Ravens stock report after season opener in Kansas City
Stock up:
Isaiah Likely
Not to overreact, but Isaiah Likely looked like the best tight end in the NFL on Thursday night. He put on a show in the pass game, amassing over 100 yards and a touchdown, while also pancaking Kansas City defenders in the run game. While Mark Andrews should get more targets as the season progresses, it looks like there might be a new No. 1 in the Ravens passing game.
Lamar Jackson
After a less than stellar performance in the AFC Championship, “skinny Lamar” looked as electric as ever. Running for over 100 yards and passing for over 250, Jackson put on the superman cape multiple times last night. While his performance will probably be overshadowed by his misconnection with Zay Flowers late, Jackson rallied the team back to within an inch of the tie and should be commended for his persistence and patience despite a young Ravens offensive line.
David Ojabo
Few Ravens defenders truly flashed on Thursday night, and while Ojabo didn’t have a large snap share, he did register a sack on Patrick Mahomes in the second quarter. If Ojabo can continue to improve and stack games, the Ravens front seven could end up being much better than anticipated.
Stock Down:
Offensive Line
While I don’t think the Ravens offensive line played quite as bad as social media will lead on, there were certainly areas of concern that could hinder the team moving forward. In the first half, Jackson was under constant pressure, primarily from the right side of the line. Chris Jones made Daniel Faalele and Patrick Mekari look silly multiple times which resulted in an early sack-fumble on Jackson. In the run game, few running lanes were open for Derrick Henry who ended the game with just 46 yards. Despite the early struggles, it did seem like the pass protection improved as the game went on, something that should give Ravens fans optimism moving forward.
Defense
As a whole, the Ravens played a pretty average game on defense. While they did bend without breaking multiple times, there were also numerous miscommunications and mismatches vs. the KC offense. Late in the third quarter, there was an uncharacteristic blown coverage which allowed Xavier Worthy to walk in for a touchdown. Additionally, Malik Harrison found himself in man coverage with Rashee Rice multiple times, which the Chiefs quickly exploited. Although the defense should clean up these issues as the season progresses and new DC Zach Orr gets more experience, it looks unlikely they will be able to replicate last year’s greatness.
The Refs
A tale as old as time: a poorly officiated NFL game. While football fans are typically quick to blame the refs when their team comes up short, last night truly felt like Baltimore had to play the officials and the Chiefs. On the first drive of the game, Ronnie Stanley was called for multiple illegal formation penalties. While it was made known during the broadcast that the NFL would be cracking down on the depth of offensive tackles, it certainly didn’t seem to apply to the Chiefs who were lined up in the same way. It will be interesting to see how the NFL handles these penalties moving forward.