Ravens Played Well With a Slew of Injuries but Still Fall to the Raiders

What a way to finish off week 1 of the NFL season with a thrilling OT victory for the Raiders in their new hometown and brand new stadium of Las Vegas. The final score may have read 33-27, but it looked so much closer throughout the game and both teams had their flaws. Unfortunately for the Ravens, the two costly turnovers from Lamar Jackson sealed the victory for the Raiders. 

The game started off with the Ravens jumping out to an early 14-0 lead with Ty’Son Williams and Marquise Brown scoring on plays of 35 and 10 yards out. Williams looked good early on for the Ravens as he tries to help replace the trio of Dobbins, Edwards, and Hill who all are lost for the season with ACL tears. His 70 plus rushing yards and a touchdown were a great start for a guy who moved up the depth chart quickly. 

The Raiders stayed calm throughout and began their comeback run scoring 10 unanswered points before the half to narrow the window to 14-10. They started to get the connection between Pro Bowl TE Darren Waller and QB Derek Carr going and hitting on their last two completions to set up both a touchdown and field goal before the half. They even got Josh Jacobs, who was clearly still dealing with a turf toe injury, a few good runs including the first touchdown for the Raiders. 

After halftime, the ball game began to show the struggles of the Ravens offense. The main issue was the offensive line's inability to slow down the Raiders pass rush. Whether it was Yannick Ngakoue, Maxx Crosby, Darius Philon, or Carl Nassib the Ravens had no answer for them off the edge or up the middle. Crosby and Ngakoue had consistent pressure whether it was against All-Pro OT Ronnie Stanley or the newest Raven OT Alejandro Villaneuva.

Lamar did his best to avoid the rush all game and even had a few great escapes, but by the fourth quarter and overtime, the rush really started to get home. Crosby helped to cause the first of two fumbles by Lamar with his pressure off the edge allowing Quinton Jefferson to come and punch the ball out early on in the fourth quarter. This led to the second Jacobs touchdown on the day from 15 yards out. 

Even down the stretch the Ravens still seemed to be able to pull out the win getting a late field goal with under a minute left to make the score 27-24. Yet, the Raiders had no quit and went down the field in 35 seconds to set up a 55-yard field goal that K Daniel Carlson knocked down. Heading into overtime, the Ravens seemed primed to complete the victory with a great interception and good drive at first. Yet the protection woes reared their ugly head again and with the pressure off the edge from Carl Nassib, he hit Lamar in the back and caused the second fumble that proved to be the game sealer. 

Adding salt to the wound, the Ravens call a zero blitz and allow WR Zay Jones to get wide open for the 31-yard score to end the game. It was a good game for both teams, but the Raiders fought hard for the win and came out on top. 

Next week the Ravens play the Kansas City Chiefs in primetime on Sunday night football. While the Raiders go up against the Steelers on the road.

Writer

-By: Darren Braxton