The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Los Angeles Rams 33-7 in Week one of the preseason. Baltimore’s offense excelled in this matchup, particularly the first-team. That unit only played one series, but they methodically drove down the field on a 10-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a Patrick Ricard touchdown.

The second team offense, led by Lamar Jackson, put up 16 points. Although it could have been 22 points, Kaare Vedvik and Justin Tucker both missed field goals of over 50 yards. Jackson took the next step in his development as he looked more comfortable in the pocket and was more accurate.

Robert Griffin III led the third team offense, and they accounted for 10 points, including a spectacular 32-yard touchdown reception to Breshad Perriman.

Almost every member of Baltimore’s 2018 draft class had a great showing. Offensive linemen Orlando Brown Jr., Greg Senat, and Bradley Bozeman all had excellent performances with limited mistakes. They helped protect the quarterback, while also clearing lanes for the running backs. Hayden Hurst had a solid reception that led to a first down, and he contributed several key blocks to open up holes for the running backs.

Tight end Mark Andrews had a quiet night, including a miscommunication on an RPO play. He did not record a reception on three targets.

Rookie wide receivers Jordan Lasley and Jaleel Scott struggled yet again as they combined for one reception for nine yards on five targets.

As Ravens head coach John Harbaugh stated in his postgame press conference, the story of the night was Perriman’s touchdown reception, but there were plenty of other positive and negative developments for the Ravens.

Against cover-1, the Ravens attacked the matchup they like with Hurst against Marqui Christian. One of the weaknesses of cover-1 is that it isolates defenders with little to no support. Los Angeles is in a nickel package, and the free safety stayed deep to honor the Ravens’ two deep routes. The other free defender jumped Snead’s pivot route, while Hurst was able to create separation. Another weakness of this coverage that Baltimore exploited was the open space. Hurst had a ton of room to operate without any other defender in his vicinity. If this can translate into the regular season, he will provide the Ravens’ offense with something they desperately missed last season: a tight end who can create mismatches.

Orlando Brown Jr.’s kick step did not set him up for success. He did not create enough leverage and keep his center of gravity; he was in a terrible position. The rusher used a swipe move to get by him, but luckily for Baltimore, James Hurst identified the issue and helped push the rusher out of the play. At center, Matt Skura sustained his block correctly. He utilized great footwork and balance to stonewall the rush attempt. Skura reset his hips and relied on his perfect hand placement (under the armpits) to halt the defender’s attempt. Left guard Alex Lewis also displayed excellent hip movement as he reset his balance after he initially was losing the battle. Lewis regained momentum and stopped the defender from moving forward. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley was the most significant issue on this play as he was unable to counter the defender’s club move. After he gained momentum in the beginning, the defender countered with a quick club move to break free, which forced Flacco to scramble out of the pocket.

With excellent protection against a four-man rush, Flacco connected with John Brown on a slant across the middle against man-coverage. The Ravens found the matchup they liked, Brown against a linebacker, and exploited it. Flacco noticed the mismatch almost immediately as he quickly released the ball.

The offensive line can not get enough credit for making this play happen. Orlando Brown Jr. helped Hurst on the initial rush attempt, but then he recognized the delayed blitzer and stopped him entirely. Javorius Allen also identified the extra blitzer as he helped protect Flacco, who rolled to his left and found an open Michael Crabtree. This was perfect execution by the former Oakland Raider, who high pointed the football and made the catch.

In the red zone, the Ravens ran one of their ‘bread and butter’ plays. This play forces the defense to make a difficult decision quickly, and often, they make the wrong read. Ryan Davis (98) is responsible for covering the flat, while also helping in run support if it is a running play. The Rams were expecting a running play, which is why the play-action worked so well. Nick Boyle ran into two defenders as if he was attempting to run-block, and Davis identified the fake too late, and it was a race to the pylon.

On a power running play, the Ravens pulled the guard, Alex Lewis, who pushed the defender enough to alter his angle and make him miss Collins. The fullback, Ricard, blew up the end man on the line scrimmage, which led to Collins having the outside lane. After Collins broke to the outside, he had a lead blocker in Hurst, who made a crucial block on a defensive back to extend the run. This is a perfect example of Baltimore’s complex running game that changes from play-to-play.

Against cover-1, the Ravens ran the four verticals concept. Jackson’s responsible for reading the free safety and finding the open target. Chris Moore had a step on the defender almost immediately, and Jackson looked off the safety, which is why he was favoring the right side of the field and delivered a beautiful back shoulder throw. Moore made an incredible adjustment to high point the football. This was an ‘NFL-caliber’ throw as only Moore could make a play on the ball due to the positioning of the defensive back.

Lamar Jackson must establish himself as a pocket-passer, but this is the extra element of his game that can make him a special player. The pocket collapsed as Hurst was unable to defend the quick swipe move, and Jackson took off. He made several defenders completely whiff en route to scoring the touchdown.

The Ravens called another power running play, and Nico Siragusa was the pulling guard. Hurst is a lead blocker for Edwards, and he helped clear a massive hole. Jermaine Eluemunor and Greg Senat sustained their blocks as well. The offensive line and Hurst executed this play perfectly. Hurst’s biggest knock coming out of college was his blocking, and in this game, he put that notion to rest.

Jackson displayed great patience on this RPO play. He made the right read by electing to keep the ball as Grant’s defender completely sold out on the run. The defender initially recovered well, but as Grant continued his route, he was wide open in the middle of the field. Whether it is Joe Flacco or Lamar Jackson at the helm, the Ravens’ offense should implement more RPO concepts.

The offensive line failed to pick up the linebacker blitzing through the A-gap. Edwards should have picked him up, but instead he ran to the side as perhaps a dump off option. Jackson was forced to throw the ball away, but the thing to note is that with most quarterbacks, this is a sack. With Jackson, it is merely an incompletion.

Eleumunor lost his positioning and seemingly gave up on the play. He lost at the point of attack as the defender utilized a quick swipe move to break free. Brown Jr. also was pushed out of position with a quick inside move. He was baited to continue to drop and was then pushed to the side.

Gus Edwards redeemed himself in pass-protection with a sack-saving block, which gave Jackson enough time to throw a pass to Patrick Ricard, who was running a wheel route. Ricard did not have any separation, but Jackson was attempting to throw him open.

Nico Siragusa lost his balance, as his leverage and center of gravity were poor. Instead of lowering his helmet, he should have maintained the proper positioning and not put all of his weight forward. Bradley Bozeman misidentified the situation. Bozeman should have continued to engage with his assignment, who was spying on Jackson.

The Ravens’ offense continued to show their versatility as they ran an inside zone option play. Jackson made the right decision to hand it to Edwards as the end man on the line of scrimmage overplayed towards him, which opened up a hole on the inside. Siragusa helped with the double team block with Bozeman, then turned upfield to secure the second level block. The one negative aspect of this play is that both rookie wide receivers failed to block their assignments adequately.

The offensive line executed this inside zone play flawlessly. Bozeman and Eluemunor hit their double team block in stride, and then Bozeman reached the second level to attack the linebacker, who is the target of this play. Brown Jr. sealed off his side, while Senat held on long enough to not ruin the play. Siragusa pancaked his assignment to clear a monster size hole. Lasley missed both of his opportunities to block, and that is the reason why this run did not gain more yards.

Andrews thought this was a running play as he was run-blocking. On an RPO play, Jackson decided to keep it, which was, arguably, the wrong read, but then essentially threw the ball away as Andrews was not looking for the pass.

In man-coverage, Jackson gave Scott a chance to make a play on the ball. The ball was thrown too far ahead of Scott as he was unable to make the catch despite creating separation at the end of the play. Vince Mayle also failed to identify the blitzer as he allowed the linebacker to have a clear path to Jackson.

Brown Jr. lost his leverage immediately as he was pushed back and the play was doomed from the start. This was one of the few mistakes he made in this game. It appears as if he got a delayed start and the defender timed the snap perfectly.

On a screen play, Thompson had a ton of room in front of him, and he bulldozed his way through the pile to gain more yards. The competition for the third running back spot is wide open, and if Thompson continues to make plays like this, he will be on the 53-man roster.

Jackson completely missed on this throw late in the second quarter. He climbed the pocket as pressure was incoming, and delivered an uncatchable pass to Scott, who was open.

Coming out of UCLA, Lasley’s drop issues were well-documented. He also struggled at the 2018 NFL Combine to catch passes in the ‘Gauntlet drill’, but the Ravens took a chance on a talented playmaker who had one major flaw in his game. Thus far, Lasley has yet to remove that label. During training camp, he would have some great days, but other days would be a struggle. On this play, he dropped a pass that should have been caught. His technique does not appear to be the issue, but rather his concentration.

Senat was called for holding, but the rest of the offensive line adequately executed this inside zone play. Siragusa reached the second level after helping with the double team block as Brown Jr. pancaked his assignment to seal off the backside. Bozeman sustained his block, which helped clear a hole for Edwards.

This was Jackson’s final throw in this game, and it was, arguably, his worst. He sailed the ball way over the head of his intended target, and it should have been intercepted. Against better competition, this pass would have been intercepted. The pocket was clean, and he had ample time to throw it. His mechanics and footwork looked smooth on this play, but the ball was poorly thrown.

Perriman’s memorable night started with a 19-yard reception. He was close to scoring, but he was brought down by the safety. This is the Perriman that Baltimore drafted; top-end speed with an ability to make defenders miss.

Edwards was unable to pick up the blitzer after Siragusa and Senat failed to secure the B-Gap. Griffin III had no chance on this play as he was immediately pressured.

On a bootleg, the end man on the line of scrimmage read the play correctly as he did not bite on the fake. Despite the pressure, Griffin III hit Breshad Perriman in stride to pick up the first down. Perriman created separation with his speed and used proper technique to catch the football.

Senat was beaten by a quick swipe move, but Griffin III anticipated the pressure and climbed the pocket. He delivered, arguably, the best throw of the night as the ball was placed right in the hands of Perriman, who was in an excellent position to make the catch. He did a great job of locating the ball in the air and high pointing it. Despite the tight coverage, he freed his arms and secured the football while also maintaining both feet in bounds.

Five final takeaways: