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From the delayed Ravens fury on Terrell Suggs' twisted impact ground, here are five things we learned in the 34-17 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
The Ravens have a formidable attack on Lamar Jackson, so why did they wait to free him?
The Ravens ran at the start of the second half, just like their win last week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Oakland's defensive defense did not respond, while running back Gus Edwards ran 75 yards on a nearly seven-minute run. The Ravens piled up later in the half on another touchdown touched by a clock and dominated by the race.
Which raised the question: Why did they wait so long?
Ravens coach John Harbaugh opened the week with enthusiasm for Jackson's throwing ability. The Ravens seemed determined to prove their point of view in the first half, when they spent 18 times out of 10.
Jackson did excellent throws. He imposed himself and hit Mark Andrews very open for a gain of 74 yards in the second quarter. He had promised all week that he could and would like to throw down, and he displayed a satisfied smile as he ran towards the finish line for the next match.
There was no big plan to go in the air in the first half, Jackson said. "We just take what the defense gives us."
But sometimes he seemed paralyzed by an internal debate between running and passing.
At one bag, he did not see a closed toe in the middle, but refused to take off when he had a Raiders defender face to face in the space.
In other pieces, Jackson missed out on obvious opportunities to run, perhaps overly with the questions he had to face about his 26 attempts on his first start.
He pitched an interception in the second quarter when he attempted to pass four defenders to broad receiver John Brown.
Harbaugh acknowledged that Jackson's racing ability gives him an "extra layer" of possibilities to consider at every game.
"But if anyone can stand it, he can," Harbaugh said.
Such moments of indecision are to be expected from a quarter rookie. And the Ravens must reinforce Jackson's confidence as a smuggler. It just seemed that they could have made their life easier by launching their current attack in the first half.
Matthew Judon reminded us of what the Ravens missed in defense.
The Ravens started the 12th week with the best total and best defense of the NFL. So it's not as if the unit of the coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale was struggling.
But Ravens have a minimal margin of error, relying on a solid line and close coverage from man to man rather than on bags or turnovers.
It continued to be most of the afternoon against the Raiders, as the defense overcame a flat start to hold Oakland quarterback Derek Carr to a 16-for-34 performance.
They did not put the game aside until the fourth quarter, when Judon hit the Oakland line to undress Carr and organize a comeback from Terrell Suggs.
The Judon game, which he followed with two more sacks during the next possession, would have distinguished himself despite everything. But that was a special relief, as the Ravens have not done anything like this in the last six weeks. They had not registered takeaways since defeating the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 and had fired the opposing quarter three times in their previous four games.
"That's how the games unfold right now," said Eric Weddle at Security. "When the turnarounds occur, it will take us to the next level. But it's a thin line. We can not go there and just confuse ourselves and think we're going to make it worse. "
Judon has improved his game since the first quarter of the season, so maybe he could become a catalyst. The Ravens will need more games like his strip-tease bag to deal with the mistakes that await them in December.
Terrell Suggs scored a touchdown on the defense, but he made long distances without making an impact this season.
Everyone at M & T Bank Stadium, with the exception of the Raiders, enjoyed watching Suggs eat up and making his way up to the third touchdown of his career.
But this moment of opportunism masked another game in which the veteran linebacker struggled to score the goal of the box. Suggs was eliminated without conceding a goal for the fourth straight game and made just three tackles unassisted during that period. He used to draw double automatic teams. Now, opponents often block him with only one lineman, although the Raiders have traded him a few times on Sunday.
After a play in which he chased Carr out of the field, Suggs checked and kneeled for several minutes. It was not clear whether he was injured or gassed.
But that reminded us that at age 36, the former defensive player of the year can no longer influence a game with each defeat.
Suggs said that he was not worried about fatigue as the race for stretching loomed.
"Not really," he said. "They did a good job for me before the start, with me and Za'Darius [Smith] change, just down the last nine, we all have our guys in good health. It's time to say it, so to speak.
It's not as if Suggs was no longer an entity, a season after his stint at the Pro Bowl in 2017. But whether it's his raw numbers or his notes on Pro Football Focus, he's more of a solid player than a detractor.
Suggs is a free player after this season and has given all the indications that he intends to play in 2019. The Ravens are preparing for a reconstruction, they will however want to dedicate part of their salary to 36 years. -old pass rusher?
Or will Suggs end up like his friends, Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata – a cornerstone of Raven playing the rope in another city?
After Alex Collins, the Ravens finally found an important role for Ty Montgomery.
It's striking how quickly the image of the flipping team changed to the Jackson era. Edwards continued to be the lead, scoring a total of 118 yards on his first career start.
However, while Collins had a foot injury and Buck Allen played a smaller role, the Ravens were also relying on Montgomery for the first time since acquiring the Green Bay Packers.
He offered an effective alternative to Edwards' power with his more changeable racing style (eight races for 51 yards) and his ability to receive (three catches for 13 yards).
The performance was a significant step forward for a player who seemed on the verge of becoming an afterthought.
With Kenneth Dixon also in the mix, the Ravens backfield could become overcrowded quickly. This is the reality of the modern NFL, where star runners are rare.
But each team needs a player with Montgomery's skills and he reminds the Ravens at a convenient time.
Nobody wanted to talk about it on Sunday, but the Ravens are about to face a decisive decision of the season at the quarterback.
"I will not go into that for a number of reasons," said Harbaugh.
"It's the coach," Jackson said.
"We just beat the Raiders, so I deflect this one," said goalkeeper Marshal Yanda.
But as Joe Flacco gets closer to his expected return from a straight hip injury during week 9, the Ravens are facing the question that fans and analysts have anticipated the entire season.
Do they ride the horse that brought them the most? Where is the future now? Will Flacco take up the torch for an essential base game against the Atlanta Falcons? Or will the Ravens bet on Jackson's youngest and hottest hand?
For all the imperfections of Jackson, he defended his position, moving the offensive steadily and controlling the clock twice.
A skeptic might note that the rookie did so against two of the NFL's worst defenses. The Ravens won more convincingly with Flacco who threw the ball out of the pocket early in the season.
The ideal scenario would include the startup of Flacco and the arrival of Jackson to execute a completely different offense for the entire series. But it's a lot to ask a coaching staff who has the leisure to develop a game plan per week. And that's a lot to ask Flacco, who does not like leaving the field.
If Flacco is almost completely healthy, we can assume that he will start. That said, the Ravens can not put Jackson in a holster for all but five or six. They would be kind to opposing defenses if they squandered it so much.
Harbaugh will probably not raise his hand until next weekend, partly to let Atlanta coaches guess.
But make no mistake, Flacco vs. Jackson is the story of the week and the rest of the season.
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