hayden Hurst has the other, leaving Julio Jones with a shocking zero on eight inside-the-20 targets and four receptions.
  • On the flip side, the Panthers’ Anderson, Washington’s McLaurin, the Bears’ Anthony Miller and the Saints’ Michael Thomas are the only wide receivers with 10 or more targets inside the red zone and no receiving TDs. All have exactly 10 inside-the-20 targets apiece with 17 combined receptions. Bengals TE Drew Sample (10 scoreless red-zone targets) is the only other pass-catcher without a TD on double-digit red zone targets.

Drop percentage

(min. 35 targets, ProFootballReference.com)

Top 10

  1. Hardman, Chiefs 13.3
  2. KJ Hamler, Broncos 11.5
  3. Valdes-Scantling, Packers 10.2
  4. Diontae Johnson, Steelers 8.8
  5. Moore, Panthers 7.9
  6. Kendrick Bourne, 49ers 7.9
  7. Thielen, Vikings 7.7
  8. Tyler Lockett, Seahawks 7.5
  9. Gage, Falcons 7.1
  10. Michael Gallup, Cowboys 7.1

Notable

  • Johnson has been poster player for drops with a league-high 10 on 113 targets. His unreliable hands have been especially glaring of late, and he even earned a seat on the bench for much of Sunday night’s loss in Buffalo after a pair of glaring early-game drops. Johnson is certainly not alone on the Steelers as QB Ben Roethlisberger has been victimized by a league-most 33 dropped passes and only the Cowboys’ Andy Dalton, at 7.0 percent, has had a higher percentage of his passes dropped than Big Ben’s 6.4.
  • It’s a bit shocking to see Thielen and Lockett on this list considering the former’s sure-handed reputations and the latter’s sheer volume (106 targets) and penchant for reeling in low-percentage passes, but they have had seven and eight drops on the season, respectively. Of course, Thielen and Lockett really don’t have to worry about much of a decrease in targets if the dropped opportunities continue, but players like the just-mentioned second-year Johnson are in danger of seeing their looks and snaps take a dip if the frustrating miscues persist.
  • On the flip side, the Browns’ Rashard Higgins, the Texans’ Randall Cobb, the Broncos’ Patrick, the Bucs’ Antonio Brown and Bears rookie Darnell Mooney are the only wide receivers without a drop and at least 34 targets, according to ProFootballReference.com data.

Former Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield has huge game in historic loss to Baltimore

Former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield had a huge game in an instant classic loss to Baltimore on Monday Night Football.

One of the most highly-anticipated games of the NFL season took place Monday night in Cleveland with the Browns hosting the division rival Baltimore Ravens.

It lived up to the hype…and then some. The game will go down forever as one of the most wild displays on Monday Night Football that any of us have ever witnessed with the Ravens winning a circus game 47-42 behind a late Justin Tucker field goal to give them the lead with just two seconds remaining.

Former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield did everything he could going 27/46 passing for 341 yards and two touchdowns in the brutal loss for the Browns. Down 35-34 late in the fourth quarter, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson connected with another former Sooner in wide receiver Marquise Brown for a 44-yard touchdown to give them the lead.

Mayfield would engineer a drive right down the field and hit running back Kareem Hunt for a 22-yard touchdown pass to tie the game with just over a minute remaining.

But, that was too much time left on the clock as Jackson led the Ravens’ offense back down the field for the game-winning field goal.

It was an instant classic that won’t soon be forgotten by NFL fans, and while the loss severely hurts Cleveland’s hopes at a division crown this showing was still good enough to earn the respect of may critics around the country.

More primetime football is ahead for Mayfield and the Browns as they’ll look to bounce back next Sunday night as they hit the road to face the New York Giants.

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Watch: Lamar Jackson comes out of locker room to throw TD on fourth down

Lamar Jackson appeared out of the locker room to throw a TD to give Baltimore the lead

Talk about an incredible moment in the 2020 NFL season. The Baltimore Ravens were without Lamar Jackson with around two minutes left in the game Monday against the Cleveland Browns.

The reigning MVP had been out due to cramping issues for the entire fourth quarter to that point.

On third down, backup QB Trace McSorley dinged his knee. Out of nowhere — okay, the locker room — came Jackson.

On fourth down, he looked like he was going to run but pulled up and found Marquise Brown, who had dropped three passes in the game, for a 44-yard touchdown that after the two-point conversion gave the Ravens a 42-35 lead.

Amazing.

More amazing:

The Browns came down the field and in 47 seconds Baker Mayfield found Kareem Hunt for 22 yards. The PAT made it 42-42.

5 critical takeaways from Ravens Week 13 win vs. Cowboys

The Baltimore Ravens can build off their Week 13 win over the Dallas Cowboys if they focus on these few things moving forward.

On another short week with a game on a day that shouldn’t have football, the Baltimore Ravens overcame their hurdles and beat the Dallas Cowboys, 34-17.

Though it was expected to be a big Ravens victory, this season has only bludgeoned into our brains that anything can happen. To beat another team by 17 points is a job done well. While Baltimore was far from perfect, the flashes they showed Tuesday night against Dallas gives some hope they’ll be able to prolong their football lives in the playoffs.

As has been the case all season long, it’s tough to know which version of the Ravens is the correct one. But I do my best to pinpoint the most critical takeaways from Baltimore’s Week 13 win over the Cowboys.

WATCH: Marquise Brown hauls in perfectly-thrown 20-yard TD from Lamar Jackson

The Baltimore Ravens extended their lead to 24-10 over the Dallas Cowboys with a 20 yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson to Marquise Brown

After a crazy first half, the Baltimore Ravens knew they needed to play a bit better in the second half order to extend their lead on the Dallas Cowboys. Midway through the third quarter, they did just that as Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson connected with wide receiver Marquise Brown for a perfectly thrown 20-yard touchdown strike in the back left corner of the end zone to extend their lead to 24-10:

After missing a couple of throws earlier in the game, Jackson showed great touch on the football, as he delivered the pass in the only place that Brown could catch it. Brown made a great toe-tap catch and made sure to secure the ball while going to the ground. Overall, it was a great play that hopefully will spark the offense going forward in this game and beyond.

It’s been a down year for Brown so hopefully his performance over the last couple of weeks will give him confidence. If the Ravens’ offense can get clicking, it will pay off immensely, especially with a lot of must-win games coming up for Baltimore.

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