Panic Stations?

Three weeks ago, on the eve of the Ravens' first game of the 2015 NFL season, I was quietly confident. Joe Flacco is in his prime, Steve Smith Sr. is retiring at the end of the season and playing with an intensity rarely seen, even in the NFL. Yes, there were issues, such as the long-term injury to first round draft pick Breshad Perriman, and the loss of key players from last season in free agency. But excuses aren't the way the Ravens do things. It never has been, and it never will.

So with three weeks gone in the season, with the Ravens sitting at a paltry 0-3, what on earth has gone wrong? A first week loss at Denver, I can understand. A home game against Cincinatti (a team which has now won the last 4 meeting between the two) was always going to be tough. Losing to the Oakland Raiders in Week 2 was a real shock, however. Contrary to a quote from outside lineback Elvis Dumervil following last night's loss to the Bengals, I think the Ravens could easily be 3-0 instead of 0-3. Historically known for playing strong, physical defense, the Ravens squad of 2015 isn't quite performing to the level it has set for itself.

Defensive co-ordinator Dean Pees seems to be struggling to get the best out of his unit, which is missing Terrell Suggs for the season, but still has quality players on all three levels, such as Timmy

Jernigan, CJ Mosley, and Jimmy Smith. How this defense has yielded 28 points per game is quite staggering. Pees' 'bend-but-don't-break' philosophy seems to have been replaced this season by a "bend-then-snap-at-a-crucial-moment" policy. Against Denver, the defense gave up a 17-play, 11 minute drive, which gave the offense barely a minute on the field to pull out the victory. They couldn't manage it. Against Oakland, the offense scored 13 unanswered points in the 4th quarter, and all the defense had to do was stop the Raiders one time. Derek Carr threw a touchdown to Seth Roberts with 0:12 remaining. Against Cincinatti, the defense scored off an Andy Dalton fumble, then immediately yielded an 80-yard TD to AJ Green. The offense came back out and scored again through Steve Smith (seemingly the only man capable of catching a ball on this team), before the defense gave up another 80 yard drive, in only 1min 46secs, which condemned the squad to their third defeat of the season.

Ravens #3 WR

Last season, it took until Week 8 for the Ravens to lose 3 games. So what's the problem? For me, it's a combination of a lack of playmakers on offense, and a defense which isn't playing to its strengths. Joe Flacco is being forced to play from behind in football matches, and is throwing to a group of receivers that, outside of Steve Smith Sr and Crockett Gillmore, might as well be a bunch of rocks and troll dolls. The defense has two good cornerbacks in Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb, but they are best utilised in press man-to-man coverage, jamming their opposite number at the line of scrimmage and not allowing him to get into his route-running. Pees' defensive scheme isn't allowing them to play like this, and it's affecting the pass rush, which might not be as fearsome without Terrell Suggs, but still contains Elvis Dumervil, who has recorded 91 sacks so far in his 9 year career.

Essentially, as it stands, neither unit is helping the other, and as a result, the whole team is suffering. The offense starts slowly and picks up towards the end of games, and the defense sucks for 45 minutes, and then completely breaks down like a mediocre robot in the 4th quarter. Neither are  recipe for success, and if John Harbaugh wants his team to find the winning formula, he'll have to do it quickly. Playing Pittsburgh at Heinz Field on Thursday is just the kind of game which will either kick start the season, or send the Ravens into a catastrophic spiral, the likes of which have never been seen before in Baltimore.

Baltimore Ravens @ Denver Broncos

So, the NFL season is back. While some games kicked off with a bang (Marcus Mariota producing a near-perfect debut, for example), the Baltimore Ravens started their march towards Super Bowl 50 in a somewhat sluggish fashion, losing out narrowly to a strong Denver Broncos team in a defensive battle of wills. There were of course positives to take from the game, but at the end of the day, Baltimore sit 0-1 and already a game behind their AFC North rivals, the Steelers and the Bengals.

Let's start with what went well. The defence looked impressive, notching up 4 sacks and an interception against a notoriously strong O-Line and Peyton Manning, who doesn't usually turn the ball over much before November. Jimmy Smith's first career TD off the interception early in the second half looked to spark a change in fortunes for Dean Pees' "bend-but-don't-break" defence, who had been standing off the likes of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, allowing Manning to complete shorter, faster passes. With Peyton Manning looking a shadow of his former self, future opponents may want to try and jam the receivers at the line, forcing him to throw further downfield, where he looked particularly vulnerable on Sunday afternoon.

Another impressive performance came from second year linebacker CJ Mosley, who had 5 total tackles, as well as two sacks, in a showing which seems to have continued his form from last season, when he finished second to Aaron Donald in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. If he carries on as he has done for the first 19 games of his NFL career, Ravens fans may well start to make comparisons to a former MLB that once played in Baltimore. He did alright for himself, I think.

No matter how well a team plays, there is always room for improvement. Having lost yesterday, there are a number of facets of the team which have come under the microscope in the 14 hours following the result, and it doesn't make good reading for new Offensive Coordinator Marc Trestman. For one, he spells his name with a 'c', and for two, his O-Line could not handle the outside speed rushers DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller. Left Tackle Eugene Monroe left towards the end of the first quarter with a concussion and was replaced by James Hurst, who seemed to handle last year's limited responsibilities relatively well. However, when faced with one of the best pass-rushers of the last 15 years, and one of the best pass-rushers of the next 15 years in tandem. I've seen Hurst's performance from last night described as a 'turnstile' and a 'wet paper towel', suggesting that a sheet of Plenty would have done the same job and been paid far less to do it.

The woes of the offensive line meant that Joe Flacco was often left with little time to make a throw, hence why he finished the day 18/32 for 117 yards, 0TDs and 2INTs. He most certainly wasn't helped by a receiving corps limited to a 36-year old Steve Smith and a bunch of untried, untested receivers with fewer than 20TD catches between them IN THEIR CAREERS.

Of course, the worst news from the Ravens' weekend was not that they have begun the season with a loss against a team considered to be one of the best in the country. The worst of it was a season ending injury to key linebacker and team captain Terrell Suggs. For the second time in 3 seasons, Suggs has torn his Achilles tendon. This time, it's the left tendon. Last time, it was the right one. At 32 years of age, you have to start wondering whether that will be it for a player who has long been the bane of Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady in the NFL. A man who divides opinion, but who nobody can deny is surely one of the best all-round outside linebackers of the last 20 years.

Anyway, now that Suggs is gone, John Harbaugh's Ravens have to look forward. What better way to retaliate from Sunday's loss than to annihilate the Oakland Raiders in the hot California sun this weekend? I can't think of a nicer way to follow up a tough loss.