The Ravens’ 2022 season doesn’t kick off till Sunday, and already one of many NFL’s greatest storylines belongs to them.
With quarterback Lamar Jackson and Ravens officers failing to comply with an extension earlier than Friday’s deadline, the league’s most scrutinized contract talks can be suspended till subsequent offseason. Jackson, the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player, was already coming off essentially the most disappointing and painful season of his profession. Now, as he performs out the ultimate 12 months of his rookie contract, each sport will turn out to be a referendum on his worth to the franchise.
Jackson’s first begin since Dec. 12 will come towards the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Here’s what to look at of their Week 1 matchup.
1. The Ravens crew that awaits new beginning quarterback Joe Flacco on Sunday doesn’t look very similar to the one he left after the 2018 season. Just 12 Ravens on that 12 months’s roster are nonetheless on the crew, two of whom — defensive linemen Michael Pierce and Brent Urban — returned inside the previous 12 months. Two former teammates, defensive back-linebacker Anthony Levine Sr. and punter Sam Koch, at the moment are on the Ravens’ teaching workers.
“There are some players that are still there,” Flacco mentioned on “The Official Jets Podcast” this week. “But if you’re talking about the bulk of my career, and the guys that I actually played with, in terms of that, it’s a completely new football team. It’s just the same organization. So you know, sometimes we make too big of a deal out of these things and stuff like that. Guys switch teams all the time. You know, I think I’m a quarterback, so obviously, it’s a little bit different, for whatever reason. And Coach [John] Harbaugh is still there, but a lot of the coaching staff is probably pretty similar.”
2. A decade in the past, after declining a contract extension, Flacco entered his fifth season in Baltimore with none long-term safety. Then he led the Ravens to their second Super Bowl title with a historic run of playoff manufacturing. Less than a month later, he signed a six-year extension that briefly made him the highest-paid participant in NFL historical past. With Jackson now set to play this season on the ultimate 12 months of his personal rookie contract, Flacco was requested Wednesday whether or not he might relate to Jackson “betting on yourself.”
“I think it makes for a decent story, one way or the other,” he instructed native reporters. “At the top of the day, I didn’t actually view it as betting on myself, and subsequently, I didn’t actually must put any additional stress on myself. I used to be assured within the participant that I used to be and what was happening at the moment and what all of it is.
“I’m sure he feels the same way. He’s confident in the player that he is, and he’s going to be that player and all that. So I think at the end of the day, he probably feels like it’s all going to settle where it should as long as he continues to play football. So I know people like to talk about that and bet on yourself, but I don’t think that we really look at it that way. I just think that we kind of look at ourselves as the football players that we are and see what’s out there and know the nature of the business. It just kind of is what it is when it comes to contract talks.”
3. The Ravens’ skinny exterior linebacker room ought to get some assist Saturday, when apply squad gamers Steven Means and Kyler Fackrell are eligible for promotion to the lively roster. But Odafe Oweh and Justin Houston might additionally get some reduction Sunday from defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who can operate as a hand-in-the-dirt edge rusher. The 36-year-old was disruptive there early in his profession and performed 67 snaps in exterior alignments final season, in response to Pro Football Focus.
“You’re going against tight ends, and tight ends can’t block me in this league,” Campbell mentioned Wednesday with fun. “But at the end of the day, though, I’ll play wherever they put me. I just want to get out on the field and try to help the team win football games. … We did a little bit of it in camp, and I think it looked really good. I felt just at home doing it, like I used to, so it’s no big deal.”
4. In the Ravens’ closing street sport of 2021, their struggling protection, depleted by accidents and the coronavirus, allowed a franchise-worst 498 passing yards in a Week 16 blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. They ought to be higher ready Sunday towards a gifted receiving corps led by a latest big-money signing (vast receiver Corey Davis), two latest top-35 draft picks (vast receivers Elijah Moore and Garrett Wilson) and two tight ends coming off profession years (Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah).
Marcus Williams, Chuck Clark and rookie Kyle Hamilton kind one of many NFL’s most versatile security trios. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey is again to full energy and had a formidable coaching camp. Even if fellow starter Marcus Peters (knee) is proscribed or unavailable, the Ravens can flip to Kyle Fuller and Brandon Stephens out vast. And defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald mentioned Thursday that he’s snug taking part in rookies Damarion “Pepe” Williams and Jalyn Armour-Davis, fourth-round picks who missed time within the preseason with accidents however had been full members this week.
5. Rashod Bateman’s first huge showdown of his second season may find yourself as extra of a sideshow. The Ravens’ prime vast receiver might spend a lot of Sunday’s sport in a unique neighborhood than rookie cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, the Jets’ No. 4 total choose and a projected starter.
Bateman lined up on the left facet of the Ravens’ offense on over 72% of his snaps final season, in response to Rotowire. Gardner, in the meantime, performed all 31 of his defensive snaps this preseason at left exterior cornerback, in response to PFF, that means he confronted right-sided receivers. In the Jets’ “Cover 3″-heavy scheme, which drops three deep defensive backs into deep zones, exterior cornerbacks sometimes stick to 1 facet earlier than the snap.
6. In August, the Jets misplaced beginning left deal with Mekhi Becton to a second straight season-ending knee harm. On Friday, his substitute, free-agent signing Duane Brown, was dominated out of Week 1 with a shoulder harm. Now beginning proper deal with George Fant, who impressed at left deal with after changing the injured Becton final season, will return there Sunday. Rookie Max Mitchell, a fourth-round choose who graded out poorly within the preseason, in response to PFF, will begin at proper deal with.
The Jets’ musical chairs up entrance might make Flacco a sitting duck for edge rushers like Odafe and Houston. “You’re not playing a rushing quarterback, let’s just put it that way,” ESPN analyst Matt Bowen mentioned in a latest interview. “You start moving late rotations [in coverage], you’re going to see it fast and get the ball out, try to be efficient with the ball. But Joe Flacco is not a high-end mover, and I would heat him up. That’s what I would do as a defensive coordinator. I’d go after him.”
7. Week 1 might ship the season’s greatest particular groups matchup. The Ravens completed final 12 months ranked No. 1 in total effectivity, in response to Football Outsiders, bolstered by All-Pro kicker Justin Tucker and All-Pro punt returner Devin Duvernay. The Jets, led by All-Pro kick returner Braxton Berrios, had been No. 2.
“If we play well, it will show, and I do believe our guys will go out and they will play well,” Ravens particular groups coordinator Chris Horton mentioned Thursday. “It’s just one of those things. They are a good football team; they have good players. It’s going to be for our guys to create the matchups and the things we want to see. Sunday is Sunday, and we’ll find out once we actually get out there and see the guys out on the field.”
8. The Ravens and Jets share one other distinction, this one undesirable: They had been the NFL’s two most injured groups final season. While the Ravens completed 2021 with essentially the most “adjusted games lost” in Football Outsiders’ 20 years of charting — a metric that accounts for the relative worth of starters — the Jets truly had extra video games misplaced on protection. Defensive ends Carl Lawson and Vinny Curry missed all the season. Safeties Lamarcus Joyner and Marcus Maye performed in simply seven video games whole.
The Ravens are nonetheless getting again to full energy, with left deal with Ronnie Stanley, working again J.Ok. Dobbins and Peters all both questionable or uncertain for Sunday’s sport. Running again Gus Edwards, tight finish Charlie Kolar and outdoors linebackers Tyus Bowser and David Ojabo will miss not less than the primary 4 video games.
9. Devin Duvernay may very well be one of many busiest gamers inside MetLife Stadium on Sunday, and in each week the Ravens play after that. Already the crew’s prime kickoff and punt returner, Duvernay is now anticipated to start out at vast receiver alongside Bateman. He performed not less than 60 mixed snaps in simply two video games final season. With a extra common workload on offense, that may very well be the norm.
“He can handle everything that we ask of him,” Harbaugh mentioned Friday. “There’s no doubt about that. And then we’ll try to ask of him the right amount. So however that shakes out, we’ll see.”
10. Sunday will mark Jets inside linebacker C.J. Mosley’s first sport towards the Ravens since leaving Baltimore after the 2018 season to signal a five-year, $85 million deal. Mosley, a four-time Pro Bowl choice with the Ravens, took some time to get entering into his new residence. A groin harm restricted Mosley to 2 video games in 2019, and he opted out of the 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic. Last season, he completed fourth within the NFL in tackles with a career-high 168.
But Mosley’s move protection was a evident concern. According to Pro Football Reference, he was focused 68 occasions in protection in 2021 and allowed 58 completions (85.3% accuracy) for 525 yards and three touchdowns. Tight ends final season recurrently harm the Jets, who had the second-worst effectivity within the NFL when defending the group, in response to Football Outsiders. That bodes properly for the Ravens’ Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely.
11. Two former Bengals standouts might loom massive Sunday. Uzomah had 49 catches for 493 yards final season for Cincinnati, with over 1 / 4 of his yardage coming towards the Ravens. He had three catches for 91 yards in Week 7, shedding Humphrey for a 55-yard catch-and-run rating, and 5 catches for 36 yards in Week 16. Uzomah signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the Jets in March.
Lawson, who agreed to a three-year, $45 million deal in 2021, had much less success in his AFC North days. In seven video games towards the Ravens from 2017 to 2020, he had only one sack and 6 quarterback hits. He missed all of final season with a torn Achilles tendon however is predicted to play Sunday, probably lining up throughout from Ravens left deal with Ja’Wuan James. Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich mentioned Lawson’s bodily capacity makes him a “unicorn.” “We missed him last year, we’re excited to have him back, we really are,” Ulbrich mentioned Thursday, “and I know he’s excited, too.”
12. Jackson wants 33 passing yards Sunday to achieve 10,000 for his profession. He would turn out to be the quickest quarterback in NFL historical past to file 10,000 passing yards and three,500 speeding yards (59 video games), marks solely seven others have reached. With one other 100-yard speeding efficiency, he’d additionally set an NFL regular-season file for essentially the most by a quarterback, breaking his tie with Michael Vick (10).
Bateman wants 4 catches Sunday to turn out to be the quickest participant in Ravens historical past to achieve 50 in his profession (13 video games). In 2011, vast receiver Torrey Smith (Maryland) had 50 receptions over his 16-game rookie season.
13. Under Harbaugh, the Ravens are 10-4 in season openers and have received 5 of their previous six. Harbaugh’s .714 successful proportion in Week 1 is tied for the NFL’s third-best mark since he took over in 2008.
Winning on Sunday, Harbaugh mentioned, is “important. It’s 1-0. There’s a big difference if you go 0-1. Then you have to win two in a row to get back to where you would have been if you had won in the first place. That’s kind of the math of it. So it’s a big deal.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com