The Ravens don’t need Tyler Shough to turn into a superstar to make Sunday messy for New Orleans. They just need to make life uncomfortable fast.
That’s the real edge in this Week 2 matchup: Baltimore can’t let the Saints quarterback settle in, because once pressure starts closing around him, the mistakes tend to follow. Shough has shown he can hit a big play here and there, but he has also shown he can unravel when the pocket tightens. The Ravens’ path is pretty clear - get in his face, collapse the middle, and force the game into a bad rhythm for New Orleans.
Shough’s issues under pressure have been there since his college days. His throws get rushed, his mechanics fall apart, and the whole operation starts to wobble.
That showed up against the Detroit Lions, when he was sacked five times, fumbled twice and lost one, and at one point was 1-for-5 when pressured. That’s the version Baltimore needs to see again.
And this is where the Ravens’ defensive front comes into play. Tavius Robinson was disruptive against the Indianapolis Colts with 7 pressures and a sack, Malaki Starks added another sack, and Travis Jones spent the day living in the backfield. Trey Hendrickson also looked like the dominant defensive lineman fans know, even though he finished with 0 sacks.
There is one wrinkle: Hendrickson’s Week 2 status is up in the air after he missed the first two days of practice with a finger injury. Even if he’s not out there, Baltimore still has enough firepower to make trouble for New Orleans. Jesse Minter’s defense has the pieces to create pressure in different ways, and that matters because the Saints’ offensive line has already shown cracks.
New Orleans posted a 51.0 pass-blocking grade in Week 1. Kelvin Banks Jr. held up well enough at left tackle with a 72.0 overall grade, but the rest of the line had problems.
The interior was especially shaky. Center Erick McCoy gave up 4 pressures and 2 QB hits, while right guard Cesar Ruiz allowed 2 pressures.
That’s the kind of weakness Baltimore should be circling.
The middle is where Shough can get himself into trouble. When rushers come charging straight through the interior, he tends to drift away from his throws, and once the footwork starts sliding, the whole thing can spiral. With Travis Jones, Calais Campbell and maybe even Nnamdi Madubuike in the mix, the Ravens have the kind of bodies that can make that happen.
Baltimore also has to keep an eye on Shough as a runner. He only ran 4 times for 8 yards against Detroit, but as a rookie he totaled 45 carries for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns. Anthony Weaver knows that number matters, and the Ravens can’t afford to ignore it.
So the assignment is simple, even if the execution isn’t: pressure him from the inside, squeeze him from the edge, and keep him guessing. If Baltimore wins the trench battle, it can control how this game unfolds. And against the Saints, that should be the first thing on the Ravens’ checklist.
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Now comes an even more revealing test against the New Orleans Saints in Week 2, because the debut was only the beginning of the adjustment period. Ioane is working on sharpening his technique, and for Baltimore the next step matters as much as the first one did, since the difference between encouraging rookie promise and real early impact often lives in the details that show up when the rush gets more complicated. [Read more 🡒]