OWINGS MILLS — The Ravens have won three straight games and continue to rise in the various Week 6 Power Rankings.
Here’s the roundup:
This week: 5; Last week: 6
Analysis: “That’s three straight wins after the 0-2 start, although two of them were far from easy. At Dallas in Week 3, the Ravens nearly coughed up a big lead. At Cincinnati on Sunday, they had to climb out of three double-digit deficits in the second half. But there were signs of “the old Ravens” in each contest, as the run game has flourished and Lamar Jackson has regained his killer instinct. You might kindly say that Baltimore’s defense has been opportunistic, although there’s clearly a lot that can be cleaned up there.”
This week: 5; Last week: 7
Analysis: “Andrews is coming off his best game of the season (four catches for 55 yards), but he hasn’t come close to being a top-five tight end like previous years. With the Ravens relying more on the run, Andrews has seen his snaps decrease, which has led to him ranking 28th among tight ends in PPR (22 points). He also hasn’t scored a touchdown in the first five weeks of a season for the first time in his seven-year career. The most productive tight end on the Ravens has been Isaiah Likely, who has 16 catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns.”
This week: 6; Last week: 11
Analysis: “Pick Your Poison” is both a way to refer to the offense and the title of a poem Edgar Allen Poe never got around to writing.”
This week: 4; Last week: 6
Analysis: “The Ravens are No. 1 in offensive DVOA and it’s not even close. The answer to “how do you defend an offense with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry?” is apparently that you can’t. The Ravens’ record isn’t great and they got lucky Sunday, but they are going to be very good this season.”
This week: 3; Last week: 3
Analysis: “Lamar Jackson passed for 348 yards and four touchdowns, rushed for 55 and led Baltimore to scores on five of its six drives after halftime Sunday. After going 38th in the average fantasy draft this season, he is the top player in the league in points per game (24.9). Jackson has accounted for 11 touchdowns and has thrown only one interception this season. And remember Derrick Henry? Shame on anyone who forgot. Henry is averaging a league-high 114.4 rushing yards per game and is seventh in the league in fantasy scoring (22.02 ppg) after being drafted 18th.”
This week: 3; Last week: 3
Analysis: “What do you know? They actually overcame a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit Sunday in Cincinnati. But in all seriousness, if any club is going to emerge as a dominant force in 2024, it could well be this one – the first in 18 seasons to rush for 1,000 yards through Week 5. Still, amazing as the Lamar Jackson-Derrick Henry duo is shaping up, the league’s 31st-ranked pass defense needs to shape up.”