Ravens Week 1 Recap: Lamar Shines In Ho Hum 24-9 Win Over Jets

Mitchell Leff. Getty Images.

Welcome welcome to the Ravens Week 1 recap. I used to do these bad boys on a weekly basis in years past and this year I'm going to try to bring them back. It's basically a word dump of all my thoughts on yesterday's game, not too different than Jerry's Kneejerk Reactions blogs. Those blogs were the standard when I came aboard here at Barstool in 2013 and they still are today.

Anyways, pretty ho hum win yesterday for the Ravens. There were a few explosive plays mixed in amongst some serious rust, and the Jets were too sloppy to really force the issue. Once the Ravens had built a solid lead, it was just a matter of pushing it across the finish line. All in all, I didn't come away wowed with the way the guys played. They were outgained (378 to 274) and out 1st-downed (24 to 13), numbers that would be alarming in most circumstances. But the boys played situational football and got the W. Plenty more to discuss so let's dive in…

- Lamar Jackson was good but not great yesterday, which is in line with how the team played overall. 17 for 30 for 213 isn't gonna impress many, but the 3 TD's were awesome throws. The first was a drop in the bucket to Duvernay, the 2nd was a no looker to Duv again, and the third was an absolute ROCKET downfield to Bateman.

He did mix in a pick late in the game, but at least the INT was on a shot downfield on a 3rd and long. Too often last year Lamar's picks were near the line of scrimmage. This was more or less a punt. Lamar was also basically ineffective on the ground. 6 carries on 17 yards is pretty rare for a guy who typically averages around 6 yards a carry. He did execute a nice designed run to move the sticks on 3rd and 2 on the opening drive and had that ridiculous scramble on 3rd and 8 though.

Like I said, not his best game by any means but still more than enough to stake the team to a lead they wouldn't lose. All you can ask for.

- The ground game as a whole was nonexistent. Not a single run went 10+ yards and guys were constantly stuffed at the LOS. Much of this was due to the Jets stacking the box and daring us to throw, which Lamar made them pay for. But you'd still like to see a little more than 63 yards on 21 carries. The ground game was supposed to be the identity of this team and I told myself I wouldn't get concerned about it after they failed to run the ball effectively in the preseason because Lamar wasn't involved. Now he's been involved and I'm concerned. There's hope that things change once JK Dobbins and eventually Gus Edwards are back in the mix, but there wasn't much to be had no matter who had the rock. I'd like to see the guys up front win a little (or a lot) more often so that this offense can really cook the way we all know it can. Nick Boyle may help that, and a healthy Ronnie Stanley would too.

- Speaking of left tackle… absolutely brutal injury for Ja'Wuan James. Guy hadn't played a snap since September 2019 and just came back from a torn achilles and he doesn't even make it to halftime of week 1. By all accounts it looks like he's done for the year. This is why you re-sign a guy like Patrick Mekari. Guy who can play any position on the OL and knows the ins and outs of this offense. Without him we may be forced to rush Ronnie back too soon, which is the last thing anyone needs.

- Offensive line overall played a solid game. As I mentioned, they weren't able to produce much on the ground, but it was encouraging to see Lamar back there with a few more clean pockets than he did most of last season. In the books Lamar was sacked only twice for a whopping total of 2 yards lost. Tyler Linderbaum played decent in his debut too. Maybe a couple issues in pass protection but overall a good performance.

- Mark Andrews was a major focal point of the Jets defensive gameplan and it showed. It was "stuff the run and key on Andrews". Andrews still put up 5 and 52, including a couple big first down catches in traffic. Wish I could say the same about Isaiah Likely, though. I was so fired up to watch that guy and he got a couple looks early that he couldn't haul in. 0 catches on 4 targets. Bleh. Still think he's going to produce big numbers, it just wasn't in the cards Sunday.

- The opportunities were out there for this much maligned WR corps and they took advantage. Career day for Duvernay hauling in 2 TD's. That first one was the type of catch that separates the dudes from the roster depth. Bateman had a quiet and disappointing day until he found himself naked downfield for that bomb. Would like to see a bit more from him but it's early. Tylan Wallace had a chance at a deep ball that was well thrown by Lamar and he just alligator armed it. He's running out of chances to stay relevant on this team unfortunately, or at least as a receiver. All in all a positive day for this group.

- Marcus Williams was the star of the show on the defensive side of the ball. Had the pick that really proved to be our best offense in the first 25 minutes of the game and he led the team in tackles too.

It's pretty incredible how little his signing was discussed both locally and nationally. Far less fanfare than when Earl Thomas came on board but he's every bit the player Thomas was and maybe more. Love his attitude about it too.

 - Chuck Clark played with some serious attitude yesterday. He usually plays with a chip on his shoulder but man, it looks like that Williams signing and drafting Hamilton really lit a fire under him. He was flying around the football, even diving over the line on a 3rd and 1 to stuff Flacco on a QB sneak. And of course, he had the punchout that was recovered by the punchout king himself.

The fact that he's still wearing the green sticker says a lot about this staff's belief in him. I don't think he's going anywhere any time soon…

- Kyle Hamilton only played half the snaps… which isn't surprising for a rookie safety in his debut. It's just a luxury of having the kind of secondary we have. He'll work his way in more and more as the season moves along and I'm sure he'll make some big plays along the way.

- It fucking sucks to see Kyle Fuller go down the way that he did. Especially in garbage time after playing every single snap until that point. Obviously Elijah Moore is just trying to compete and cheated a wee bit, but it's not a good look to see a corner go down like that on a push-off.

The one area in the secondary that might be vulnerable is depth at corner. Marcus Peters will probably be back next week, but the depth behind him and Marlo is thin and inexperienced. Something to keep an eye on…

- I thought Patrick Queen played one of his best games yesterday. He didn't make any highlight plays, but he was around the football and brought his man down consistently. Quietly racked up 3 QB hits and a half sack. Plus he played every single snap. That's a first for him. The Ravens are putting more and more belief into him. Here's hoping he makes a 3rd year leap.

- Speaking of 3rd year leaps… Justin Madubuike was a man possessed inside. He was constantly in the backfield, both in the run game and in the pass game. He only got credited for the half sack with Queen, but he was constantly disrupting the Jets interior line, which is one of their few strong suits. Him and Justin Houston played awesome yesterday. Michael Pierce and Calais Campbell did their thing too.

- Was surprised to see Malik Harrison on the stat sheet for 5 tackles despite only playing 22 snaps. I really thought his days were numbered on this team but maybe I'm wrong. There's a time and place for a player of his type (against Najee Harris and his flightless offense) so maybe there's a role for him here after all.

- Quiet day from Odafe Oweh yesterday. We got a ton of pressure on Flacco, I'm just surprised little of it came from Oweh.

- Justin Tucker was Justin Tucker. Didn't miss/doink any OT kicks or extra points.

- Jordan Stout showed off quite a bit of leg yesterday. Maybe too much leg. His longest was a 64 yard bomb that went into the end zone. Oops. I don't like that he had to punt 6 times but I think it's clear that he's going to be our guy for a long time.

That's what I got this week. Good team win, but plenty to work on moving forward. The Dolphins looked formidable yesterday and early lines only have us as 3.5 favorites at home next Sunday, so time to get to work.

1-0.