MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
Week 1 of the NFL season is in the books and here in 2 Hours from Everywhere, it was a mixed bag with only one of the three home teams managing to win.
The Baltimore Ravens, of course, opened the season Thursday in Kansas City, losing to the Chiefs, 27-20, as tight end Isaiah Likely came down just a toe over from perhaps helping the Ravens tie the score or even win the game with a two-point conversion on the final play of the game.
For the few seconds that the play had been ruled a touchdown on the field, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh adamantly signaled for the two-point conversion attempt, but it didn’t matter once the call was correctly overruled by replay, so there’s no point to wonder.
To the Ravens’ credit, the game did come down to the final play, which seemed kind of weird since it felt as though the Chiefs, while not dominating, had control of the game after surpassing Baltimore’s early 7-0 lead.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson put his team back into it, which was good, but also bad, because the bulk of the offense was the result of Jackson having to improvise since the Ravens’ offensive line is such a work in progress.
Still, Jackson was spectacular, completing 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 122 yards on 16 carries. Running back Derrick Henry, making his Ravens debut, gained 46 yards and scored a touchdown on 13 carries, which was fine, because, as Harbaugh said on Monday, the Ravens didn’t bring the 30-year-old Henry in to carry the ball “30 times a game,” which is understandable.
The Ravens, though, were unable to establish him when they did give him the ball, as they couldn’t get him to the edge to square up because of the ineffectiveness of the inexperienced offensive line.
You do have to wonder as well what formations the Ravens are going to utilize more often to better take advantage of Henry’s ability – the quarterback under center, which big backs such as Henry are more effective in, or the quarterback in the shotgun or pistol formation, which Jackson seems to be more of a threat using.
Aside from the line, the biggest irritant of the Ravens offense remains clock management. The Ravens still blow a lot of time between plays and particularly did so in the fourth quarter when they were attempting the comeback in the final six minutes.
The Ravens’ decision-making overall remains maddening, beginning with Harbaugh’s call to go for a fourth-and-two short of midfield in the second quarter, which cost them three points. It’s just not a good idea to give Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs half of the field under any circumstance.
The Ravens defense wasn’t bad, but not great, as Mahomes did most of his damage underneath, yet still got good results when he attacked the secondary.
Simply put, the Chiefs just own the Ravens, so I wonder if folks take for granted Ravens success against most everyone else in the league other than Kansas City, as already there is talk about the rematch between Baltimore and Kansas City, which is anything but a given.
It’s not going to be easy for the Ravens. It’s not going to be matter of fact. They threw the baby out with the water again last year, so good luck to them.
Anyway, Sunday marked a really bad debut for the Washington Commanders’ new defensive-minded head coach Dan Quinn, as the Tampa Buccaneers beat them 37-20.
The Commanders defense was not good as the Bucs put up 37 points and averaged seven yards per play, with quarterback Baker Mayfield throwing for four touchdowns.Tampa punted just once and was 9-for-13 on third downs.
Quinn said afterwards, “You need to struggle to see the identity develop. You don’t want it. But you need it. That happened tonight,” which apparently is the new Coachspeak for, “In adversity there is opportunity.”
Meanwhile, first-round pick Jayden Daniels made his professional debut as well and did okay, completing 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards and rushing for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, becoming the second rookie QB in NFL history to rush for two touchdowns in his first career game.
But it was the Pittsburgh Steelers who had the big day, not only in our little corner of the world, but in the AFC North as well, as the Steelers were the only team in the division to win their season opener, knocking off the Atlanta Falcons, 18-10.
Quarterback Russell Wilson was a pre-game scratch due to a calf injury and Justin Fields got the start and completed 17 of 23 passes for 156 yards. Overall, it was an uninspiring offensive performance, but the same cannot be said for the Steelers defense, which was smothering.
The Steelers allowed just 226 yards with two sacks and caused three turnovers, limiting Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins to 155 passing yards and two interceptions.
T.J. Watt was all over the place for the Steelers, recovering one fumble and causing two more that were wiped out by penalties.
The worries of Steelers fans about the ho-hum of the offense may be legit, though it’s impossible to know after one game, but if the defense can stay healthy this year and maintain the degree of havoc they had on Sunday, the Steelers are going to be a problem.
For every team they play.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @MikeBurkeMDT