5 things we learned from Ravens’ Week 7 primetime win over the Buccaneers

Some questions were answered while others came into focus on Monday.

In a second straight interconference showdown between two of the hottest teams in the league, the Baltimore Ravens proved who could survive and overcome adversity. They not only didn’t blow another double-digit lead but they showed a killer instinct to not let off the gas offensively and made enough stops to rally and take the lead. For the fifth week in a row, they emerged victorious and did so over another high-quality opponent.

There were several encouraging performances by players and units on both sides of the ball that were vital in securing this victory to improve the Ravens’ overall record to 5-2 as they stay on top of the AFC North standings.

Here are five of the main things that can be learned from Monday’s overwhelming victory at Raymond James Stadium.

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Lamar Jackson continues to play the best ball of his life

Sorry Jared Goff but you’re highly improved efficiency, ramped-up passing production and incredible completion percentage as of late still don’t hold a candle to the MVP candidacy of the reigning recipient and still rightful front-runner for this year’s honors after what he put on tape in primetime on Monday night. Jackson has been highly efficient, deadly accurate as a passer and electrifyingly dynamic with the ball in his hands all season and his Week 7 performance showcased all the above.

The three-time Pro Bowl signal-caller went 17-of-22 for 281 passing yards and had just as many touchdown passes as he did incompletions with five—tying his career single-game high total that he has reached four other times in his career—and his passer rating of 158.1 was just .2 off from being perfect. Jackson did it all on Monday night including finishing second on the team in rushing by picking up another 52 yards on nine carries and even showcased his selflessness by turning into a lead blocker for Derrick Henry on a 39-yard run in the fourth quarter.

“It doesn’t matter when, where or what, [Lamar Jackson] is the ultimate competitor,” tight end Mark Andrews said. “You see it out there – him making that Derrick Henry block. It’s just play after play after play of him making big-time plays and helping this team win games. He does it better than anybody in the league, and we’re so fortunate to be with him and just try to help him out. He lays it all out on the line every game. [He’s] just really awesome, and he’s the best. He’s the MVP.”

Ravens still aren’t peaking and can improve in so many ways

As impressive as this performance was from the Ravens on both sides of the ball for stretches including six straight scoring drives by the offense and five straight stops for the defense as they rattled off 34 unanswered points, there’s still an even higher level of execution that this team is capable of. Despite tying their highest point total of the season, they still left points on the board as a result of drives that sputtered or were nearly derailed by penalties but still wound up as long field goal attempts.

There were also the short fields the Buccaneers were given late in the game as a result of a poorly thrown backward pass intended for wide receiver Zay Flowers that was recorded as a fumble in Ravens territory and then the same young wideout failed to recover an onside kick attempt for the second time this season after a touchdown drive. Those two blunders didn’t ultimately cost the Ravens in the end but they allowed the game to look closer on the scoreboard than it was and put a defense that had finally started making consistent stops in disadvantageous situations to almost automatically give up points.

“There’s a lot of things that we can get better at, and we can improve upon certainly, and we will keep striving for that for sure,” Head coach John Harbaugh said. “Even though all three phases could have done some things better certainly, and we’ll talk about those, all three phases came through when they had to in a big way.”

The fact that the Ravens are still winning and executing at a high level in most aspects despite not being nearly as sharp or consistent in others should keep them from getting complacent and scare their upcoming opponents because this team is already nearly impossible to stop.

Patience and hard work continue to pay off for Ravens pass catchers

After being much maligned through the first quarter of the season and the early portion of the team’s win streak players who were expected to have large roles in the passing game weren’t putting up gaudy or hardly any receiving statistics. Andrews had the first two-game stretch of his career where he didn’t record a single reception and fourth-year wideout Rashod Bateman hadn’t recorded more than three catches or topped 53 yards in the first four weeks. Nevertheless, they made the opportunities they did receive count when they came and found other ways to contribute, mainly as perimeter blockers while the run game got going.

Both players are now coming off consecutive games which topped their previous week’s production from receiving yards or scoring standpoint. After finding the end zone for the first time this season last week and moving into a two-way tie with Ravens legend Todd Heap for the franchise’s most-ever touchdown receptions, Andrews now sits alone at the top of the list after hauling all four of his targets for 41 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“[I’m] incredibly grateful, and just thinking back, you got to think about getting drafted to this incredible organization. I’ve been blessed with incredible teammates and obviously No. 8 [Lamar Jackson] and having that connection, but I’m fortunate to have incredible teammates [and] unselfish guys. [We] just [have to] keep on going.”

As for Bateman, he bested his receiving yard totals for the third week in a row and found the end zone for the second time during that span and third this year overall. He hauled in all four of his targets a season-high and team-leading 121 receiving yards with the bulk of his yardage coming on a pair of long balls. The first was a 59-yard bomb from Jackson for the longest play for either player this season and the second was on a 49-yard scoring strike he caught in stride while strolling into the end zone after getting behind the defense.

“You knew it was coming, and we’ve all been talking about it,” Harbaugh said. You could see it coming in practice and even in games, with the route running and everything, but you wanted to see it happen. [Bateman] has been even getting more production every week.”

Marlon Humphrey is having another All Pro season

Despite only playing one half due to a knee injury, the three-time Pro Bowler proved that was the Ravens’ best defender who suited up on Monday night. After the defense allowed the Buccaneers to march down the field on them for back-to-back scoring drives, Humphrey stepped up to make the unit’s first stop of the night in the form of an interception in the end zone when he came off the receiver he was covering to undercut the pass.

“We came down and scored some points on them too, but red zone picks, they’re double the importance, because they were threatening to score, and it’s a 14-point swing at that point,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “It’s huge for us to get the ball and just kind of disrupt the offense a little bit – keep them guessing – and we came out kind of slow, so I think that momentum kind of helped us.”

The clutch play gave the Ravens the ball back and instead of letting the Buccaneers’ offense extend their lead just six plays later, they took the lead. Humphrey ended Tampa’s ensuing drive with another instinctual interception to give himself four on the season which set a new single-season career-high and set up his team’s offense to put together a scoring drive just before halftime.

Unfortunately, his second big play would wind up being his last snap of the night as he would exit the game to the locker room ahead of halftime and not return to action. However, although Harbaugh didn’t have any official update on Humphrey’s health status immediately after the game, he shared that the veteran corner amid s bounce-back campaign after an injury-riddled 2023 season was walking around like normal in the postgame locker room which bodes well for his long-term availability.

“I’m super happy for [Marlon],” Hamilton said. “It’s no surprise; he’s been one of the best in this league for a long time. He has been making some big plays lately. That’s just what he does. It’s dope to see him do what he does and lead us back there in terms of making plays. It’s up to us and everybody else to start doing the same.”

Defense doesn’t need to be elite for the Ravens to make a Super Bowl run

While some of the same struggles that have held this unit back from being one of the best in the league again this year after ranking No. 1 in 2023 continue to persist such as miscommunication leading to uncontested chunk plays, they’ve improved and remain stout in some aspects.

With an offense that is as dynamic, potent and balanced as the Ravens’ in their second year under offensive coordinator Todd Monken, first-year defensive play caller Zach Orr’s unit doesn’t have to be the dominant force it was last season for this year’s team to achieve its goal winning a championship.

As long as they can make and get enough timely stops when needed and capitalize on turnover opportunities when they present themselves, Jackson and this high-octane offense capable of scoring on any opponent will have a chance to establish and extend leads and rally back from double-digit deficits.

During the Ravens’ second Super Bowl run in 2012, the defense wasn’t anywhere as dominant as the 2011 unit that fell short conference title game the year before similar to the 2023 top-ranked team. The unit that ultimately won a title made the plays when they needed to the most including the goal-line stand to essentially win the big game. Timely plays and stretches of dominance could very well be all this year’s team needs from that side of the ball hopefully see history repeat itself with another Vince Lombardi trophy being hoisted in New Orleans, Louisiana.