Ravens Ready to Roar: Home Opener Showdown Against the Raiders
The Baltimore Ravens had an exciting and must-watch season opener last Thursday against the defending Super Bowl Champions Kansas City Chiefs, just missing out on making a late-game comeback. Now that Week Two of the regular season is quickly approaching, the Ravens must now turn the page. The Ravens will now have the chance to play their home opener on Sunday afternoon with the Las Vegas Raiders making the trip to Charm City. Despite the season-opening defeat, the Ravens received significant help from the rest of the AFC North division this past weekend. The Cowboys dismantled the Browns in Week One, while the Patriots surprised Joe Burrow and the Bengals in Cincinnati. The Ravens enter their home opener against the Raiders looking to avoid slipping to 0-2 for the first time since 2015. Let's analyze a few of the most significant storylines heading into Sunday's contest.
The growth and reliability of the Ravens' offensive line continue to be one of the more noteworthy storylines going into this week's game against the Raiders. Needless to say, the offensive line struggled mightily against the Chiefs to keep quarterback Lamar Jackson clean in the pocket and create openings for the Ravens' running backs to exploit. In the most apparent way, the right side of the offensive line struggled most against the Chiefs' pass rush, which featured five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Chris Jones, who had his way against starting right tackle Daniel Faalele, and their 2024 second-round rookie right guard Roger Rosengarten, who rotated with versatile offensive lineman Patrick Mekari. Even though it is unlikely that the Ravens will be able to resolve all of their offensive line problems in just one week, head coach John Harbaugh is hoping that the right side of the line can make significant progress. The Raiders' Maxx Crosby, a premier pass rusher, will be facing the Ravens once more, and he is hoping to replicate the success he had against them in 2021 when Crosby recorded two sacks, two tackles for loss, and six total tackles as well that helped propel Las Vegas to an overtime victory.
The Ravens' defense, which is about to play its second game of the regular season under new defensive coordinator Zach Orr, is another focal point to watch for how well they communicate and execute. During the game last week against the Chiefs, the Ravens' defense suffered numerous miscommunications that ultimately proved to be costly in the end. Most notably, early in the fourth quarter, Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey was covering rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy of the Chiefs at the line of scrimmage before the ball was snapped. However, a miscommunication between Humphrey and safety Kyle Hamilton resulted in a coverage bust, and Worthy breezed past Humphrey for a 35-yard touchdown reception that proved to be the game-winning score. During the press conference held on Wednesday following practice, Hamilton took full responsibility for the missed coverage assignment. He revealed that he was responsible for covering the deep half of the field that he was close to. The Ravens need to exert maximum effort to prevent any potential coverage breakdown on a pass play given themselves having to deal with Raiders' six-time Pro Bowl wideout Davante Adams, who has demonstrated throughout his productive career his ability to make any defense pay for mistakes made during a game.
Finally, the Ravens must relieve quarterback Lamar Jackson of some of the pressure and stop expecting him to play like a superhero the entire game if they are to win their first home game of the season. While Jackson’s highlight reel plays are fun to watch and leave fans in awe, in a 17-game schedule, it is not sustainable to ask Jackson to lead his team to victory constantly week in and week out. In order to succeed against the Raiders and for the remainder of the season, the Ravens' extremely talented offensive weapons will need to step up. This includes, as he demonstrated last week against the Chiefs, emerging starting tight end Isaiah Likely continuing to take advantage of opposing defenses choosing to focus primarily on fellow tight end Mark Andrews, and making the defense pay. Against the Chiefs, Likely hauled in nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate why the Ravens chose to grant fourth-year wide receiver Rashod Bateman a three-year extension in the offseason, Bateman must build on his clutch catch on the team's final drive against the Chiefs, which put them in the Chiefs' red zone with an opportunity to win or tie the game. If the offense can accomplish this, the Ravens should have no trouble defeating the Raiders at home in Week Two to get back on track.
