Ravens vs. Chiefs takeaways: Major changes on offense and defense for Baltimore
Jonas Shaffer, The Baltimore Banner
How concerned was offensive coordinator Todd Monken about the Chiefs’ pass rush? One stat is revealing.
In his first season under Monken, quarterback Lamar Jackson had five receivers running routes on 56% of his drop-backs, according to TruMedia. That was below the league average of 63.5%, a rate partly explained by the Ravens running play-action, which typically keeps an extra blocker or two in for protection, at a higher-than-average rate.
On Thursday, against a Kansas City defense that finished behind only the Ravens in sacks last season (57), Jackson had five receivers running routes on just 37.3% of his drop-backs. That’s his lowest single-game rate under Monken and the third lowest of Jackson’s 73 career games with at least 10 pass attempts.
The Ravens’ focus on pass protection fell disproportionately on their best skill position group. Tight end Mark Andrews had three pass blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, a career high. Likely also had three pass blocking snaps, his most in a game since 2022. Fullback Patrick Ricard had four pass blocking snaps, a mark he topped just once last season.
Ravens RB Derrick Henry’s impact is still to be determined after playing 46% of snaps vs. Chiefs
Brian Wacker, The Baltimore Sun
Still, despite facing a team that last season ranked 15th in rushing yards allowed per game (113.2) and was fourth-worst in yards per attempt allowed (4.5), Henry’s impact in his first game as a Raven after eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans was relatively minimal.
Henry’s longest run on Thursday was just 9 yards — courtesy of a rare Faalele pancake of his defender and Linderbaum sealing his man — as he bounced outside on a second-and-4 with just over 5 minutes left in the second quarter to help lead to an eventual field goal try by Justin Tucker (that he missed from 53 yards). And in the second half — a time of the game when Henry’s hulking 6-foot-2, 247-pound frame can wear opponents down — he had just five carries for 13 yards to finish the game with a per-carry average of just 3.54 yards.
According to Next Gen Stats, Henry’s efficiency — the total distance a player travels on rushing plays as a ball carrier per rushing yards gained — of 4.01 on Thursday night would have ranked him 32nd among qualifying backs last season.
And while Henry was utilized about equally in zone scheme and gap scheme runs, and fairly evenly in terms of play direction, he typically did his best work from 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends, two receivers) and rarely found success when Jackson wasn’t under center. He also had just one receiving target out of the backfield, which fell incomplete.
The Chiefs often schemed to eliminate Henry as well using eight or more defenders in the box nearly 40% of the time, per Next Gen Stats, an uptick of just over 3% from what he saw last season with Tennessee.
NFL Week 1: PFF Team of the Week & Player Awards
Gordon McGuinness, PFF
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: TE ISAIAH LIKELY, BALTIMORE RAVENS
Likely delivered one of the best performances of his career in the Ravens’ season-opening loss to the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. He averaged 3.17 yards per route run, earning a 90.0 receiving grade and an 89.9 run-blocking grade.
The Winners and Losers of NFL Week 1
Steven Ruiz, The Ringer
Winner: The Dynamic Kickoff
The NFL’s new “dynamic kickoff” lived up to its cringey name in Week 1 and produced three returns of at least 50 yards. Per TruMedia, we haven’t seen that many returns of that length in an opening week since 2011. And Cardinals running back DeeJay Dallas became a trivia answer by becoming the first returner to take a dynamic kickoff to the house.
At 5-foot-10 and 214 pounds, Dallas does not have the typical return-man body type. The guy ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash (39th percentile) and a 7.18-second three-cone drill (26th percentile). He’s more of a bowling ball–style runner, which makes his 96-yard return so much cooler. When the rule change was first announced, some wondered whether we’d see a different style of runner used on returns. It appears that may be the case.
The new kickoff unfolds more like a running play, so it’s not a surprise that running backs are thriving as return men. Nor is it surprising to see teams implementing some run-game blocking schemes.
The other aim for this new rule was to increase the number of returns, and that happened. Last season there were 32 kickoff returns in Week 1; this season there were 54 (with another game coming on Monday).
Ravens Fans Will Have One Eye On January Throughout 2024 Season
Glenn Clark, PressBox
That’s the burden facing the 2024 Ravens. The John Harbaugh-Lamar Jackson duo has put together two of the greatest regular seasons in franchise history (2019 and 2023), nabbing two nearly unanimous NFL MVP honors in the process. But those two seasons combined to produce one playoff win and the AFC championship game disaster of this past January.
There is serious scarring for this fan base. This is an anxiety trip masquerading as a football season. Provided nothing goes wrong, it is a four-month prelude to the only part we’re actually concerned about. Everything is viewed through the prism of “will it be different this time in the postseason?”
In some strange way, it’s why it was hard for me to be worked up about the Week 1 loss. Yeah, it was a bummer that the Ravens came up short. But they played pretty well and, really, how much different were we going to feel had they won? There are tangible negatives, of course. The offensive line’s struggles were evident. The edge rush seemed to disappear and will be in even bigger trouble without Kyle Van Noy. Wasting two timeouts early in the second half is unforgivable. Justin Tucker might be human-ish. Plus, this particular loss could quite possibly be the difference in winning the division or getting the No. 1 seed or hosting the AFC championship game again.
I think there will be plenty to enjoy. But even as we do, we’ll still have one eye toward what might happen in January. And that’s OK. Our reluctance to embrace the regular season is a testament to the success of the franchise and the standard the Ravens have set.