Roundtable: Greatest concern vs. Titans

“Super Wildcard Weekend” approaches and with it comes the third clash of the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. Before kickoff, the Baltimore Beatdown staff offered their greatest concern heading into the matchup.

Did Eric DeCosta’s plan work?

All offseason, the Ravens built for this rematch. Some believed they should build this team offensively to race with the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead, they traded for Calais Campbell. Attempted to sign Michael Brockers, then landed free agent Derek Wolfe. Held onto Brandon Williams. Drafted two defensive linemen, Justin Madubuike and Broderick Washington. Also drafted two linebackers, Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison. In-season, they traded for Yannick Ngakoue. This game will answer the question above. — Kyle P. Barber

The persistent concern since the 2018 playoffs remains - Do the Ravens have the passing game personnel to comeback from a double-digit deficit? — Vasilis Lericos

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. How many times must the Titans beat the Ravens overtop against single high looks before they give their corners some backup? Let the front seven - the one you fortified this offseason with Campbell, Wolfe, Harrison, Queen... brought back Judon and Fort... traded for Ngakoue... deal with Henry. The Ravens can’t allow Corey Davis and A.J. Brown to give Tannehill easy reads and throws. Henry has run for well over 300 yards in the past two matchups and the Ravens still lost. Did they learn? — Spencer Schultz

If the game scripts does not work in the Ravens’ favor, how will they respond? In last year’s playoff game, we saw the Titans jump on the Ravens early as Baltimore turned the ball over and became frantic on offense. Call it PTSD if you want, but it’s hard not to be concerned about the Ravens falling behind early and as a result, they begin pressing and forcing the issue once again. Visions of Derrick Henry stiff arms and jump touchdown passes also continue to loom. — Frank J. Platko

My main concern is the Ravens’ offense getting away from what’s worked for them this past month in an effort to “shift gears” for the playoffs. The combination of power and perimeter runs, as well as Lamar Jackson cutting it loose himself has been a huge part of the post COVID renaissance that led to a five-game win streak. Eve if it isn’t working early, there’s no need to psych themselves out and get away from it. Come up with a good plan to set a positive game flow in motion and have your contingencies, but as Mack Brown would say, “dance with the one that brung ya.” The offensive philosophy over the last five weeks brung them, and they need to stay loyal to it to achieve the first playoff win of the Lamar Jackson era. — Jacob Louque

My biggest concern is self-inflicted mistakes early in the game. Early mistakes caused Baltimore to seemingly panic last year in the playoff loss to Tennessee, so they either need to avoid those mistakes entirely this time around, or react in a much better fashion if they occur. The Ravens’ run the ball better than any team in history, so they need to stick to that, even if the Titans go up by a few scores for some reason. — Dustin Cox

My two greatest concerns are that our coaches get embarrassed a third-straight time in the playoffs (this includes inexplicably abandoning the run early) and/or Patrick Queen gets run off the field. — Cassidy Higdon