The Ravens shouldn’t bother asking Lamar Jackson to bring back the Ping-Pong tables and the other games that were removed from the locker room because they were far from perfect during Thursday night’s 28–6 victory against the Dolphins.
They’re not close to being the Super Bowl contender we expected them to be before the season and it’s not going to suddenly click just because Jackson is back on the field. The two-time MVP displayed rust in the first half of his first game back since injuring his hamstring a month ago, operating a sluggish offense that’s still dealing with the issues that had Baltimore staring at a 1–5 record not that long ago.
The Ravens did, however, take advantage of all of Miami’s self-inflicted wounds in a game that could easily have been tied at halftime. It was only after the Dolphins beat themselves that the MVP-level Jackson appeared and it helps that Miami is simply bad. After falling to the bottom of the standings with several injuries and a daunting schedule, the Ravens (3–5) are now taking a stroll through losers’ lane to get their season back on track.
Another loss in the next month could significantly derail the Ravens’ postseason hopes. But at the same time, this team is capable of winning all these must-win games, with upcoming road matchups against the Vikings and Browns, and home meetings against the Jets and Bengals. These four teams have a combined record of 9–22. Minnesota likely won’t make the same mistakes that Miami committed on Thursday night, but the Vikings were just embarrassed by the Chargers and are now turning to inexperienced quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Jackson likely knew it wasn’t going to be a quick fix when he talked to the team’s equipment manager to turn off the TVs and remove the games from the locker room. Perfection was needed in the win column because this team could no longer afford losses. That being said, excellence is not needed when it comes to execution because all that matters right now is for Baltimore to beat these bad teams over the next month to get back into the AFC North race.
With each passing week, Jackson will likely take more chances as a runner while he regains confidence in his injured hamstring. He didn’t have that aspect of his game against the Dolphins and struggled at times as a passer. But Jackson leaned on what he does best—feed his tight ends, throwing two touchdowns to Mark Andrews, another one to Charlie Kolar and a lengthy 35-yard pass to Isaiah Likely. Jackson finished 18-of-23 for 204 yards and four touchdowns, and ran five times for 14 yards.
But the Ravens’ playoff hopes don’t just fall on the shoulders of Jackson. This turnaround started last week when defensive coordinator Zach Orr made the necessary adjustments coming out of the bye week to frustrate Caleb Williams and the Bears during Baltimore’s first of many must-win games. And it didn’t make much sense that coach John Harbaugh started Cooper Rush for two games, but was bailed out by Tyler Huntley’s efficient performance against Chicago.
There were also changes to the defensive personnel after a rough first two months to the season. Cornerback Jaire Alexander was a healthy scratch on Thursday, and newcomer safety Alohi Gilman has given this secondary a spark since being traded by the Chargers a few weeks back.
And it certainly helps having a healthy Kyle Hamilton back on the field. The All-Pro safety gave his team a scare when he went down for a bit in the first half, but quickly returned to the field and didn’t allow Tua Tagovailoa to establish a rhythm for practically all four quarters. Gilman and cornerback Marlon Humphrey each recorded a forced fumble and recovery during the dismantling of the Dolphins.
The more I write about this game, the more I want to say the Ravens are all the way back. That’s how impressive they were in the second half. Even Derrick Henry (19 carries, 119 yards) picked up his play and put the finishing touches on Baltimore’s second consecutive victory after its surprising four-game losing streak.
The more I think about it, it wouldn’t make sense for me to say the Ravens are back because they never played like a Super Bowl contender at any point this season, blowing a sizable lead to the Bills in Week 1 and falling in back-to-back weeks to the Lions and Chiefs. Jackson played in all those games before sustaining the hamstring injury in the second half in Kansas City.
Beating the Dolphins is far from a signature victory and not the right time to ask for the Ping-Pong tables back. It would be great if the execution is exceptional on both sides of the ball in the next four weeks against all these bad teams. But we won’t know if the Ravens are true contenders until they get to their tougher December schedule, with games against the Patriots and Packers.
Right now, it’s about stacking wins and regaining control of the subpar AFC North, which currently has the fast-fading Steelers (4–3) atop the standings. The Ravens don’t have to worry about their divisional matchups until they get through the Vikings, Browns and Jets. What a perfect storm of feasible opponents after everything seemingly went wrong for two months.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lamar Jackson's Back, and the Ravens Could Be, Too, With An Easy Schedule Ahead.