The Baltimore Ravens are one of the league’s best teams, but they will need to restore their dominance. Up to this point in the season, the Ravens have had high and low points. Unfortunately, Week 11 was a low point as the Ravens lost another winnable game. Baltimore took on the Pittsburgh Steelers, a notorious division rival.
Both teams are fighting for the top spot in the AFC North, and the matchup came down to the wire as expected. The Ravens lost the game with a final score of 18-16, dropping the team to a 7-4 record.
Baltimore is 2-2 in their last four games, which is not a good sign at this point in the season. Fortunately, the Ravens strung together five straight wins earlier in the season, which proves that they can put together an impressive stretch. As for the recent loss to the Steelers, nothing went well offensively.
The Ravens have scored at least 30 points in six different games this year, but Pittsburgh held them to only 16 points. Lamar Jackson threw his first interception in over 150 pass attempts, Derrick Henry rushed for under 70 yards, and the wide receivers combined for only 77 receiving yards. Although still a viable threat, the Baltimore Ravens must restore their dominance to make a Super Bowl run.
Three Ways Baltimore Ravens Can Restore Dominance
The Ravens are not far from fixing the mistakes that contribute to losing efforts. There are weeks when the Ravens look like a flawless ball club, and then there are weeks that leave people scratching their heads. Luckily, Baltimore has not encountered any real injury issues, and most of their mistakes are fixable.
1) Justin Tucker Must Be Reliable
Justin Tucker is undoubtedly the best kicker of all time. Time and time again, Tucker has helped Baltimore snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. There have been times when Tucker single-handedly outscored the entire Ravens offense in games that Baltimore went on to win. Not long ago, a 50-plus-yard field goal was basically a prayer. Once Tucker made 50-yarders look routine, he set the standard for what teams look for in a kicker.
Although Tucker is the most reliable kicker in recent history, he has been less than reliable as of late. Tucker missed two big field goals in the loss to the Steelers. Those six points surely would have swung the result of the game, seeing as Baltimore only lost by two points. This season, Tucker has only made 16 of 22 field goal attempts, kicking at a 72% success rate. Tucker has never finished a season kicking under 82%, although there is time to improve the current percentage. As the consensus best kicker ever, Baltimore will need Tucker to rejuvenate his leg and help put points on the board.
2) Get Receivers Involved Earlier
The Ravens have a talented batch of wide receivers. One of the problems with the group is that certain receivers don’t seem to get hot until later in the game, if at all. Zay Flowers only had two receptions against the Steelers. Flowers is the Ravens’ best receiver, and excluding injury, there is no scenario in which he should finish a game with two catches.
Offensive coordinator Todd Monken must be better at scheming the receivers open earlier in the game to take pressure off of Lamar Jackson’s legs. Rashod Bateman, Nelson Agholor and Diontae Johnson can also help the offense stay rolling. Although none of them are legitimate star players, each one is a bonafide pass catcher. The Ravens’ receiving core can be successful by committee. Flowers stands alone as the best receiver on the team, but the supporting cast is just as important.
3) Keep Feeding Derrick Henry
Derrick Henry should be a focal point of the Ravens’ offense every game. Henry should never carry the ball less than 20 times and should receive the ball whenever the offense is within 5 yards of the endzone. Unfortunately, the Ravens did not do that in Week 11. Baltimore was down two points with the game on the line and failed the 2-point conversion attempt. Henry did not get the ball on the conversion attempt.
Hindsight is 20-20 in play calling, but the strongest running back in the league should be running the ball in crunch time, no excuses. Henry has multiple games of 100-plus yards, and will only finish under that mark if he’s not getting carries. If the Ravens plan to be a dominant Offense, Henry needs to spearhead the attack from this point on.
Main Photo Courtesy of Barry Reeger – Imagn Images
