Here’s what The Baltimore Sun sports activities employees needed to say instantly after the Ravens’ 38-6 win over the Detroit Lions in Sunday’s Week 7 recreation at M&T Bank Stadium.
Brian Wacker: This was the Ravens offense followers had been anticipating when Baltimore signed Lamar Jackson to a $260 million extension and introduced in receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers and offensive coordinator Todd Monken. It additionally turned obvious in a short time that there can be no hangover from final week’s purple zone struggles in London, nor would there be the sort of drama from the final time these groups met two years in the past.
Jackson was correct, the Ravens had been aggressive and explosive with their play calling and the Lions’ personal dynamic offense was utterly shut down by a protection that has regularly confirmed to be probably the greatest within the league.
Earlier this season, coach John Harbaugh referred to Jackson because the workforce’s level guard on offense and he regarded each bit that half once more, directing landing drives on every of Baltimore’s first 4 possessions. Detroit’s protection, in the meantime, regarded like Swiss cheese, with Ravens receivers and backs working free a lot of the afternoon. The Lions additionally didn’t put any stress on Jackson, and by the point the sport reached halftime, it was over.
Mike Preston: The Ravens lastly turned of their finest effort of the season, a full 60 minutes of soccer. With beginning working again David Montgomery out for Detroit, the Ravens pressured quarterback Jared Goff persistently and turned one of many NFL’s high passing video games into an ineffective aerial assault. The query is whether or not the Ravens offense can carry out persistently after recording 503 whole yards Sunday. That’s the million greenback query for the 2023 season.
Childs Walker: The Ravens rose to their biggest check of the season with their finest efficiency, outclassing a workforce that got here in enjoying in addition to any within the league. Lamar Jackson had on a regular basis and all of the free targets he wanted, throwing for 255 yards within the first half. Coordinator Todd Monken known as a wide range of cool performs to arrange large positive factors for seemingly each playmaker on the workforce. The offensive line blocked brilliantly. The protection was simply nearly as good, sending the Lions off the sector three-and-out on their first three drives. Coordinator Mike Macdonald’s cross rush ways once more labored like a attraction. The Ravens had not delivered a whole efficiency over the primary six weeks. On today, they regarded like a Super Bowl contender.
C.J. Doon: This was the sort of efficiency that makes you rethink the ceiling of this Ravens workforce. Through the primary six weeks, their lack of ability to complete video games and uninspiring offense saved their true potential hidden. On Sunday, we noticed what they’ll do when all the pieces clicks. A workforce with an MVP-caliber Lamar Jackson and a lights-out protection is elite, maybe one of many two or three finest within the league. That pushes Baltimore from divisional spherical afterthought to a possible AFC champion, and that’s no small distinction for a workforce that hasn’t been capable of recover from the hump within the postseason. Of couse, consistency has been the secret for years, so it could be silly to imagine we’ll see this type of efficiency week after week. Still, it’s essential to know the Ravens had this dominant potential effervescent beneath the floor.
Tim Schwartz: That needed to be probably the most full performances in Ravens historical past. Lamar Jackson performed, in my view, one of the best recreation of his profession, finishing 21 of 27 passes to 9 receivers, and the protection shut out one of many league’s finest offenses by three quarters. Mark Andrews celebrated National Tight Ends Day with a pair of touchdowns. The working recreation was environment friendly behind Gus Edwards, Justice Hill and Jackson. This is the kind of recreation the Ravens have proven glimpses of all season, and so they lastly put all of it collectively. When Pat Ricard rumbling down the sector and Edwards outrunning a protection down the sideline for an 80-yard catch are two of the lower-level highlights, you recognize it was a very good day. The Ravens proved they’re a Super Bowl contender.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com