The Baltimore Ravens got a much needed win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, winning 36-35 after a clutch forced fumble by rookie Odafe Oweh. This game was close the whole way and Baltimore was able to recover from a very slow start to beat Kansas City.
Lamar Jackson was able to get rid of some demons and narratives about him never beating Patrick Mahomes by stepping up both in the air and with his legs throughout the entire game.
Here are three Ravens takeaways from their win over the Chiefs in Week 2.
1. The trust between Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh is unmatched
The main takeaway for almost everyone watching this game had to do with a fourth down play at the end of the game. To set up the situation, the Ravens forced a fumble and just had to get one first down to end the game. Three plays went by and the Ravens were stopped short of the first down line by one single yard. They were still on their own side of the field so going for it was a big risk, but the Ravens opted to roll the dice and make a gutsy game deciding decision. Head coach John Harbaugh looked right at his star quarterback and asked him if he wanted to go for it. We all know what happened from there.
Having that type of trust between a head coach and star quarterback is one of the best formulas to win games. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes have it just like Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford or Bruce Arians and Tom Brady. The trust between a quarterback and coach is so important for winning and the Ravens showed that on Sunday night.
2. The revamped Ravens backfield is solid as ever
No team in the NFL runs as much as the Baltimore Ravens, so the injuries before the season even got going to J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards could have derailed them. Instead the team promoted Ty'Son Williams and brought in Latavius Murray to split time with Williams. This duo has looked about as good as the Ravens could've hoped, showing this scheme is one of the best in the game for running backs. In Week 2 we saw Williams carry the ball 13 times for 77 yards while Murray carried nine times for 36 yards.
Without Dobbins and Edwards it would've made sense that the Ravens running backs would have less of an impact and struggle out of the gate but that hasn't been the case. Baltimore needs its running backs to be successful more than any other team which only adds to the pressure but, Ty'Son Williams has been a pleasant surprise. Latavius Murray has been solid his entire career and is only continuing that trend.
3. 2021 is setting up to be the Marquise Brown breakout season
Through two weeks of the 2021 NFL season it seems like Lamar Jackson has a favorite wide receiver target. Mark Andrews will consistently be among the best tight ends with Jackson throwing to him, but there hasn't been much production from the wide receiver position since Jackson arrived. Marquise Brown was drafted 25th overall in 2019 and the hope was that he would eventually turn into a number one wide receiver for Lamar Jackson. That time may finally be arriving after two years in the league.
The first two seasons for Brown weren't necessarily disappointing given how run heavy this Baltimore team is, but there always just seemed to be more potential there. In his first two seasons, Brown averaged around 3.5 receptions per game and couldn't get over 770 yards. The overall targets have steadily increased and through two games, Brown is averaging six catches on eight targets. His yards per reception have also gone up to 15.2 this year so far. It's shaping up to be a career season for Brown,
If Brown truly is turning into a top wide receiver option for Lamar Jackson then the Ravens are in a much better position overall. In games where Andrews is taken out there needs to be someone reliable for Jackson to go to. It looks like Marquise Brown is going to be that guy.
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