The Autopsy

Looking back at the 2023 Ravens season with clear eyes

The emotions have run their course.

Confetti that was not colored purple and black fell from the domed sky of Allegiant Stadium, as the Kansas City Chiefs took down their third Super Bowl championship in a five-year span, while the Ravens Universe once again felt the sting of an un-crowned season.

Division champs. Top seed in the AFC. A season of dominant performances that only strengthened the Flock’s resolve that this was THE YEAR for glory, once again, was torpedoed by a playoff performance that, well… it stunk on ice.

That’s a lot to swallow.

But let’s put to use these clear eyes and look back on a season that did show progress for a team that had seemingly grown stale in the modern football world around them, and reflect on what should probably go down as a “very good” season in Ravens’ lore — not a perfect one, by any means, but still, “very good.”

MVP

In today’s NFL, everything seems to start and end with the quarterback. If you have one, you always have a chance and that metaphorical “window” is perpetually open. If you don’t, you pretty much need to hope that absolutely everything else is in line, and that you don’t run into a hot quarterback who can zing you anyway.

The Ravens have their quarterback.

Lamar Jackson won his second MVP award in five years, and captured 49 out of 50 first-place votes in the process. Was it one of the statistically prolific years that will cause people to shake their heads in wonder as they peruse box scores in 25 years? Probably not. But if you watched the games, and see what he did against top competition, it was a no-brainer — Jackson was pretty much the best player on the field in the preponderance of games this season. In a league filled with absurdly-talented individuals who won the genetic lottery, that says something.

Jackson showed marked improvement with his passing this season, particularly in regards to his consistency with “gimme” passes, and feathering in throws between the second and third lines of defense. His running can still steal a few first downs each game, and he has shown the ability to “flip the field” at a moment’s notice, either with his own feet doing the heavy lifting, or using his uncanny athleticism to buy time and locate someone downfield.

And there is plenty of room for him to still grow. In this, his first season under Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken, we got a real glimpse of what this offense can look like when it is humming. There were some fits and starts at the beginning and a disastrous thud at the end, but enough in the middle to leave you with the feeling that, with a few tweaks, a ton more reps and some self-reflection, this could be a dangerous attack for years to come.

Where does Jackson, a two-time league MVP, find growth in his own game?

Personally, I see three areas for him to develop:

1. Deep sideline accuracy: Jackson missed several opportunities to hit receivers down the sideline who had gained a step or more of separation by overthrowing them, and was behind on a few other throws that caused incompletions or missed chances for YAC. To me, this improves with more reps and building that timing with his receivers.
2. Being on time: It’s easy to say a quarterback should hit his third step, plant and fire away, but it’s not always that simple, right? Sometimes, your guy doesn’t beat his guy. Sometimes, their guy beats your guy up front and blows up everything. But when it does happen, and, say, Rashod Bateman gets leverage and space against a defender and the blocking holds, Jackson just has to let it rip, even if it looks like a modest gain. Some of that is trusting that the catch will be made and the guy will make a play after the catch. He has some of those guys now. Time to give them that trust.
3. Tune out the noise: There are times when I believe Jackson is so determined to shut up the naysayers that he chooses not to run when it appears there are clean lanes in front of him. I get it. Those who say he can’t throw are either not being truthful or haven’t watched him play. Of course, he wants to shut them up. But what makes him one of the most dangerous players in the world is his dual-threat ability. Take what’s there.

The fact that Jackson just led his team to a 13-3 mark (he sat out the last game) and the top seed in a loaded AFC, while winning the MVP award in a landslide AND HE STILL HAS ROOM TO GROW, shows that this window is not closed. Jackson should only get better in his second year in this system.

That Offense

It died in the AFC Championship game — sadly killed in its prime by a refusal to hand the ball to running backs, disjointed possessions that didn’t seem to have a clear plan of attack, a fumble when diving into the end zone and an interception thrown into triple coverage on a play that simply did not need to be forced at that juncture. It was a horrific display that doomed this talented team’s chance at winning a Super Bowl.

Let’s be perfectly clear here: The offense sank this team in the playoffs.

But, boy… there was enough evidence to suggest this thing can really get rolling with another year of practice, personnel-fitting and simply marrying scheme and player with more data available after 19 games, including the playoffs.

There were clear times when opposing defenses seemed beaten both physically and mentally. Run gaps widened as games deepened, Jackson was throwing darts and Ravens receivers — I kid you not — looked faster and more athletic than the defenders on the other side.

It brought a tear to this old man’s eye.

It’s hard to get the taste out of our collective mouth from that final performance. But the benefit of getting away from it for a couple of weeks allows us to recognize that this team was fourth in the entire league in DVOA, scored the fourth-most points, led the league in rushing and boasted the league’s MVP at quarterback.

Oh, and let’s look at that run game again. They lost assumed lead-back JK Dobbins in the season opener and then later lost wunderkind Keaton Mitchell after he exploded on to the scene with electricity and tantalizing skills. They were basically on their third- and fourth-choice lead backs by the end of the season — though that certainly doesn’t excuse the reluctance to hand it to Gus Edwards and Justice Hill, when those are your third and fourth options. Adding a lead back via the draft or a veteran free agent, with Mitchell hopefully coming back healthy, can make this run attack dangerous again, particularly when defenders start each snap on their back heels out of fear of what Jackson can do.

The Defense

There will be some defections. It’s hard to imagine a world where the cap-tight Ravens can afford to bring back Justin Madubuike, Patrick Queen, Geno Stone, Jadeveon Clowney, Ronald Darby, Kyle Van Noy, Brent Urban and Arthur Maulet. Plus, they lost their star defensive coordinator to a head-coaching gig and their well-respected defensive line coach to a coordinator position.

Oh, and they’ll be breaking in a first-time defensive coordinator of their own next season in Zachary Orr.

So, yeah, it will be different. But the guess is a couple of those guys will be back, a few new faces that the organization likes will join in, Marlon Humphrey will be showing up to camp in full health and some of the young guys will just get better from one season to the next.

In my eyes, Madubuike is offseason priority 1. And 2. And, probably, 3. He needs to come back, with a new contract in hand or a franchise tag attached. That signing alone promises a stout defensive middle on all three levels, with Roquan Smith and Kyle Hamilton starring in levels two and three, respectively.

The Ravens have done enough, both historically and in recent years, to make me feel confident that the defense will once again be a strength, even if it is a tick beneath this year’s monster — which probably lands in the top three or four defenses in franchise history, relative to where the league stands offensively. If this is a top-five to top-10 unit, it will be good enough.

And something tells me Smith and Hamilton alone will keep it closer to the top five.

Coaching

Yeah, another unit responsible for that “thud” sound that reverberated around M&T Bank Stadium a few weeks ago.

Six rushing attempts by running backs was unacceptable, plain and simple. I get that many of the calls had options, and the defense’s alignment does have the ability to somewhat dictate what option is selected, but at some point, you have to force the issue. Someone, ANYONE, should have stepped in and demanded straight run plays behind Patrick Ricard and a physical offensive line that likes to move forward, or spread them out and let Hill try to find lanes.

Yeah, that falls on Todd Monken. And, yeah, that falls on John Harbaugh. The players did plenty on their end to account for the loss, as well, but they didn’t get the coaching they needed, either. Not when they were facing off against a team building the next NFL dynasty. Completely unacceptable.

Still…

I like that Harbaugh stepped out of his comfort zone with the hiring of Monken, and I thought the latter had a great first season with Jackson. Quarterback and coordinator appeared from the outside to gel and respect each other, and smart money would be on their comfort with each other will only improve this coming season.

Orr is a Raven, plain and simple. As I said earlier, my trust falls on the defense performing at a high level, so I’m going to go ahead and believe in Orr, as well, until he gives me reason not to.

We also have to remember that there was a playoff game before the Chiefs game where the Ravens looked terrific, comfortably topping a young and talented Texans team that many pundits thought might drop the Ravens. It was clearly the best playoff performance by a Ravens team since Jackson’s arrival, and while the disaster the next week lingers, and will for quite some time, we really should remember that one, as well. The plan worked that day.

The GM

I felt like Eric DeCosta built a team that was fully capable of winning the Super Bowl. What more can you really want from a general manager?

He has drafted well, done a terrific job the last few years with veteran free agents like Clowney, Van Noy, Maulet, Michael Pierce, Urban, John Simpson, Kevin Zeitler, Morgan Moses and more, and put this franchise on equal footing personnel-wise, with any other team in the league.

You can question some of his methods, and that’s fair. But he did his job maybe better than any other GM in the league last year if you look at it in its most basic definition — he built the best team in the league.

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