Into the Trenches Against Jacksonville

The Ravens are hitting the stretch and will now stack four straight tough games.

This is the time of year where your play in the trenches can make or break you. In the cold days of December, when things aren’t going your way, gaining that edge and setting the tone with the big boys up front can win you games.

The Ravens are going to have to clean things up on both sides of the ball going into this one, but there are some favorable matchups. Let’s break it all down.

An Immobile Trevor

Jacksonville Jaguar fans breathed a huge sigh of relief two weeks ago when Trevor Lawrence’s high ankle sprain wasn’t seen as a long term injury.

Lawrence went into Cleveland last week and turned in one of his worst performances of the year against a very good defense. One thing that was clearly notable is that he doesn’t have his usual mobility.

A week later, Lawrence has been a full participant in practice and is getting healthier for this matchup. However, I still don’t expect full mobility and this means Baltimore can be a lot more attack-oriented in their pass rush.

The Jacksonville offensive line had been quite good in the first half of the year. Statistically, they’re 3rd in pass blocking efficiency. However, this efficiency has been dropping since LT Cam Robinson headed to IR. Last week Walker Little had to sit as well and the left side of the Jaguars line struggled, allowing 11 pressures on the left side.

Little should be back this week, but LG Tyler Shatley has struggled this year and C Luke Fortner may not be able to handle the power of Michael Pierce and Travis Jones.

On the right side, Anton Harrison is a young OT with tremendous upside, but going against Jadeveon Clowney, he could be in for a long day. I expect Clowney to use his speed-to-power conversion against the lighter, shorter-limbed Harrison.

In the run game, Travis Etienne could be in for some tough sledding. This unit has struggled to run block. Their flavor of run game is gap focused. The Ravens have struggled mostly against zone concepts. I expect the run game to be kept at bay. However, getting to Lawrence is crucial.

Under pressure this year, Lawrence has thrown six picks and 7.2% of his plays have been turnover worthy. That’s an increase of 5.1% compared to when he’s kept clean.

Combatting Josh Allen

Josh Allen has been putting together an All-Pro year in Jacksonville. He ranks 5th in the NFL in total pressures with 69 and is second with 15 sacks. He’s also hit the QB 12 times, which is also top-five.

In every metric, Allen is a top 5 pass rusher this year off the edge. He lines up, almost exclusively, as a ROLB, which means he’ll be seeing Ronnie Stanley all day.

Ronnie showed some improvement last week with just one pressure allowed, but make no mistake about it, this will be the true test of whether or not Ronnie can give you starting-caliber LT play down the stretch.

Did the Bye Week help Ronnie Stanley?

He doesn’t need to completely shut down Allen, and I expect him to get help from TE chips and slide protection, but he needs to take care of business.

On the other side, Travon Walker is no joke and is a true power rusher. He’s put together a much better pass rush game this year and is trying to avoid that 1st overall pick bust label.

Inside, Roy Robertson-Harris, the former Chicago Bear, is having a career year in pressures. He already has 32 this year and is on his way to beating his previous career high.

I’m also very interested to see Foley Fatuski against Tyler Linderbaum. He’s a sneaky good nose tackle that could give Linderbaum a good test.

Todd Monken has shown he wants to push the ball downfield and use five-man protections. Protecting Lamar Jackson and giving him time for routes to develop is essential to this offense right now.

Additionally, the run blocking last week was not up to snuff. The Jags have athletic linebackers and I would love to see a good dose of outside zone to get guys in space and unleash Keaton Mitchell into the second level.

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