Ravens Reinforcements Are Coming?

The Ravens travel to Pittsburgh this Sunday to take on the Steelers as 4-point road favorites. The Steelers are struggling on offense and their defense just surrendered 30 points and 306 yards passing to the Texans’ rookie QB C.J. Stroud. One would think that the Ravens are catching Mike Tomlin’s squad at just the right time, particularly with a less than 100% Kenny Pickett who will play without his go-to target, tight end Pat Freiermuth. The Steelers promoted TE Rodney Williams from their practice squad to their active roster.

But it’s possible that none of this matters. Whenever these teams collide a closely played slugfest ensues. Eighteen of the 30 regular season games between Baltimore and Pittsburgh since 2008 have been decided by 3-or-fewer points (including both games in 2022), and 24 have been one-score affairs.

Lamar Jackson has had his fair share of struggles against the Steelers. Surprisingly, Sunday’s game will be just his 4th career start v. Pittsburgh. Lamar has won just 1 of 3 starts against the Steelers, throwing 4 TD’s to go with six picks. His passer rating against Pittsburgh is the lowest of any team he has faced during his 6-year career – a paltry 67.4. Jackson must play better, and he needs to protect the football, particularly against opportunistic edge defenders like T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. In four games this season, Lamar has fumbled 6 times, losing three.

Reinforcements

While Morgan Moses nurses a shoulder injury and is tracking as a scratch for Sunday’s game, there is some good news on the injury front. Ronnie Stanley was a full participant on Wednesday as were Rashod Bateman and Marcus Williams. Marlon Humphrey took the practice field for the first time since mid-August and Odell Beckham, Jr. was also back in action, albeit limited, at the Under Armour Performance Center.

A look at Odell Beckham Jr., Marlon Humphrey and Rashod Bateman, all of whom returned to practice Wednesday.

Here is the last time each played or practiced:

Humphrey: Aug. 15
OBJ: Sept. 17
Bateman: Sept. 24 pic.twitter.com/4lbI13C1VH

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) October 4, 2023

If Ronnie Stanley can go, it frees up Patrick Mekari to set up at right tackle but that might not be a foregone conclusion. The Ravens could go with second-year player Daniel Faalele at RT and that could be a mistake. Both Watt and Highsmith have a quick get-off and it’s unlikely that Faalele can keep up. And maybe the Ravens staff knows that too. Keep in mind that the team just signed TE Eric Tomlinson, an old, familiar face, to the practice squad. Don’t be surprised to see the blocking tight end elevated for the game to help combat the Steelers dangerous bookends.

Sick Ward

The plethora of Ravens injuries is a tired story. I can’t even remember the last time the team entered a game as a healthy squad, and it seems as if this problem has been ongoing for the better part of three seasons. Are the Ravens scouting and recruiting players who have a history of injuries yet they think they can miraculously restore broken athletes? Jalyn Armour-Davis comes to mind. Is it the strength and conditioning staff? It must be considered, right? Think about this – Morgan Moses has a reputation as an ironman. He hasn’t missed a game since Pharrell Williams topped the charts with “Happy” in 2014. That’s 134 straight games! Yet Baltimore, for NFL players, is becoming a place where consecutive game streaks go to die.

Remember the survey of players conducted by the NFL Players Association in 2022? In the category of “strength and conditioning” the Ravens received a grade of F-. Eff. Minus. I didn’t even know there was a grade worse than an “F” but John Harbaugh’s S&C staff managed to do it. Eventually, player agents will use that against the Ravens during negotiations, if they haven’t already.

That said, injuries haven’t deterred GM Eric DeCosta from uncovering value in the market. The guy just knows how to play the waiting game. Want proof? Jadeveon Clowney ($2.4M) and Kyle Van Noy ($1.4M) eat up a modest $3.8M in cap space combined. On Sunday they combined for 10 pressures in Cleveland.

Comparison vet FA pass rusher 1-year deals, through 4 weeks:

Jadeveon Clowney (1 year, 2.4M) – 19 pressures/2 sacks
Leonard Floyd (1 year, 7M) – 12 pressures/4 sacks
Justin Houston (1 year, 6M) – 9 pressures/1 sack
Yannick Ngakoue (1 year, 10M) – 14 pressures/1 sack

— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) October 3, 2023

Other edge players that have combined for next to nothing include Odafe Oweh, David Ojabo and Tyus Bowser. Oweh, if he doesn’t bounce back soon, may one day be stored in the closet labeled “busts”. Oweh got off to a solid but short-lived start, but without a decent 2023 season, exercising his fifth-year option, something the Ravens will need to commit to by May of 2024, will be a challenging call for DeCosta. Ojabo, a 2022 second-round pick, has played in just 5 NFL games during his 1-year plus in the league. And from the looks of it, he could miss many more, even the balance of the 2023 season.

Ojabo, Oweh and Bateman – that’s a ton of draft capital that has fallen well short of expectations.

Then there’s Bowser.

The former Houston Cougar has missed 12 of the Ravens past 21 regular season games and there are some close to the team who question Bowser’s desire to play unless he’s 100% ready. From what I hear, doctors have suggested Bowser is good to go. Trouble is, Tyus disagrees and until he does, the Ravens will continue to stroke those $206,000 game checks every week.

[Related Article: Tale of the Tape Reveals how good Lamar was on Sunday]

The North

The first seasonal goal of any NFL team is to win the division. With a win on Sunday, the Ravens will have accomplished a rare divisional fete – to sweep on the road. That will set up well for John Harbaugh & Co. moving forward. Also of note are the struggles of the other AFC North teams.

The Bengals offense is challenged by Joe Burrow’s lack of mobility stemming from his calf injury. The Bengals are limiting his depth of drop back and asking him to get the ball out quickly. And everyone knows it. Opponents are squatting on the Cincinnati receivers and compressing throwing windows. Making matters worse, the Bengals offensive line seemingly hands out an EZ pass to any opposing D-Linemen who wants one. Meanwhile, the Steelers are struggling to score points and their defense is doing little to stop the other side. They are currently ranked 30th in overall defense. Which brings us to the Browns.

Maybe it’s just me, but I take a sinister form of delight watching the Browns offense struggle with Deshaun Watson while the Tampa Bucs are doing quite well with Baker Mayfield at the controls.

“Baker is a DUDE and the players saw it right away. He took the OL to the Bahamas during camp after final cuts to golf. He’s spotted around town at dive bars with receivers, with Mike Evans, with Godwin. He’s that guy. He’s the man. And it’s not fake.” ~ Jason Licht, Bucs GM

Baker Mayfield is the one true King of Cleveland @LacesOutShow (via @sammywilk) pic.twitter.com/Bbxz7t1ohI

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 4, 2019

People can change. They can learn from their mistakes and grow. And maybe Mayfield is doing exactly that in southwest Florida. But let’s see how Baker handles adversity should it year its ugly head while Mayfield dons the red and pewter colors of the Buccaneers. He may not be fake. Nor are petulant athletes, and Mayfield is one.

Did You Know?

The Ravens have scored in 340 consecutive games, the NFL’s longest active streak, which dates back to 9/30/02. (Remember when Ed Reed was a rookie? Carolina is second at 331, while Pittsburgh is third at 267.

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