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After digesting the game and watching the tape, the Ravens have to find their offensive identity outside of Lamar Jackson just making a play.

The bottom line is he missed multiple throws at the end of the game that could have tied it. That’s a fact.

The bigger picture is, he is having to make a play down in and down out so much that his Superman Cape is getting worn down by the end of the game.

When you watch the Chiefs you know Patrick Mahomes is special, but their scheme isn’t reliant on him “just making a play” all the time.

It’s systematically built to allow him to have “layup” completions and be the point guard dishing out dimes instead of always having to score himself. Even Steph Curry needs a few layups before it’s just all 3’s and night night time.

But when the time comes, he nails the big play, in part because he hasn’t been shooting fade away 3 pointers while being doubled all game long.

The Ravens have Derrick Henry and need to run their offense through him and play action pass. They have 2 tight ends in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely who are mismatch nightmares for linebackers and safeties, while also being willing blockers.

Bateman and Flowers can eat in 1 on 1 situations, so run the ball relentlessly and force the defense to add an extra defender to the box before getting enamored with throwing the football all over the yard.

The Ravens need Lamar at his best at the end of the game, so getting the rest of the team engrained in the game early is more important than having Lamar be EVERYTHING on offense from start to finish.

I would rather Lamar run for 50 yards in the 4th Quarter than 120+ yards throughout the entire game.

He himself would tell you he needed to be better at the end of the game.

The Ravens can help him by not asking him to be Superman the entire game.

The Ravens can only do this if their offensive line play improves dramatically to protect Lamar in pocket and help the running game outside of him scrambling.

Long term, it’s about so much more than “just make the throw”, but yes he has to do that too. And he will.

Meh

Think RG3 has a lot of valid points here

I think that's the most we see Lamar using his legs all season. He wanted that game bad. And he was willing to put it all out there.

I do agree that Monken has to figure out what he wants to do. You got Henry. I get it, you can't just run into 8 man fronts behind a line getting no push. But Henry is the kind of runner you can't just give up on. We saw it first hand, you can contain him through his first 12 carries. But the 13th through 20th carries are where he starts breaking through and punishing defenders.

KC's strategy against the Ravens is pretty evident. Sell out to stop the run early while building a multi-score lead that gets them (out of necessity or panic) to abandon the running game altogether. Very few teams have the personnel that can build that kind of lead against the defense, but expect the ones who do to keep employing the same plan.

RG3 does have good points.  If Lamar Jackson does what he did last night all year long, he will be worn down by the playoffs.  Nobody is winning a championship when nearly 90% of your yards come through one guy.  Todd Monken hasn't gotten out of college.  You can do that in college because the competition is lesser in many games.  He needs to take the reigns, call the plays and mold the offense to be diverse.  

 

The Ravens aren't KC when it comes to impact players who can make a difference, but you have to at least give them a chance.   Too early to call for an OC change? 

I think Griffin is pretty much spot on with all of it. I like that Lamar was quicker to move out and/or run sooner when the pocket started to collapse. Last year he seemed to be sitting in it too long for whatever reason. There would be like 3 to 6 times a game where it looked like he had chances to make something happen, but stood in like Scott Mitchell.

The flip side is, you don't want him running that much every game. Agree with others that my gut feeling is he won't be that quick every week, but he saw the importance of winning that game for tie breaker purposes.

I REALLY wish Mitchell would have stayed healthy. I think that dude would have made a difference in the title game and this past week. What makes the Chiefs so consistently potent is the speed factor they focus on with their skill position players. They always have a guy or two that are in the conversation for fastest player in the game. Mitchell might not be THAT level, but he definitely has a shiftiness and burst that are top tier.

You know how many teams would kill for their identity to be Lamar Jackson/Superman?

You know how many teams would kill for their identity to be Lamar Jackson/Superman?

Lots, but they're not winning Superbowls either.

Lots, but they're not winning Superbowls either.

Not a lot of teams that don’t have Mahomes aren’t winning Super Bowls. The Ravens are winning a crap ton of games. Enjoy it.

Not a lot of teams that don’t have Mahomes aren’t winning Super Bowls. The Ravens are winning a crap ton of games. Enjoy it.

Nah, I'd rather be miserable while they win like 70% of the time with Lamar under center.

Not a lot of teams that don’t have Mahomes aren’t winning Super Bowls. The Ravens are winning a crap ton of games. Enjoy it.

Boom. Entilted brats man

1 of 32. Every year. 1 out of 32.

KC's strategy against the Ravens is pretty evident. Sell out to stop the run early while building a multi-score lead that gets them (out of necessity or panic) to abandon the running game altogether. Very few teams have the personnel that can build that kind of lead against the defense, but expect the ones who do to keep employing the same plan.

It's a good plan because Harbaugh's panic is so predictable.