Ravens News 10/2: Extreme DVOA splits, T-Will cut and more

What the Browns Said After Their Blowout Victory - Ryan Mink

QB Baker Mayfield

On Baltimore’s approach to Beckham:

“I think [their defense] was getting there pretty quickly, but I think that’s why we played better. We knew exactly how they were trying to attack us, and we did our job.”

On how the Cleveland defense played against Lamar Jackson:

“I think our defense played phenomenal. Obviously, the turnovers are great for us, but eliminating the big plays. ... He’s still going to get his. But, eliminating all of the big plays that they can possibly have – going over the top, isolating some of the tight ends and eliminating some of the play-action.”

Baltimore Ravens waive outside linebacker Tim Williams, reportedly work out 6 players - Aaron Kasinitz

Williams’ Ravens tenure ends with two sacks over parts of three seasons. He had zero sacks and zero quarterback hits in four games this season, and the 25-year-old played a season-low seven snaps in Sunday’s 40-25 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

A flimsy pass rush contributed to Baltimore’s defensive woes. The Ravens have just two sacks the past two weeks and none beyond the first drive of a game. They finished Sunday’s defeat with just one quarterback hit and continue to search for sources of pressure other than starting outside linebackers Matt Judon and Pernell McPhee.

Week 4 DVOA Ratings - Aaron Schatz

And the Ravens take a big hit from both the introduction of opponent adjustments and their loss to Cleveland this week, with their DVOA dropping by more than half, from 40.1% to 16.4%. Baltimore’s rating is being somewhat propped up by that Week 1 game against Miami, which still has the best single-game DVOA of any game this season by any team. That’s going to fall as the opponent adjustments get stronger, so the Ravens will have to get back to winning ways to keep their overall DVOA high.

The split of Baltimore’s DVOA is a bit of a shock. We know the Ravens are one of the rare teams to be consistently good on special teams, so ranking second there is no surprise. The surprise is that the Baltimore offense is currently third and the defense is currently 29th! We knew that the Ravens lost a ton of talent on the defensive side of the ball this offseason but they had plenty of strong talent left and they added Earl Thomas. Yet the Ravens rank 23rd in points allowed, and they’ve allowed over 500 yards in each of the last two games.

NFL Week 5 picks against the spread: Cowboys edge Packers, Eagles rout Jets, Bears rock Raiders - Vinnie Iyer

Baltimore Ravens (-4, -105) at Pittsburgh Steelers

The Ravens’ weak pass defense gets a break here on the road against their rivals, as the Steelers can do only limited damage through the air with Mason Rudolph and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Pittsburgh’s defense will be thrown off by Lamar Jackson’s running and quick intermediate passing. Baltimore will simply make big plays on both sides of the ball to make sure the rival hosts don’t entertain ideas of getting back in the AFC North race.

Ravens win 23-20 but fail to cover the spread.