Ravens-Titans takeaways: Lamar Jackson erases a silly narrative

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson beat the Titans Sunday, 20-13, finally ending a whole two-game drought without winning a playoff game, and immediately raced into the tunnel.

Eventually he was lured back to the field to give a post-game interview.

It was pretty clear that the reigning NFL MVP, who turned 24 just a few days ago, was tired of the narratives he heard coming into the game. With good reason: They made very little sense.

The loss to the Chargers after the 2018 season was Jackson’s eighth game as a starter, and he was running an offense that had been designed for Joe Flacco. The Ravens lost to the Titans last year because they couldn’t stop Derrick Henry and Tennessee defensive coordinator Dean Pees painted an absolute masterpiece before waltzing off to retirement.

His plan was used again today — and it was, not surprisingly, stale. We’ll look at how Jackson and the Ravens figured it out, and the other factors that allowed the Ravens to move on to the divisional round.

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So much for that blueprint.

The Titans were widely praised for their defensive gameplan in last year’s playoff upset, so it wasn’t surprising to see it again on Sunday in Nashville. Tennessee stayed in their quarters shell with the secondary within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. It worked initially.

Outside of a ridiculous scramble by Lamar Jackson, the Ravens had trouble moving the ball in the first half. Tennessee’s edge defenders were stout against Baltimore’s various run concepts while the secondary didn’t let the receivers get behind them.

It was the same look the Titans used in the two previous matchups, and 10 quarters later, offensive coordinator Greg Roman finally cracked the code. With Tennessee’s edge defenders looking to set a hard edge in the run game, and the corners playing soft on the outside, the flats were open and Baltimore started attacking them. Patrick Ricard caught two passes to spark the first drive out of the halftime break. Here’s ESPN’s Rex Ryan breaking it down…

Those plays essentially served as an extension of the run game and when the Titans adjusted — they started playing more single-high looks in the second half — the Ravens were able to get the traditional run game going a bit more.Unfortunately, that success did not really carry over to the passing game.

Speaking of which…

AP Photo/Brett Carlsen

Jackson’s traditional stat line wasn’t too impressive. He finished 17-of-24 for 179 yards and an interception, for a passer rating of 74.8. The advanced metrics tell a different story, though. Jackson’s dropbacks averaged 0.22 EPA per play and his completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) was a healthy 9.7, per RBSDM.com.

All of that is made more impressive by the fact that it was basically him against the Titans defense all afternoon. That’s not necessarily a knock on his supporting cast. It’s more of a knock against Greg Roman. The Ravens offensive coordinator has designed an intricate and effective run game, but the same can’t be said for his pass scheme. Actually, the opposite could be said.

Roman does not do a good job of creating separation for his receivers downfield, and there were multiple instances of Ravens receivers running far too close to one another, tightening the throwing windows for Jackson.

Even when there wasn’t a window there, Jackson found ways to create one.

A lot of the Ravens’ success in the passing game was the product of the quarterback’s creativity. Jackson did his best to keep his eyes downfield and find open receivers, but there just weren’t a lot of opportunities there, forcing him out of the pocket. Fortunately for the Ravens, Jackson is more than capable of creating offense in adverse situations — but it’s not something you want to rely on. Against teams like Kansas City and Buffalo, the margin for error will be much smaller.

The Ravens lost blocking tight end Nick Boyle back in Week 10, and have had to change the offense since then. That’s partially meant more three-receiver sets, which has created more space to work for Jackson, but it’s also led to more Patrick Ricard.

And that’s great!

Ricard, for those who might be unaware, played defensive line at Maine but signed as an undrafted free agent with the Ravens in 2017 and eventually became a blocking fullback. He’s made the last two Pro Bowls because of his work making Baltimore’s run game viable.

But against the Titans he got to do things like this …

Which led to Tweets like this …

Ricard had three catches for 26 yards on the opening drive of the second half, which was unexpected (he had 9 catches all year.) Then he returned to character, delivering a crushing block on a J.K. Dobbins TD run that put the Ravens ahead 17-10.

It’s easy to say that we hope we get more of Ricard making plays, because it’s fun. But it also might be essential for Baltimore, which simply lacks top-flight receivers and tight ends who can win matchups consistently. Roman will need to continue being creative against better defenses.

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Derrick Henry has been the locomotive behind the Titans offense, but he didn’t have anywhere to go during this loss. Henry was held to a season low 40 rushing yards on the day and failed to rush for a single first down.

The last time the Titans and Ravens squared off, Henry rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown to win the game in overtime. The Ravens just had an incredible game defending the run this time around. Pernell McPhee played the game of his life on the edge, with a handful of tackles at the line of scrimmage. According to the ESPN broadcast, Derrick Henry was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 11 of his 18 runs. As a team, the Ravens were able to net four tackles for loss on the 22 rushing attempts by the Titans. Henry was shut down so badly that the Titans didn’t even bother going to him on a fourth and two with the game on the line.

It’s hard to say right now exactly how that affected the rest of the Titans offense, but clearly they missed his punishing style of play.

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At the start of the game, it looked like the Titans were about to blow the Ravens out of the water. A.J. Brown was absolutely cooking Marlon Humphrey to start the game, scoring a touchdown on the Titans second drive.

After that, Tennessee couldn’t get anything going.

For the game, the Titans averaged just 4.3 yards per play, which was a FAR drop from their season average of 6.2 yards per play. After initially sticking Humphrey on Brown, the Ravens got a bit more creative with their matchups and used Marcus Peters to cover Brown with a bit more success.

Henry couldn’t get anything going on the ground, Ryan Tannehill struggled to consistently move the ball through the air, and Brown didn’t do much after the first few drives of the game.

The Ravens deserve credit for the way they were able to totally shut down the Titans offense — a group that scored 40 points five times this season.