The Ravens had only so many answers after Thursday’s season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The baffling presnap penalties, the pass-heavy approach, the last-second touchdown that wasn’t — there was a lot to process and not a lot of time to do it.
“We’ll go back and watch the film,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said after the 27-20 loss at Arrowhead Stadium, “and we’ll make sure of it and we’ll send it in.”
“All I’ll say is, watch the film,” tight end Isaiah Likely said, “and see what we can improve on and go on to next week.”
“Watch some film,” running back Derrick Henry said, “learn from it and get better.”
There’s a lot to be learned from Week 1. Here are seven takeaways from the Ravens’ offensive and defensive performances against the defending Super Bowl champions.
1. How concerned was offensive coordinator Todd Monken about the Chiefs’ pass rush? One stat is revealing.
In his first season under Monken, quarterback Lamar Jackson had five receivers running routes on 56% of his drop-backs, according to TruMedia. That was below the league average of 63.5%, a rate partly explained by the Ravens running play-action, which typically keeps an extra blocker or two in for protection, at a higher-than-average rate.
On Thursday, against a Kansas City defense that finished behind only the Ravens in sacks last season (57), Jackson had five receivers running routes on just 37.3% of his drop-backs. That’s his lowest single-game rate under Monken and the third lowest of Jackson’s 73 career games with at least 10 pass attempts.
The Ravens’ focus on pass protection fell disproportionately on their best skill position group. Tight end Mark Andrews had three pass blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, a career high. Likely also had three pass blocking snaps, his most in a game since 2022. Fullback Patrick Ricard had four pass blocking snaps, a mark he topped just once last season.
As for whether it worked? That depends on your definition of success. Jackson was sacked just once and was pressured on 29.4% of his drop-backs, according to PFF, well below last season’s average (36.9%). His average depth of target, meanwhile, was 6.5 yards downfield, according to TruMedia, well below last season’s average (8.3 yards).
2. Right tackle Roger Rosengarten played 20 of the Ravens’ 80 offensive snaps, and he didn’t make a compelling case to cut into starter Patrick Mekari’s playing time. The second-round pick graded out as the Ravens’ worst lineman in both pass blocking and run blocking, according to PFF.
Rosengarten’s first snap was his most consequential. In the second quarter, he lined up over All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones on a play-action drop-back, with right guard Daniel Faalele shading his direction. Not only did Rosengarten’s initial punch not land, but his loss couldn’t filter Jones to the inside, where the rookie had help. Faalele was too slow to recover, and Jones got to Jackson for a strip-sack.
Another apparent mistake nearly cost the Ravens in the fourth quarter. Midway through the quarter, with the Ravens trailing by 10 and facing fourth-and-1 at Kansas City’s 22-yard line, Rosengarten lined up at right tackle in an unbalanced line, with Stanley to his right and Faalele to his left. Henry took the ball on an inside handoff, but Rosengarten pulled to his right as Faalele went for a double team on nose tackle Mike Pennel, leaving defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi unblocked. Only a neat sidestep by Henry helped the Ravens avoid disaster.
3. Henry’s fit in the Ravens’ offense was a question mark when he signed his two-year, $16 million deal. Henry’s Week 1 debut was not a rousing success — 13 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown, plus no catches on two targets — but his usage was at least interesting.
How did Henry fit in the Ravens’ read-option attack? He had two carries for 11 yards, according to Sports Info Solutions, and was on the field for two of Jackson’s three keepers, which went for 11 yards and 13 yards.
How did Henry fit in the Ravens’ shotgun- and pistol-heavy looks? He had six carries for 28 yards in the formations, and seven under-center carries for 18 yards and the score. Last year, Ravens running backs Gus Edwards, Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell combined for 30 total under-center runs.
And how did Henry fit into the offense on obvious passing downs? On third-and-5 and fourth-and-5 or longer, Henry didn’t play a snap, according to TruMedia. Hill got eight snaps and showed his worth. He caught two passes out of the backfield for long third-down conversions and even took on the Chiefs’ Jones on the final two plays of the game in one-on-one pass protection.
4. In the Ravens’ second year under Monken, their offensive staples might be changing.
The Ravens leaned into their tight end depth Thursday, lining up in 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends and two wide receivers) on 52.7% of their plays, by far their highest single-game rate since Jackson’s arrival in Baltimore, according to TruMedia. Andrews’ injuries had limited Monken’s flexibility with the grouping last season, but the offense’s 12 personnel usage never eclipsed 23.6% in any game. Their most common grouping was 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers).
The early returns Thursday were decently promising and somewhat surprising. The Ravens averaged 0.07 expected points added per play in 12 personnel — above their game-long average of 0.00 EPA — while mostly feasting on the ground. They rushed 16 times for 122 yards, helped largely by Jackson’s seven scrambles for 55 yards.
As a passer, Jackson went 13-for-23 for 127 yards and a touchdown in 12 personnel. Kansas City essentially treated the Ravens’ second tight end as a third wide receiver, lining up in nickel (five defensive backs) or dime personnel (six defensive backs) on 29 of Jackson’s 30 drop-backs in 12 personnel.
5. Travis Jones played like he’s the Ravens’ top nose tackle.
Last year, Jones appeared in 453 defensive snaps over 17 games, a 39.2% snap share. He played more than 50% of the Ravens’ snaps in just two games — the blowout Week 17 win over the Miami Dolphins and the Week 18 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in which several starters played reduced snaps. Michael Pierce was the team’s top option inside; he played 640 snaps (55.3%) and started all 17 games.
That might no longer be the case. Jones, who often lined up with the first-team defense in training camp, where he earned rave reviews, started against Kansas City and got 33 defensive snaps to Pierce’s 20. On third down, Jones got seven snaps and Pierce just one, according to TruMedia.
He flashed his pass rush ability a couple of times. On the Ravens’ second sack, by outside linebacker David Ojabo, Jones knocked All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney into quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ lap, denying an escape lane. And, on inside linebacker Roquan Smith’s second-quarter interception, he beat Pro Bowl center Creed Humphrey and hit Mahomes as he wound up.
6. The Ravens had maybe the NFL’s best defensive spine last season, led by All-Pros Nnamdi Madubuike, Kyle Hamilton and Smith. Against Kansas City, the run defense did its part, holding the Chiefs to 3.6 yards per carry. The pass defense was another story.
On passes of 1 to 15 air yards located between the hashes — the zone that Smith, Hamilton and off-ball linebackers Trenton Simpson and Malik Harrison most frequently covered — Mahomes went 8-for-11 for 142 yards, according to TruMedia, with the one interception to Smith. Four completions went for explosive plays: wide receiver Rashee Rice’s 16- and 19-yard gains in the first quarter, Rice’s 33-yard gain early in the third quarter and wide receiver Justin Watson’s 25-yard catch less than a minute later.
Opposing passing attacks largely struggled targeting the short and intermediate middle parts of the field against the Ravens last season. Only four opponents finished with over 100 passing yards in that range, and the Ravens beat all four. But Mahomes was surgical in the AFC championship game, going 10-for-12 for 90 yards, and continued his mastery Thursday.
7. No matter what personnel grouping the Ravens saw last year, then-defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was comfortable having Smith and Patrick Queen on the field together. In his first game under new coordinator Zach Orr, Queen’s replacement hadn’t yet earned that confidence.
When the Chiefs lined up in 12 personnel, 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends and one wide receiver) and 21 personnel (two backs, one tight end and two wide receivers), Simpson wasn’t always on the field. Smith played with Harrison, a more established run defender, and without Simpson on 11 snaps featuring heavier personnel. Smith also played four snaps as the team’s lone off-ball linebacker, all against 11 personnel.
The Ravens’ personnel tweaks largely backfired. When Harrison was playing, the Chiefs went after him in space. (Smith struggled there, too.) The versatile veteran was targeted three times in coverage, allowed two catches for 38 yards and was late to react on rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy’s 21-yard end-around score. Overall, in the 12 snaps with Smith and Harrison paired up and Simpson sidelined, the Ravens allowed 10.2 yards per play and had a success rate of just 38.5%.
In the 34 snaps with Smith and Simpson paired up — including the three snaps with Harrison also playing — the Ravens allowed 6.4 yards per play and had a success rate of 60.5%.
