The Kansas City Chiefs are getting ready to face the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium for their home opener Sunday.
To learn more about Kansas City’s opponent, we spoke with managing editor Matthew Stevens over at Ravens Wire and asked him a few questions.
Chiefs Wire: Lamar Jackson appears to be throwing the football with a lot more confidence this season. What has changed and do you think he can keep it up?
Ravens Wire: If you watch tape of Jackson last year, you saw some of these throws already. He had the arm and could read the field coming into the league. Where he really faltered was in his mechanics, often not following through with his arm and feet when throwing the ball, leading to passes sailing on him or grounding into the dirt feet in front of the intended receiver. Jackson, to his immense credit, spent this offseason drilling himself on his mechanics. He worked out with a few quarterback coaches along the way, spent time throwing to his teammates and came to training camp looking dramatically improved.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think we’d see Jackson throwing as often as he has (57 attempts in just seven quarters) if Baltimore thought it was just a fluke. Instead, they’d lean on the run and limit Jackson like they did last year. So clearly, offensive coordinator Greg Roman has confidence that Jackson can do this week in and week out. Though the competition hasn’t been stellar, Jackson is hitting routinely on throws he would have missed last year and he’s still angry he left yards and points out on the field. That mentality will only aid him as the season goes on.
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Chiefs Wire: The Ravens saw some veteran departures in free agency this offseason. How have they handled a changing of the guard?
Ravens Wire: The Ravens lost safety Eric Weddle (cut), linebacker C.J. Mosley and pass rushers Terrell Suggs and Za’Darius Smith (left in free agency). While that certainly stings, Baltimore has done a great job of regrouping. The Ravens upgraded at safety by signing Earl Thomas and have relied on young players like Patrick Onwuasor, Kenny Young, Chris Board and Matthew Judon to step up, all of whom have done so thus far. Adding in veteran Pernell McPhee at outside linebacker has really paid off as well, cementing the youth at that group with experience.
But when it comes to the pass rush, the losses look larger than they really were. The Ravens didn’t have a consistent pass rush last season, instead of relying on defensive coordinator Don Martindale to scheme up pressure through unique blitzes and coverages. There are still some questions about how consistent the pass rush can be but after two games, Martindale’s scheme has gotten the job done just fine with Baltimore sacking the quarterback on 8.3% of pass attempts (No. 9 in the NFL).
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Chiefs Wire: Mark Andrews has been the top receiving option for Lamar Jackson this season. He’s also on the injury report this week. How concerned are you about his availability?
Ravens Wire: Andrews carried a questionable designation heading into Week 2 and didn’t seem to hurt his foot any more in the game. With Baltimore’s rather extensive injury history over the last five years and Andrews’ importance to the offense, I’d guess his absence from Wednesday’s practice was more a precaution than anything serious. The Ravens typically use Wednesdays as maintenance days for veterans and banged-up players.
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Chiefs Wire: Some players in the Ravens secondary seemed upset with their performance against Arizona in Week 2. How are they preparing for Patrick Mahomes?
Ravens Wire: They’re rightfully upset in my opinion. This secondary prides themselves on being as close to perfect as you can get, and leaving Larry Fitzgerald completely uncovered for 54 yards is a pretty massive oversight. But they’re blaming the problems on communication issues, which makes complete sense. They’re missing both starting cornerbacks Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young due to injuries, bringing up Maurice Canady from the practice squad and asking young players to fill those roles. There were bound to be some hiccups, but having them happen on Sunday clearly upset the pride of this secondary, and I’d bet they’ve been in the meeting rooms, film study and on the field drilling things as much as they can to eliminate those problems this week.
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Chiefs Wire: At one point last season, people thought that John Harbaugh was coaching for his job. Now his team is off to a 2-0 start and flourishing. Do you think he’s still under any pressure?
Ravens Wire: I really think that if Harbaugh had not made the switch to Jackson and started winning games, he wouldn’t be the coach right now. Had they not gone on a tear in the second half of the season and made the playoffs, it would have been four consecutive seasons without a postseason berth — tied for the longest in Ravens history. It’s near impossible to remain employed in this league without success for that long. That’s not to say he’s a bad coach but after 11 seasons, a coach’s message can wear thin on the players. The same thing happened to Brian Billick in Baltimore, jettisoning a Super Bowl-winning coach after just one bad season because owner Steve Bisciotti felt the players grew tired of the coach and wanted to freshen things up.
Harbaugh still isn’t an X’s-and-O’s type of coach like a Sean McVay. Instead, Harbaugh leans on his coordinators to do their job and oversees the entire team as a manager. It’s worked for him and Baltimore over the years as long as the coordinators are actually solid. Sadly for the Ravens, they haven’t had the greatest success with offensive coordinators and even with some defensive coordinators. With Martindale and Roman seemingly refreshing this team in their respective phases, Baltimore looks like a contender early this season. That certainly helps Harbaugh out quite a bit.
Harbaugh signed a four-year deal late last season that I believe ties him firmly to Jackson. If Jackson continues this level of success, Harbaugh will likely keep his job. If Jackson falters and Baltimore has to look for their franchise quarterback again in 2023, they’ll likely look for a new coach to help make that decision.
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