After enduring some early-season struggles, it is secure to say the Baltimore Ravens have regained their standing as one of many NFL’s elite groups.
On Monday, Baltimore (5-2) rallied from an early 10-point deficit to safe its fifth consecutive victory, a 41-31 highway win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) in a matchup that featured a number of noteworthy accidents.
Listed below are three of the most important takeaways from Baltimore’s win:
Ravens show their offense ought to be thought of one in every of, if not one of the best, within the league
Baltimore sparked its turnaround by establishing an identification by way of a run-first offensive method, which helped the group common a league-leading 205.3 speeding yards per recreation coming into Monday’s motion. Even so, whereas the operating recreation was efficient, significantly within the second half, the Ravens confirmed their offense is something however one-dimensional.
The Ravens racked up 508 yards of complete offense, and out of doors of separate 81-yard and 39-yard runs by RB Derrick Henry, their speeding assault wasn’t closely leaned on as we have seen in latest weeks. This was on account of QB Lamar Jackson’s success within the passing recreation, with the two-time MVP finishing 77.3% of his passes for 281 yards and 5 touchdowns whereas posting a near-perfect 158.1 passer score.
Maybe probably the most encouraging growth for the Ravens, and probably dangerous information for the remainder of the NFL, was the continued success of WR Rashod Bateman and TE Mark Andrews.
Bateman, who hasn’t been all that productive since being drafted within the first spherical of the 2021 NFL Draft, hauled in 4 passes for a career-high 121 yards and a landing. In the meantime, Andrews reestablished himself as a key goal for Jackson after scoring his first landing of the season in final week’s residence win over Washington, catching 4 passes for 41 yards and two TDs.
The Ravens have confirmed they will beat groups in a wide range of methods, and if their assortment of proficient offensive weapons proceed to click on, it is going to be troublesome for any protection to sluggish them down.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield struggles after WR Mike Evans’ damage
The Buccaneers offense acquired off to a different scorching begin on Monday, as Mayfield linked with Evans — who entered the competition questionable with a hamstring damage — for a 25-yard landing on the group’s opening drive. The landing marked the one centesimal of Evans’ profession, making the five-time Professional Bowler the eleventh participant in NFL historical past to succeed in that milestone.
Nevertheless, catastrophe struck within the second quarter for Tampa Bay. With 7:37 remaining within the interval whereas Tampa Bay was at Baltimore’s 24-yard line, Mayfield threw a gorgeous cross to Evans in the long run zone. Nevertheless, the 11-year veteran dropped the ball and reaggravated his hamstring damage, which knocked him out for the rest of the sport.
Mayfield was rapidly affected by the absence of his favourite purple zone goal, throwing an interception to Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey three performs later. The struggles solely acquired worse from there for Mayfield. The previous No. 1 total decide was intercepted by Humphrey once more on his subsequent possession and led Tampa Bay on three scoring drives for the remainder of the competition, all coming after Baltimore jumped out to a 34-10 lead.
Total, Mayfield stat padded his technique to 370 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions after finishing 10-of-12 passes for 118 yards earlier than Evans acquired injured.
Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles’ careless determination made a foul night time a complete lot worse
Sadly for Tampa Bay, Evans wasn’t the one star huge receiver to endure a signifcant damage on Monday.
Regardless of Baltimore pulling most of its starters and the Buccaneers being down 10 factors with beneath two minutes remaining in regulation, Bowles questionably left his beginning offense within the recreation, which rapidly proved expensive. With lower than a minute remaining, Mayfield accomplished a 21-yard cross to wideout Chris Godwin, who suffered a ugly leg damage after being tackled by Ravens LB Roquan Smith.
The ESPN broadcast refused to point out a replay of Godwin’s damage on account of its severity, and the Penn State product was carted off the sector along with his leg in an air forged.
There was no cause for Godwin or any of Tampa Bay’s starters to nonetheless be within the recreation at that time. One might additionally argue that Bowles ought to’ve put in his second and third-stringers earlier within the fourth quarter, contemplating the sport’s final result was determined properly earlier than the interval started.
Unusually sufficient, Godwin’s damage did not cease Bowles from aggressively attempting to place factors on the board, with the Buccaneers trying six extra performs after it occurred.
After the sport, Bowles instructed reporters that Godwin suffered a dislocated ankle, sidelining him indefinitely. With Tampa Bay set to face Atlanta, Kansas Metropolis and San Francisco over its subsequent three video games, it is potential Bowles’ careless determination might finally derail his group’s season.
