Explosive plays are starting to look like the Ravens’ clearest path to control, and through one week, they’re already doing it better than most.
Baltimore opened the season with a plus-3 explosive-play differential, a number that captures the basic tug-of-war the team seems built around: create chunk gains on offense, choke them off on defense. The Ravens produced four plays of 25 yards or more and gave up just one.
That placed them among the early leaders in the league, right alongside the Chiefs, Saints and Dolphins at plus-4, with the Bills and Eagles also sitting at plus-3. The Jets were plus-3 as well, though with fewer explosive plays overall.
That balance matters because the Ravens appear to be chasing something more coordinated this season than they’ve had recently. The offense and defense, at least in broad strokes, seem to be pulling in the same direction under rookie head coach Jesse Minter and rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. Baltimore’s offense is clearly hunting explosive gains, while the defense is willing to tilt heavily in the other direction to keep those same kinds of plays from happening.
That philosophy showed up in Week 1 on the road, where the Ravens were willing to sell out to stop big runs even while missing their best defensive tackle and a starting linebacker. It’s the kind of tradeoff that reflects a team trying to shape the game around field position and big moments.
Sean McVay has talked about that same idea on “The Daily Flock” this summer, and he framed it around “explosive-play differential.”
“Everybody wants to talk about EPA,” McVay noted. “That’s a big thing that reflected in these EPAs - is your explosive play margin. Being able to prevent it defensively.
“And I think when you do those types of things, and you’ve got explosive playmakers, you know, the (Ravens receiver) Zay Flowers of the world, obviously Lamar’s always been incredible with his playmaking ability … Those opportunities to be aggressive on early downs, especially with the change in field position, the uptick in going for it on fourth down usually when teams are in the plus-50 or higher, it does change the way that you can be a little bit more aggressive. And I think teams have leaned into it.”
“And I think when you do those types of things, and you’ve got explosive playmakers, you know, the (Ravens receiver) Zay Flowers of the world, obviously Lamar’s always been incredible with his playmaking ability … Those opportunities to be aggressive on early downs, especially with the change in field position, the uptick in going for it on fourth down usually when teams are in the plus-50 or higher, it does change the way that you can be a little bit more aggressive. And I think teams have leaned into it.”
Minter saw the same kind of connected football after reviewing the tape from Week 1. Baltimore’s offense bookended a turnover forced by Marlon Humphrey with explosive scores - Zay Flowers’ 54-yard touchdown catch and Derrick Henry’s 32-yard touchdown run - and the rookie coach pointed to the bigger picture.
“Handling adversity on both sides, being able to have each other's back,” Minter highlighted as a Week 1 takeaway. “We didn't start the game off great defensively, then our special teams had a big play.
Our offense goes down and scores. All that really just ties together to having each other's back and playing together, playing as one.
Really happy with that.”
The next challenge could be trickier. Flowers is dealing with a hamstring issue and might be out, while Ja’Kobi Lane is out with a wrist injury. Lamar Jackson, though, didn’t seem bothered.
And the Saints are expected to bring a far more aggressive downfield approach than the Colts did in Week 1 against Daniel Jones, who was coming off an Achilles tear.
That makes the explosive-play battle even more central. New Orleans already showed last week in Detroit that it can make life miserable for a quarterback while keeping the ball in front of it. Jahmyr Gibbs did plenty of damage on the ground with 27 carries for 137 yards and 2 TDs under center, but Jared Goff never looked comfortable, Jameson Williams’ long reception was only 22 yards, and the Saints kept the passing game bottled up.
Domonique Foxworth called explosive plays “That’s the cheat code honestly” on “The Flock Show” this week, and the logic is hard to miss. In a league built on speed, field position and a few huge swings, the team that wins the chunk-play battle usually controls everything else.
On Sunday, that may be the game.
In Other News...
Ravens Suddenly Have A Receiver Problem Before The Home Opener
The receiver room took an early hit in the opener when rookie JaKobi Lane fractured his wrist and had surgery, pushing him onto injured reserve for at least four games. Baltimore moved quickly to patch the roster by promoting veteran Chris Moore, while head coach Jesse Minter said the team wants Lane back as soon as possible once he is healthy enough to return.
The bigger concern for the Ravens is that Lanes absence comes with Zay Flowers still day-to-day because of a hamstring injury, leaving the passing game a little thinner than anyone would have liked this early in the season. Baltimore can manage that for a stretch, but the home opener now carries a little more pressure on the rest of the wideouts to stabilize the offense while the team waits on two key pieces to get right. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger question now is whether this was a strong opening statement or the start of something more sustainable. Baltimore posted a league-best 52.9% pressure rate, Jesse Minter praised Robinsons performance, and the defense should have more pieces coming back from injury while the coaching staff keeps tweaking things, which gives the Ravens a chance to build on what looked missing a year ago. [Read more 🡒]
Rashod Bateman Suddenly Has The Chance Ravens Fans Wanted
Rashod Batemans opener was quiet in the box score, but the Ravens still found a way to use him as part of the offense, leaning on his blocking in Week 1. Now the opportunity around him looks different. Baltimore is set to be without JaKobi Lane because of a fractured wrist, and Zay Flowers is also dealing with a hamstring injury, which could push Bateman into a more prominent pass-catching role than he had in the opener.
Lamar Jackson has already signaled that Bateman should see more targets in the games ahead, and that alone changes the feel of this stretch for Baltimore. For a receiver who has been waiting to carve out a bigger lane in the offense, the injuries ahead of him may finally create the opening Ravens fans have been hoping for, with the only question left being how quickly it turns into production. [Read more 🡒]