GOOD, BAD & UGLY: It Wasn’t Pretty But Effective

The Ravens are not a very good football team. They have the potential to be. Their roster suggests that they are. But the truth be told, they are rather ordinary – mediocre. And the way the Ravens played against a then (2-8) team suggests that the Ravens ARE in fact mediocre, no matter how proud John Harbaugh is of his Mighty Men. Fortunately for the Ravens, they play in a mediocre NFL and despite a (1-5) start, the team now sits atop the AFC North by virtue of division record thanks to their current 5-game winning streak.

So now, the Ravens control their own destiny. They’ve done enough since falling to (1-5) to get back in the race. It hasn’t always been pretty, sometimes downright pathetic, but they’ve re-emerged by overcoming adversity, injuries and coaching deficiencies. That alone is admirable but it’s hardly enough to beat the league’s better teams. To do that, the Ravens will have to get better. They’ll need to figure out how to overcome their obvious weaknesses that at this time of the year can only be improved from within.

But they’ve worked their way into the mix and even if their execution at times should be executed, the team’s resolve cannot be questioned.

Ronnie Stanley: “While winning is great, to reach our goal, we need to be better.”

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) November 23, 2025

THE GOOD

Offense

Keaton Mitchell had 3 touches and produced 19 yards. If not for a ticky-tacky holding call on Tyler Linderbaum, a 4th touch would have resulted in a 35-yard gain. The man needs to be fed like it’s Thanksgiving. See what I did there? …Zay Flowers had 58 yards on 5 catches. He did have a drop at the beginning of the 3rd quarter but overall, he was the only thing the Ravens had going in the way of explosive plays. He was the energy! …And while we’re talking about underutilized offensive weapons, there’s DeAndre Hopkins who had 2 catches for 13 yards and should have had a score from 17 yards after a nifty double-move that froze Azareye’h Thomas. But Lamar Jackson overshot his man…Tez Walker turned Brandon Stephens inside-out in the 4th to haul in a 30-yard ball from Lamar who delivered a slightly underthrown pass or the damage to the Jets and Stephens could have been more significant…Shoutout also to Patrick Ricard who caved in the LB creating a massive hole on the 4th-and-goal attempt from the 2 down.

The Ravens surged ahead 17-7 with another short TD Run from Derrick Henry. This one came on a 4th and Goal from the 2-yardline, Henry wide open on the right side for his second TD of the 3rd Q.#Ravens #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/UQusZG6vfr

— All 22 Films (@All_22_NFL_Cuts) November 23, 2025

Defense

Mike Green had a sack and a total of 5 tackles. He was strong in run support, once displaying a nice swim move to shed the left tackle and drop Breece Hall for a gain of 1…Travis Jones was stout at the point of attack. He also had 5 tackles, one to drop Hall for a loss of 2…Marlon Humphrey had a tackle for loss and a huge, forced fumble at the Ravens 2 when the Jets were threatening to make it a 3-point game. Clutch play for a guy who had surgery on that hand a week ago…Chidobe Awuzie was solid in coverage for most of the afternoon.

MARLON WITH THE FORCED FUMBLE INSIDE THE 5!!!!!

pic.twitter.com/eqHClLaNXA

— SleeperRavens (@SleeperRavenss) November 23, 2025

Special Teams

Tyler Loop was 3-for-3 on FGA, posting 11 points and is 91.7% on FGA this season, which is good for 4th among kickers who have started every game in 2025.

Overall Team

The Ravens have been anything but a model of consistency. We can pour through the stats to see it. Our eyeballs aren’t deceiving us. The Ravens are a work in progress and while there’s a long way to go, the team has managed to put together a nice run, reviving their season. Wins are the ultimate stat but another to consider. They’ve managed to protect the football. Heading into their Week 8 matchup v. Chicago, the Ravens turnover ratio sat at -7. Today they sit at even. And that’s a respectable trend.

THE BAD

Offense

Lamar Jackson is just off. It looks like the leg injuries have taken their toll. He’s hesitant to run and the explosiveness that was apparent during training camp, just isn’t there. As ESPN’s Jamison Hensley pointed out, Lamar has thrown for less than 200 yards in three straight games for the first time in 5 seasons. And he’s also gone back-to-back games without a TD pass for the first time since 2020. Against the Jets, Lamar was 13-of-23 for 153 yards to go with a passer rating of 76.9. On the ground he posted just 11 yards on 7 attempts. Not a typo.

Defense

The open field tackling was weak, and the biggest culprit was Alohi Gilman who totally whiffed on an attempted tackle of Breece Hall who caught the ball at the LOS and advanced it 40 yards…Roquan Smith registered 11 total tackles but was hardly a factor in the game and missed on a couple opportunities to make impactful plays like this one:

The Ravens missed a chance to put the Jets away late in the 3rd Q. Roquan Smith could not control Tyrod Taylor on a 2nd & 11 blitz, and Taylor hit Adonai Mitchell for a 26-yard gain. Taylor had scrambled for 8 yards earlier to convert a 3rd & 7.#Ravens #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/yBx5hU8e2w

— All 22 Films (@All_22_NFL_Cuts) November 23, 2025

When forced into man coverage due to blitzing, the Ravens were gashed on crossers over the middle leading to some chunk gains by the Jets. Good quarterbacks will carve that up. Add this to the list of things for Zach Orr to clean up.

Special Teams

The kick coverage team needs some dawgs. Who wants it more? Following a kickoff the Jets average starting field position was the 38-yard line. Loop didn’t help matters with his fourth infraction of the season for failing to land the ball in the target zone. Maybe Chris Horton should show the video below to his coverage teams when dissecting their play v. the Jets.

Shoutout to Cowboys rookie Alijah Clark. This is how you stay in the NFL for a long time.

Can’t teach effort. pic.twitter.com/aleqry2h4E

— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) November 24, 2025

THE UGLY

Offense

In the first half, OC Todd Monken’s crew made the Jets defense look like the 2000 Ravens. Their first 3 possessions netted 23 yards all ending in punts. The Ravens had 1 first down in the opening frame courtesy of a Jets’ penalty and just 4 by halftime; they had just 72 yards of offense in the half going 0-for-5 on third down. For the game the Ravens converted on just 2 of 11 third downs (18.2%) while producing just 241 yards of offense against a Jets defense that has allowed a conversion rate of 37.4% on the season and 330 yards per game on average. And those averages were achieved when the Jets still employed their best two players, Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams, both of whom have since departed via trade.

Mark Andrews just isn’t the same player. Writing this is painful. Against the Jets he dropped another TD pass but fortunately was bailed out by Ricard and Henry on the 4th down TD run at the 3:35 mark of the 3rd quarter. On the Ravens first possession, Andrews failed to read an obvious zone coverage on a 3rd-and-3 pass attempt which should have been an easy conversion. Lamar correctly threw to a spot but Andrews failed to sit. On a 2nd-and-6 run at their own 24 in Q2, Andrews was called for holding to set the team back 10 yards. Two plays later they were forced to punt following a sack during which Jowon Briggs steamrolled the great Andrew Vorhees.

Jowon Briggs!
pic.twitter.com/2iGqtjo2Li

— SleeperJets (@SleeperJets) November 23, 2025

Who is the imposter wearing No. 70? The guy who wore it last season was a player on the ascent who once stonewalled T.J. Watt and earned props from the great Myles Garrett. This “new” guy isn’t that guy anymore. And it makes me wonder if offensive line coach George Warhop is the answer for the Ravens offensive front. He was unemployed in 2023 and was brought on by the Ravens in August of 2024 following Joe D’Alessandris’ passing… The Ravens guard play has been one of their Achilles heels all season. Sunday was no exception. Vorhees is just an Easy Pass for oncoming “vehicles” and Daniel Faalele did what he does on a weekly basis – he plays Marco Polo with opposing defensive linemen.

Just watched Faalele on a rushing play not touch a single Jets defender… @Ravens pic.twitter.com/Gx82aq8xA4

— R.C. Weston (@RCWeston11) November 23, 2025

The Ravens offensive line is just trash. You can rest assured that Derrick Henry things so! Want proof? Check this out…

Derrick Henry
55 Yards after Contact
2 TDs
2 MTF
9 rushing yards before contact SMH

— Ivan Evans (@CoachEvans9) November 24, 2025

Defense

Why is David Ojabo still on the team, much less taking a gameday spot away from Carl Lawson who according to team politician John Harbaugh, was ready a couple of weeks ago? I’m guessing that the Harbaugh Family has a soft spot for the former Wolverine. Ojabo, the big O, is more like a big zero!

COACHING

John Harbaugh

His rah-rah bullshit is better suited for impressionable high schoolers, but Harbaugh deserves credit, at least in part, for keeping his team afloat and aware of the opportunity in front of them while inspiring the squad to keep pressing on. But these corny locker room speeches feel so forced (but natural for John) and it doesn’t take much imagination to picture the players, particularly the more established vets, rolling their eyes over his antics. These are grown ass men! Marlon’s body language says it all…

I would prefer that he just spends more time coaching players up in-game, but then again, that’s never really been his thing.

Todd Monken

On Thursday we heard Monken talk about how important it is for the Ravens to have more success in the red zone. He emphasized how much they’ve been practicing in the red zone to improve efficiency. But it’s still the same old, same old. Monken is calling red zone plays like it’s 2023 or 2024. This Ravens team isn’t as efficient upfront as they once were. So he needs to adjust. A coordinator’s job is to put players in positions to succeed. When Derrick Henry can only manage to gain 9 yards before contact on 21 carries, that is beyond pathetic. NINE. YARDS. BEFORE. CONTACT.

Lamar isn’t as mobile. Maybe we can blame injury. Maybe we can blame Father Time. Maybe we can blame hesitancy due to a lack of confidence in himself or the play call. Maybe it’s all the above. Whatever it is, Lamar is not on time. Something must change in play callling! That is undeniable!

Work in some boots, waggles, misdirection or screens. Maybe target specific defenders like a rookie corner or a guy who turned his back on more quarterbacks than J-Lo has on fiancés – namely Brandon Stephens. Who is the best contested catch guy on the team? Why DeAndre Hopkins of course. With Rashod Bateman out, we didn’t see Hopkins v. Stephens even once yesterday.

Zach Orr

I don’t know what it is about Orr’s defenses, but they start slow. But now, they are coming on. They aren’t exactly there yet but they aren’t a liability anymore. A few weeks ago, what I believe to be the NFL’s current best team, the LA Rams, were in town and scored 17 points against the Ravens. Since that 17-3 win in Baltimore, the Rams have averaged 33.2 PPG. The Bears who are now (8-3) and have won 8 of their last 9, lost to the Ravens with Tyler Huntley behind center, by the score of 30-16.

The Ravens finally put an end to the Tyrod Taylor highlight drive with a stop on 3rd and 9, Gilman and Simpson hitting the veteran QB who had escaped pressure three times this possession. The Jets got to within 17-10 on a FG as Baltimore’s Defense held.#Ravens #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/wc9WIC643M

— All 22 Films (@All_22_NFL_Cuts) November 23, 2025

The Jimmy’s Seafood Big Crab Cake Award (Unsung Hero)

Despite some tackling issues that need to be cleaned up, Alohi Gilman has provided stability to the backend of the defense. Seldom do the Ravens give up explosive plays and his deep half patrolling frees up Kyle Hamilton to do his thing on all three levels of the defense. Gilman is a complementary player whose contributions can easily go unnoticed. And that’s the quintessential definition of an unsung hero.

Captain DEE-Fense POTG

Dre’Mont Jones has been a high-motor, multi-faceted addition to the Ravens defense. He can line up on the edge or alongside Travis Jones. Dre had 1 ½ sacks against the Jets. His addition could be the defense’s missing ingredient in the same way that Roquan Smith was back in 2022.

The Paige Spiranac Award

One of the things that successful teams do is to flip field position to force an opponent to navigate more real estate on their way to points. It gives the defense more opportunities to make a play and get the ball back by downs or a turnover.

But early on against the Jets, the Ravens struggled mightily on offense and could have lost the battle for field position in a game-altering way if not for the efforts of Jordan Stout.

I’ve been a harsh critic of Stout’s. He’ll hit a missile into the end zone when a directional flop was in order. Or, when a missile was needed in a critical moment, along comes Mr. Shank. But not on this particular Sunday. Stout had 4 punts averaging 61.5 yards with a net of 55.8 yards. To put that in perspective, the NFL’s best punter measured by net average heading into Week 12 was Miami’s Jake Bailey with 45.7 yards. Ten yards of net difference on 4 punts is 40 yards of field position when measured against the best. Only now, Stout, after Sunday’s performance, is the league-leader for the season with a net average of 46.2.

When the offense struggled and left it up to the defense to win the game, Stout had a huge game when the Ravens needed him most. Stout’s day included:

• A punt of 56 yards to NYJ 8
• A punt of 74 yards to NYJ 13
• A punt of 67 yards to NYJ 5

That’s a great day at the office for the former Nittany Lion and it has earned him the Player of the Game.

Jordan Stout with yet another gorgeous punt, this one goes 67 yards pic.twitter.com/jyp2kS53hk

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) November 23, 2025

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