Zay, Henry and others are now “real” ravens

What a happy Monday it is to be a Ravens fan. Christmas is just around the corner and with it a big fight with the Houston Texans. The Ravens just beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-17 on a thrilling Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.

I think it’s safe to assume that all Ravens fans have seen this clip at least 50 times since it came out. pic.twitter.com/wQDNfGbuP5

— 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬 (@EDCburner) December 22, 2024

Marlon Humphrey had the game of the purple weekend. After Lamar Jackson had a nail-biting interception, Humphrey’s pick six prevented the momentum from resting on the Steelers’ sideline. This has to be one of the top 10 games in the storied rivalry between the Ravens and Steelers.

Speaking of rivalry, Zay Flowers is now a real Raven! There are a handful of other players who have joined him in the ranks of the “real Ravens,” with Derrick Henry being the most notable of them.

Zay expected this, but now he’s a real raven 😈 pic.twitter.com/s7OnU3Nk1w

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) December 22, 2024

It was such a good weekend for the Ravens that USA Today’s Nate Davis thinks the Ravens have become a Super Bowl contender. In fact, Davis had six reasons. A very interesting reason is that the defense is back:

A unit that was considered Baltimore’s Achilles at the start of the campaign could return to the strength that typified that organization.

In addition to Humphrey’s game-winning pick-six, safety Ar’Darius Washington pushed the ball away from Wilson at the end of a 19-yard breakaway in the second quarter when it appeared the quarterback was headed for the end zone – but at least the Steelers wanted to be inside Set up at the Ravens 5-yard line.

As far as results go, the Ravens defense is officially back. I would argue that the Ravens were lucky that Washington’s hit took the ball out of Russell Wilson’s grasp. I would argue that the defensive strategy could use some fine-tuning and become a little more aggressive and a little less Dean Pees-esque. However, the Ravens defense is now doing enough to win football games. That’s a dramatic improvement. The Ravens only need one or two additional possessions to decide the game with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. While I don’t believe this is a championship defense, it is a defense the Ravens can win with. If you ask me, holding the Steelers to 17 points while forcing turnovers is a good day at the office.

Charles McDonald of Yahoo Sports agrees with this line of thinking.

According to TruMedia, the defense generally dominated the Steelers in the second half, posting a success rate of just 31.8%. When Pittsburgh tried to get back into the game, they were able to really step it up, especially when it came to throwing the ball. All Wilson and his teammates could manage was 6.1 net yards per attempt in the second half, which simply wasn’t enough as the Ravens’ offense took over the game.

That’s why improving the defense is so crucial for this Baltimore team – the offense is capable of winning a Super Bowl. Lamar Jackson threw three more touchdowns, giving him 37 passing touchdowns with just four interceptions this season, and Derrick Henry was able to rush the Steelers to end the game. In the second half, Henry had 87 yards on just 11 carries and averaged an obscene 5.4 yards before contact. When the game becomes one-dimensional and the Ravens only have to rely on the run game to close out the game, they become one of the most dominant teams in the league. They may have finally found the perfect candidate for Jackson to actually win that elusive Super Bowl they could win.

McDonald’s Point combines everything. If the defense plays like this and Jackson manages three to five touchdowns per game, the Ravens are in business. It’s a winning formula. I think the main thing McDonald highlighted was how good the Ravens were in the second half. Stinginess on defense in the second half wins games.

The Ravens just secured a spot in the playoffs. Realistically, the Ravens know they are just five winning streaks away from becoming world champions. The ability to hit hard in the fourth quarter is a sign of a championship caliber squad.

Here are some key statistics from USA Today’s Data Skrive.

• “The Ravens’ home scoring average of 31.0 points per game is better than their away average of 29.4.
• On defense, Baltimore is allowing 20.6 points per game at home, which is above its road average of 25.6.
• The Ravens are scoring 30.0 points per game in division play, which is slightly below their average of 30.2 compared to the rest of the league.
• Baltimore has given up 27.2 points per game in the division, which is worse than its record of 21.3 in non-division games.
• With an average of 29.3 points per game on offense and 18.3 points given up on defense in the last three games, the Ravens ranked eighth and sixth, respectively, during that period.

The good news is that it’s a story of two stages for the Ravens. From the data, you can see that the Ravens experienced a defensive renaissance shortly after midway through the year. The bad news is that the Ravens are slightly better at home than away, and it’s a roughly planned short week against a good Houston Texans team. Averaging around 30 points per game is a good way to win games, and if the upward trend on defense continues, that mark will be more than enough to win games. The Texans’ defense is a tough test, but the Ravens appear to be trending upward.

4 of the Ravens’ 10 wins this year were double-digit wins against teams over .500 pic.twitter.com/31KT21vvM9

– Matt King (@yappmatt) December 22, 2024

The Texans may be a tough team, but that’s how the Ravens like it. The Ravens have been mostly dominant against good teams this season. Aside from the games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, the Ravens have been pretty impressive against good teams. The most impressive performance has to be the game against the Buffalo Bills, but their showdown with the Buccaneers shows that they can do just fine on the road.

It’s a big Christmas for Baltimore. Happy Holidays, goodwill to everyone and we hope the Ravens have a better Christmas than the Houston Texans.