Not at their best, but Ravens still good enough
Here’s what The Baltimore Sun sports staff had to say immediately after the visiting Ravens’ 33-16 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday in Week 2 of the NFL season:
Daniel Oyefusi, reporter: The Ravens are 2-0, but when you have championship aspirations the way they do, any sign of weakness will be a cause of concern. For the Ravens, that’s the offensive line and pass rush. Both areas looked shaky in the first half before Lamar Jackson and the offense put the Texans away with a running game that resembled last season’s record-breaking unit.
The severity of cornerback Tavon Young’s knee injury will be important, but the Ravens are where they need to be record-wise as they head into a heavily anticipated game Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jonas Shaffer, reporter: The Ravens won a game against a potential playoff contender by 17 points despite a
pedestrian afternoon for the offense and a substantial loss on defense. This team needs cornerback Tavon Young healthy to
reach its potential, but it didn’t need Lamar Jackson at his best to cruise (somewhat) comfortably to a blowout win in its first road test. This season’s too young to draw any sound conclusions, but the Ravens’ early returns are encouraging.
Childs Walker, reporter: This victory was a testament to the Ravens’ versatility as much as Lamar Jackson’s virtuosity. Jackson played an efficient game, but with his pocket frequently collapsing around him, he could not take as many downfield shots as he did in Week 1.
The Ravens built a first-half lead with big defensive plays by Marlon Humphrey, L.J. Fort and Marcus Peters more than with quicksilver offense. In the second half, they used a nifty direct-snap call by offensive coordinator Greg Roman to score a back-breaking touchdown and then rode their power game home.
The Ravens have yet to click 100% but have beaten a pair of talented opponents by a combined 71-22. If there’s a significant concern after two weeks, it’s the vulnerability of the interior offensive line. The Ravens struggled to keep Jackson clean for much of the first half and again on their first drive of the second half.