The latest power rankings following their season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The majority of national pundits still view the Baltimore Ravens as one of the top teams in the league despite coming up just short against the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season opener. Now, it’s time to see where the team lands among the NFL landscape of power rankings heading into Week 2.
ESPN: 4 (Last week: 3)
There weren’t a lot of options because the newcomers didn’t contribute much for Baltimore. Henry showed promise early, but the Ravens went away from the run game in trying to play catch-up with QB Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. On the opening drive, Henry ran five times for 17 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown. He had eight carries for 29 yards the rest of the game. Henry could have more opportunities in Week 2 when he faces a Raiders defense that gave up 176 rushing yards to the Chargers in Week 1.
NFL.com: 5 (Last week: 3)
Yes, one toe might have been the difference between an opening-game win and a loss, with John Harbaugh prepared to end it with a two-point try, but the Ravens had to have walked away from Thursday’s game thinking they have a lot to clean up. The mini-bye will help, but all three units had some real yuck to them. Lamar Jackson was brilliant but also made some costly mistakes. Derrick Henry had a quiet game after the first drive. Zach Orr’s defense had some operational mistakes, with blown coverages (the final Xavier Worthy TD), communication errors (burning two timeouts because of substitution mix-ups) and failures to adjust (to the same Rashee Rice slant over and over). Yet, it was an extremely un-Ravens-like game, and they still almost won on the road. Hence them not falling too far.
The Athletic: 17 (Last week: 3)
Lamar Jackson can’t keep this up. Sure, the reigning MVP looked great — he led the Ravens in rushing with 16 carries for 122 yards and threw for 273 yards and a touchdown, handling the ball on 57 of 74 plays. Hopefully, that was just Jackson trying to put on his superhero cape to knock Patrick Mahomes down a peg and he’ll settle down now because it’s hard to imagine him surviving 17 games with the kind of workload and contact he had Thursday night. Baltimore, theoretically, brought Derrick Henry in for a reason this offseason, but Henry had only 13 carries.
New York Post: 3 (Last week: 2)
How different things might have looked if rising star Isaiah Likely hadn’t had a toe out of bounds on his would-be touchdown catch as time expired. The Ravens were about to go for a two-point conversion and the win. Instead, the incompletion clinched losing to the Chiefs for the fifth time in six meetings. Lamar Jackson accounted for 395 total yards.
Yahoo Sports: 2 (Last week: N/A)
The Ravens came within a toe of keeping their No. 1 slot in the Power Rankings. They were going to go for two if Isaiah Likely had a shoe size or two smaller.
Yahoo Sports: 5 (Last week 4)
There’s no reason to worry about the Ravens. Had Isaiah Likely worn shoes that were one size smaller and then the Ravens would have hit a 2-point conversion with no time left (it really is a bummer we didn’t get to see that happen), then they are 1-0 with a win at Arrowhead Stadium. The one big concern Baltimore will have to figure out is a shaky offensive line.
USA Today: 4 (Last week: 4)
RB Derrick Henry’s former teammate, retired OT Taylor Lewan, says the Ravens are inviting an “identity crisis” with their deployment of the two-time rushing king. And the issues the offensive line were expected to have did, in fact, materialize. Despite all that, last year’s top-seeded playoff team in the AFC took the Chiefs to within a toe of overtime on the road in last Thursday’s regular-season kickoff game.
Sporting News: 6 (Last week 5)
The Ravens had some of the same clutch moment issues vs. the Chefs, as Lamar Jackson and the defense had breakdowns at the wrong times. The one lingering concern will be the offensive line coming through as much as needed for Jackson and Derrick Henry.
Fox Sports: 6 (Last week: 8)
It’s got to sting to come so close to toppling the NFL’s bully and fall short. The Ravens shouldn’t let it fester, though. All the hallmarks of a strong team were there in Kansas City, though it’s crucial to get the offensive line playing more cohesively as the season moves along.
Pro Football Talk: 4 (Last week: 5)
Lamar Jackson won’t make it 17 games if he keeps absorbing — and delivering — hits like that.
The Score: 5 (Last week: 4)
The Ravens will lead the NFL in penalties. The Ravens came within a toe of forcing overtime against their nemesis in Kansas City. Baltimore was flagged an astounding five times for illegal formation that marred Lamar Jackson and the offense in last season’s AFC Championship Game rematch.
The 33rd Team: 5 (Last week: 4)
The Baltimore Ravens went toe-to-toe (bad pun) against the Chiefs in Week 1 but walked away with a loss. Baltimore has a difficult schedule coming up, but it should be just fine if it can figure out the offensive line. The Ravens have to start limiting the number of hits Lamar Jackson takes or he won’t make it through the season.
Sharp Football Analysis: 6 (Last week: N/A)
Lamar Jackson showed his dynamic playmaking ability, but the offensive line struggled at times, forcing Jackson to scramble frequently. This raises concerns about pass protection and the sustainability of relying heavily on Jackson’s running ability. Isaiah Likely emerged as a significant threat at tight end, recording 9 catches for 111 yards and nearly scoring a game-tying touchdown. His performance may lead to an increased role in the offense.
CBS Sports: 7 (Last week: 6)
Two things of concern coming out of the Chiefs loss: the offensive line and the pass rush. Lamar Jackson’s amazing play covered them both up, but they have to be better.
Sports Illustrated: 7 (Last week: N/A)
I was pretty all right with Baltimore’s debut against Kansas City all things considered. Some deeper thoughts here, but after assessing all that went wrong and considering that the Ravens were a toenail from possibly tying—or winning—the game at the end of regulation, this was as good a start as Baltimore could have hoped for (outside of a victory). I’m optimistic we won’t still be talking about the offensive line turnover a few weeks from now.
Pro Football Network: 5 (Last week: N/A)
The Ravens were dealt a tough hand in Week 1, as the team was forced to travel to Kansas City and visit the defending Super Bowl champions. Yet, Baltimore was able to make things interesting down the final stretch. Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson put the team on his back. While Henry struggled to get things going out of the backfield, Jackson picked up the slack. Jackson completed 26 of 41 passing attempts for 273 yards and one touchdown. He also added 122 rushing yards on the ground. While Mark Andrews struggled, Isaiah Likely stepped up at tight end. Likely led all tight ends in Week 1 with 111 receiving yards. He also led all players in the Thursday opener with nine receptions.
Bleacher Report: 6 (Last week: 5)
There’s no shame in losing at Arrowhead Stadium. And a Week 1 defeat hardly dooms the Baltimore Ravens’ season—the Chiefs lost last year’s opener to the Detroit Lions before going on to win Super Bowl LVIII…The problem is that while one loss isn’t the end of the world, it was yet another setback against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. One that could come back to haunt Baltimore where home-field advantage is concerned come playoff time. And there were legitimate issues in the game, whether it was shaky offensive line play from a front with three new starters or a less-than-impressive Ravens debut for running back Derrick Henry.
Fansided: 6 (Last week: 2)
The Ravens had a near-impossible task ahead of them going into Week 1: beat the reigning Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs at home on opening night. Shocker, they lost. However, Lamar Jackson looked as electric as ever. The reigning regular-season MVP hasn’t lost a step and a few miscues and missed throws on opening night won’t suggest otherwise. Even with the mistakes (and the refs seemingly having money on the game), this Ravens team was a toe-length away from stealing a win at Arrowhead Stadium.