Six Key Takeaways From Ravens Preseason Victory Over Vikings

The Ravens didn’t play quite as stellar overall in their second preseason game under rookie head coach Jesse Minter. Going on the road is tough, even in exhibitions.

But the Ravens got better as this game went on, they once again avoided major procedural or operational issues and beat the Vikings, 13-3, at US Bank Stadium. The defense was much better than the offense in the first half – as is to be expected with more vets involved on the defense and Minter running a scheme very familiar this group.

Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, 30, has never called plays before, and after a sterling outing against the Eagles last week he opted to call plays again Saturday from the pressbox (and not the sidelines as planned). Undrafted rookie quarterback Joe Fagnano excelled again in the second half and Baltimore overcame some of its early jitters to pull away.

Once again, many of the players logging the most snaps in this game do not have a future on this Ravens roster, but certain individuals and trends once again stood out:

Offense Struggles Early

We expected this would be a slog for Baltimore. Vikings coordinator Brian Flores doesn’t treat these as total exhibitions and he brings heat and works to put pressure on the offense. It largely worked.

To their credit, the Ravens were terribly from a procedural standpoint, but were pretty overwhelmed by Minnesota in the first half and backup QB Snoop Huntley didn’t look great with his timing or accuracy. I don’t think he trusted his line much with what Flores was throwing at them.

Baltimore mustered 93 yards in the first half, the Vikings second-string defense stifling them. They averaged 2.7 yards per rush and 4.7 yards per play in that half and had just three first down.

Under Center Play Action

As noted the first half was a bit of a fire drill. Things were not great at the line of scrimmage and the offensive line had its issues with a blitz crazy defense. We knew the tight ends/fullbacks were going to get nine targets in this game let along catch all nine like last week.

They had issues running the ball even out of 13 personnel (heavy with three tight ends), but the rookies did show up in the pass game in a tough spot. The Ravens were backed up deep and leaned into under center looks, with play action – a massive point of emphasis in Doyle’s offense – as Huntley hit Josh Cuevas for 23 yards on 1st-and-10 from the 9 and then went back to him with a similar look for another 17 yards.

Quick hitters to those youngsters out of those looks has to be a thing for them, especially if they are going to really struggle on in line situations. Fagnano looked great on under center bootleg looks in the fourth quarter, picking up a big first down throwing across his body to a running back and then hitting Xavier Guillory for a first down over the middle of out the look and then Dayton Wade.

Ravens QBs shined again under center: 12-for-15 for 122 yards.

Plenty Of Pass Rush

The Vikings were going with an experimental offensive line, including some undrafted kids, but full marks for the Ravens defensive line, linebackers and even defensive backs giving them issues. Minter did bring the secondary blitzes like we thought and Keondre Jackson continues to show an ability to get home and rookie corner Chandler Rivers also got in on the act.

Mike Green, who honestly should be showing up big against backups, dominated on successive snaps early in the game. He displayed a great dip move to go inside for a sack and then drew a pretty blatant holding penalty to negate a gain for the Vikings on the next snap. Would have liked to have seen more from second-round pick Zion Young, but it’s going to be a process with him.

Defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny, a seventh-round pick who could be a real steal, got consistent inside push and picked up a sack where he flashed some explosion. Broderick Washington looked good, as we would expect from the veteran in a game like this, and outside linebacker Kaimon Rucker showed burst off the edge. Lineman Aeneas Peebles forced running backs outside with push and registered four pressures. Undrafted rookie Ethan Burke showed up in the second half forcing a fumble and adding a sack.

Eckley Shines

The Ravens rookie punter got off to a shaky start, shanking his first punt 27 yards and out of bounds in his preseason debut last week. He was much better after that he was an absolute cannon in Minnesota. His final three punts of the first half went for 59, 59 and 60 yards (though the coverage units were great on some of these, frankly).

The sixth-round pick out of Michigan State was in tremendous form, getting hang time and sticking the ball seemingly wherever he wanted it. His first punt of the second half went 54 yards and results in a fair catch at the 4. Awesome showing by the kid all around.

Fagnano Flashes Again

The UCONN product wasn’t going to replicate the numbers he put up last week, with this game being on the road in a dome against a defense that was going to throw some exotic looks at a shaky line and a really young Ravens offense.

Surprisingly, Doyle didn’t lean into a hurry-up opportunity when he entered late in the first half, but Fagnano did leave a touchdown drive in the third quarter in which his internal clock and decision making and ball placement all took over. He hit Devontez Walker right where he needed to in the middle of the field on the move on third-and-11 to get Baltimore into the redzone for the first time Saturday.

A penalty set the Ravens back, but on third and five Fagnano took advantage of soft coverage to hit LaJohntay Wester near the sideline and he scampered to the endzone easily. He looks the part of someone worth keeping on this practice squad and giving a serious run in the preseason finale.

Fagnano completed nine straight passes at one point finished splendid 15-for-20 for 123 yards and a TD (106.5 rating). Wow.

Attack The Football

Few things will drive Minter more mad than giving up big plays. And there were two big gains he didn’t love.

Vikings QB JJ McCarthy is not sharp and was flinging up some jump balls and it resulted in some big gains by former Maryland pass catchers. And reserve Silas Walters didn’t look great on either. He was beaten for 66 yards early in the game down the sideline and Carson Wentz chucked up a jumpball over the middle into double coverage and Walters fell down for another big completion.

These are deep reserves involved here, so no reason to get carried away. But Minter won’t like that film. Walters came up with a pick in the waning minutes as well

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock" On YouTube For Elite Ravens Coverage:

Add us as a preferred source on Google