NFL
By: Joey MacDonald
After letting a 15-point lead slip away against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1, the Baltimore Ravens put up another 40 points against their divisional rivals, the Cleveland Browns. And this week, they did let another big lead slip away as they dominated their division rival by the score of 41-17 in Week 2. They had big plays from everyone, from the defense, even to the special teams, who made some plays that helped the Ravens win this game.
The Baltimore Ravens, coming into this game, needed to get back on track, and they certainly did throughout the whole game, with the offense, defense, and special teams all performing well. The offense played a great game, particularly with the passing attack. Lamar Jackson, who is known for both running and passing, did most of his scoring by throwing for four touchdowns to 3 different wide receivers in today’s victory, and two of them were to 2nd year wideout Devontez Walker. And, so far, Devontez Walker’s only three catches in his career have been for touchdowns. Zay Flowers had another good game as he caught seven catches for 75 yards, and he already has 218 total receiving yards in the first two games of the season.
The one thing that was disappointed me in the game was the Ravens’ running attack, which only had a total of 45 rushing yards in the entire game. The Browns had a great game plan to stop the Ravens’ running attack, but Lamar and company were effective in the passing game, and were likely to say to the Browns, if you stop our running game, we will beat you through the air by passing the ball. And, the Ravens will bounce back from this disappointing day on the ground.
The Ravens’ defense also played much better than it did in its Week 1 collapse against the Bills. They were able to pick off Joe Flacco once by Nate Wiggins, who almost took it to the house for a pick-six. And, they also sacked Joe Flacco twice, including a strip sack by Tavius Robinson, and Roquan Smith picked up the fumble, and he took it back all the way for a 63-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
As the special teams also had a tremendous game, they blocked a punt in the 2nd quarter by special teams ace Jake Hummel, who the Ravens picked up in free agency before the regular season. And 6th-round rookie Tyler Loop continues to show that he was the right guy to replace Justin Tucker, who got released in May after some off-the-field issues. He made both of his field goals from 32 and 43 yards out, and was perfect in all five of his extra points after each touchdown in the game today.
The Baltimore Ravens, I feel, should be 2-0 right now, but in the NFL, it’s would’ve, could’ve, should’ve every week. But they did get back on track with a great team win over their divisional rival, the Cleveland Browns. Now the Ravens have gotten back on track with this win and will now get ready for Monday Night Football showdown with the Detroit Lions, as they are coming off a demolition job of their divisional rivals, the Chicago Bears, by the score of 52-21. If the Ravens can continue to play like this, having all three phases of the offense, defense, and special teams make plays every week, this team can be a team that nobody wants to play against come November to December.
And finally, the Ravens celebrated their 30th anniversary season by bringing back some of the Ravens players who laid the foundation for future Baltimore Ravens teams and beyond.
