Enemy Confidential: Seahawks Face Dynamic Ravens Team in Earl Thomas Homecoming
The last time Earl Thomas took to the turf at CenturyLink Field, he was his usual All-Pro caliber beast. Flying around the field in Seahawk blue, he intercepted two Dak Prescott passes and collected seven combined tackles in a 24-13 win over the Cowboys.
One week later, Thomas would break his leg in Arizona and wave an unwelcome gesture towards coach Pete Carroll, spelling the end of his Seattle career. Now ,the perennial Pro Bowl safety returns to his former home a member of the Ravens after signing a four-year, $55 million free agent deal with them during the offseason.
With Thomas anchoring the defense and dynamic second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson leading a remodeled Baltimore offense, the Ravens are 4-2 and leading the AFC North division.
While Thomas’s homecoming is a headline grabber, the 5-1 Seahawks primary focus will be on keeping pace with the undefeated San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West.
Here’s a closer look at the Seahawks upcoming opponent, including series history, additions/departures, key numbers, and Carroll’s evaluation of the Ravens:
SERIES HISTORY
--Sixth regular season meeting. The Seahawks lead the all-time series 3-2. Partially because the Ravens didn’t come into existence until owner Art Modell moved the Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1995, these two teams haven’t met very often. The only other team the Seahawks have played fewer times is the Texans, who entered the league as an expansion team in 2001. After dropping the first two games in this series, the Seahawks have won the last three. Carroll is 2-0 against Baltimore as Seattle's head coach, winning the last meeting 35-6 in 2015. The Ravens had no answer for Russell Wilson in that contest, as he completed 23 of 32 passes for 292 yards and five touchdowns, with two of them going to Tyler Lockett and three to Doug Baldwin.
WHAT’S NEW?
--Departures: The Ravens defense was gutted during free agency. The linebacker trio of Terrell Suggs, C.J. Mosley, and Za’Darius Smith all departed and the team released veteran safety Eric Weddle, who eventually signed with the Rams. That’s a total of 252 combined tackles and 17.0 sacks out the door.
Major changes were seen on offense as well as the team went all-in on Jackson at the quarterback position when they traded long-time starter Joe Flacco to Denver. Wide receiver John Brown signed with Buffalo in free agency and the team released running back Alex Collins after he was arrested on marijuana and gun possession charges following a March car crash.
--Additions: The Ravens primarily sought to replace their departed stars with in-house options and new draftees, but went big with the move to bring in Thomas. Just as "ET III" was about to sign a one-year deal with Kansas City, Baltimore gave him 55 million reasons to reverse course. Former New Orleans running back Mark Ingram was brought in to lead the rushing attack, inking a three-year deal.
Meanwhile, the Ravens newest addition is about as new as new can get. Cornerback Marcus Peters was just acquired in a trade with the Rams earlier this week and is already listed as a starter on the team’s official depth chart.
The Ravens have had limited contributions from their 2019 draft class, but rookie wide receivers Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin are both listed as starters and have combined for 28 receptions for 398 yards and five touchdowns.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
205: Rushing yards per game by Baltimore, tops in the league by a large margin.
460: Rushing yards by quarterback Lamar Jackson, eighth-most in the NFL.
14: Number of 10-plus yard rushes by Ravens, tied for second-best in NFL.
21: Quarterback hits surrendered by Baltimore's offensive line, third-lowest in the NFL.
108.7: Passer rating for quarterback Lamar Jackson when blitzed, 10th overall in the NFL.
80.7: Rushing yards per game allowed by Baltimore's defense, fourth in the NFL
86.5: Opposing passer rating allowed by the Ravens defense, 12th best in the NFL.
11: Quarterback sacks by Baltimore's defense, tied for fifth-lowest total in league.
CARROLL’S THOUGHTS:
--It’s easy to see why Carroll is so fond of what John Harbaugh has built in Baltimore, as they play a similar style of football to the one he prefers.
“You guys can appreciate why I appreciate them,” Carroll said. “They have a great commitment to the running game. They have a great commitment to playing tough defense. Very aggressive on defense. Their special teams is as good as we’ll see all year. They give you a really well-balanced, well-rounded football team that plays tough and physical and all that. They make it really difficult on you. They’re a hard team to beat. It’s a great challenge for us."
--The biggest adjustment for Seattle defensively will be getting ready to face Jackson, who’s well on his way to recording a 1,000-yard rushing season from the quarterback position while also posting outstanding numbers as a passer.
“He’s as good as we’ve ever seen,” Carroll said. “He’s as fast and as elusive as we’ve seen. Cam Newton has always been really difficult to play against. They have so much offense and all that. These guys, likewise. They seem even more apt than with Cam to just let him go and run and play football, just like you see the guys playing in college. He’s tough, physical, explosive, and creative. He’s throwing the ball well, too. It’s a real nightmare. Very difficult.”
Carroll stressed that the most important thing for Seattle's defense will be maintaining discipline defending against Jackson and Baltimore's versatile rushing attack.
“This is a game that really calls for great discipline,” Carroll continued. “To play the running game and defense, it’s always discipline first. You think it’s just being hard, tough, and physical. We like that too, but that’s just part of it. You’ve got to do things right. This offense, more than any offense that we’ll face, will demand that we have to do right. They tax you to the maximum. Every single play you have to do right, or the ball will break. It’s a great challenge.”
--Much has been made of Thomas’ return to Seattle just over a year since he infamously flipped his middle finger in Carroll’s direction after breaking his leg in Arizona. For his part, Carroll has been consistent in saying he doesn’t hold that against him and that he understands the emotion of that moment and forgives his former star safety.
“Obviously, he was upset, said Carroll. “My heart is pretty big, pretty wide open to these guys from the time we spend together and all the stuff that we do. It’s way more important than something that happens, some gesture or some statement. I’m going to love him anyway.”
“I love playing our guys. I always do,” Carroll went on to say. “I always like playing people that I know. I know that there’s an underlying current that somebody wants some other agenda going on or some other storyline. I don’t have one. Earl was a great football player in the years that he was with us. We loved what he did. His uniqueness, his style of play. We just couldn’t stay together forever. We couldn’t figure out how to do that. We wish him the best and we look forward to it.”
Sunday's kickoff at CenturyLink Field between the Seahawks and Ravens is set for 1:25 PM PST.
