Ravens Win 4th Straight, 30-23 Over DC

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Washington Commanders 30-23 in Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season.

RSR staff react to the win here.

Rob Shields

The Ravens came away with a seven-point win against the commanders. The game never really seemed to be in doubt, as the defense really dominated the game for much of the first half and the Ravens offense was dominating.

A big question this week was how would this team hold up against the pass and while the poor ball skills of Brandon Stephens and shaky coverage of Roquan Smith hurt them at times, they overall played very well.

Not having Brian Robinson was crucial but they had the second best running game in the league and couldn’t produce anything. For the sixth time in six games, the Ravens out gained their opponent by at least 100 yards.

Derrick Henry took the game over in the second half, after Zay Flowers took it over in the first half. Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews also sprinkled in good games, as Lamar Jackson looks to be the most comfortable he has ever looked and just continues to make everything look easy.

The Ravens held them to 33% on third down conversations and the Ravens had possession for just over 36 minutes.

Excellent win to set up a sneaky tough game next Monday night in Tampa.

Jared Pinder

Another game, another win for these Ravens. They have won four straight games and this was a fun game. It is annoying that the offense had to save the defense at the end of the game, for like the sixth time this year, but I don’t have many complaints. Offense is just on another level this week lead by Zay Flowers who looks locked in right now. The Ravens got whatever they wanted against the Commanders. For the defense, it was another weird frustrating week.

It is annoying that the Commanders made it close, and Stephens needs to start playing the ball in the air.

Outside of that I got nothing. Overall a great game of Football.

Chris Schisler

The Ravens got a strong win against a good Washington team. The number one thing to point out is the efficiency of the offense. The Ravens took advantage of Zay Flowers being next to unstoppable in the first half. Jackson had a nearly flawless game after the early interception. The number one offense in the NFL looked the part. Give Todd Monken his flowers (pun intended). The Ravens took advantage of a weak secondary and closed it out with Derrick Henry.

You have to give the Commanders their due. That touchdown to Terry McLaurin was an insane connection against good defense. The Ravens secondary played much better this week. It’s still a work in progress but there are huge positive strides evidenced by this outing. Other than Nate Wiggins having a very rookie PI penalty and a play here or there this was a completely different unit than we saw against the Bengals. It’s huge progress. This was a strong game for Kyle Hamilton, who has one of the fiercest hits of the afternoon. The defense over-pursued Jayden Daniels a few times but bottled him up most of the game.

The Ravens controlled this game and stayed in command despite being constantly pushed by an eager Washington team. This was a very smart and well executed game by the Ravens.

Chad Racine

For the most part this was a stress-free game, with the Ravens in control from start to finish. Not a game without flaws but a red hot Jayden Daniels was slowed down by an inconsistent Ravens defense.

The Ravens offense has proven they can win either passing or running the ball.  Flowers has been lighting up for two weeks straight and Bateman continues to make strides.  I hope the higher volume passing continues because I’d like to see Henry fresh for late in the season. I’m looking forward to being at the game in Tampa next week.

Kevin McNelis

Hell of a game from the guys down the highway.

We knew this was going to be a tougher match-up than what we’ve seen the last few times the Ravens had locked horns with Washington, but Baltimore was up to the challenge. Derrick Henry’s two scores and 100+ yards continued his roll of absolute dominance, but the biggest confidence booster was seeing the receiving options continue picking up chunk yardage to move the sticks. That two-pronged attack made the game, in large part, feel like Baltimore controlled the action (with the exception of the early pick).

One thing that gave me pause was a string of defensive breakdowns against a young QB that’s shown the ability to dissect those. Single coverage with Brandon Stephens against Terry McLaurin at the goal line, when McLaurin had already scored a touchdown was… a choice.

Next up is Monday Night Football against the Bucs. Let’s show up a little stronger against Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, shall we?

Darin McCann

Two 90-plus-yard scoring drives, Zay Flowers “tagging in” Derrick Henry to play Lamar Jackson’s partner-in-crime for the second half and a defense that tackled well and avoided some of the meltdowns that have plagued them to this part of the season was a recipe for success for the ravens in their win over Washington.

Jackson, by the way, is truly having a spectacular start to the season, and has really elevated his game throughout this four-game winning streak — arguably playing the best ball of his career. And watching Henry up close after admiring him from afar for years has only increased my respect for his game. He is a superstar, and has not showed any signs of decline to this point of the year.

The defense held a dangerous Washington offense to 305 yards, and only 52 on the ground. They came into the game with the second-best running game in the league. The Ravens took that from their arsenal, and forced the offense to produce through rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. To his credit, the young signal-caller showed why he has received so many “flowers” this year. He is talented, throws with anticipation and seems to make the right decision mnore times than not. Incredibly impressive rookie.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/10/13/knee-jerk-reactions/ravens-30-commanders-23/