Another week of hype from a successful joint practice with Baltimore brings a sense of concern after the 24-16 loss in Baltimore to open the preseason. Sure, it’s the preseason and means nothing to most of the fanbase, but to a small part of the real diehards, this game meant everything. This was a glimpse into some new areas of this football team.
While Anthony Richardson is not new, this competition between Richardson and Daniel Jones was set to officially kick off. Out with the boring and basic scheme of Gus Bradley and in with the new, complex, and masking schemes of Lou Anarumo. And finally, we are got to see how this special team’s unit performed after an average showing last season and we have a kicker battle that is still going on after the release of Matt Gay.
Unfortunately, we saw a lot of the same in all three phases of football. Let’s break down some issues we saw in all three phases from Thursday night
Anthony Richardson Concerns Continue
Let’s start with the offense as the focal point, starting with what we saw from the quarterbacks. Shane Steichen gave the start to Richardson for this week, and Jones will get the same treatment next week. I do suspect that it to change depending on the health of Richardson’s dislocated pinky. With Richardson playing only the full series and Jones playing nearly the entire half, we could see Richardson start again on Saturday against Green Bay.
It appears that the well-documented blown play that resulted in a free-rushing sack and subsequent dislocated pinky finger is on Richardson and could have been prevented with better knowledge and education of the system. A system and playbook that he is entering into Year Three of a system that he should be living, sleeping, and breathing, as he is in full competition for the starting position. Even with a strong joint practice performance, he is just as good as his last performance. It’s nearly inexcusable for this to be the same issue repeatedly.
These are early in camp installs from coverages and protections. If he cannot protect himself from himself then this team is going to be right back to the path of football purgatory with Daniel Jones instead of Anthony Richardson. We saw the inconsistency from this Steichen offense last season and it’s continuing. We will need to see the corrections next week otherwise the red flags are still fully flying for the 2025 season with Richardson.
Run Defense Was An Issue
The two biggest problems last season were the team’s inability to stop the run and poor tackling. Well, guess what, that continued again in Baltimore. The defense allowed 177 yards on the ground, and I lost track of the missed tackles. In their defense, there were a lot of players either on the bubble for the roster or ones that won’t make the team, especially in the second half.
We know that Lou Anarumo’s scheme is very different than last season with Gus Bradley. This year’s scheme will be more secondary oriented with a Nickel defensive look most of the time, almost like 5-2 compared to the simple 4-3 scheme that Bradley ran during his time here. It will absolutely take time to implement but the tackling and poor run blocking must improve. Another key week of corrections and time against a solid run attack with Green Bay will be crucial.
Poor Return Coverage
The other noticeable problem we saw in Baltimore was the special teams unit. Special Teams Coordinator Brian Mason’s unit allowed a total of 265 yards in return yardage. This included an 87-yard touchdown return from LeJohntay Wester in the first quarter. Is there a need to fully panic yet, like we are on offense? Probably not. With a large portion of the team sitting out, it’s feasible that many who do not typically play special teams were tasked with being on the field to participate.
As for the kicking competition, it appears to be Spencer Shrader’s to lose, but while he did make one over fifty, he also missed one over fifty. The miss was off the upright, but it never looked like it had a chance. Given that Matt Gay was relieved of his duties because of his inconsistencies from over 50 yards, the overarching goal is that Spencer Shrader will develop some reliability from distance. There is plenty of time to fix all the issues in all three phases, but this team will flow as the quarterback room will allow it. The pressure is on HC Shane Steichen and either Jones or Richardson.
