My second question with Bruce of Baltimore Beat Down deals with his team's new look offensive line.
The Ravens kind of shuffled their offensive line before the start of the season. Take us through the changes. How have the results been so far?
Most Ravens fans felt that Michael Oher was better on the right side than the "Blind Side," and the addition of former Vikings LT Bryant McKinnie has allowed that to happen. Now we have a Pro Bowl caliber guy on the left side and as good a RT as there is on the left. Despite their lack of chemistry, man-on-man, they are as good as it gets and they proved it against the Steelers and Rams.
Far be it from me to disagree with our resident Ravens expert, but I am going to have to disagree with our resident Ravens expert. I think he might be a bit too sunny on his team's offensive line. When studying Ravens' games, one of my biggest takeaways was that Oher seemed to be getting beaten a lot in pass protection.
I went to the numbers. According to Pro Football Focus, Oher has allowed 14 plays to be impacted by either a sack, quarterback hit, or pressure. For some reference, Wayne Hunter has allowed 15 plays to be impacted, and fans here are calling for his benching. I also think it might be a bit of a stretch to call McKinnie Pro Bowl caliber at this point in time. The Vikings cut him in preseason, and while he has been better than Oher, he is not exactly playing on a D'Brickashaw Ferguson level.
I think the strength of the Ravens is the interior line of Marshal Yanda, Ben Grubbs, and Matt Birk. Those guys are really good. With the two tackles, Baltimore has a pretty good offensive line. It is just not 2009 Jets level. I do expect Oher and McKinnie to improve some as the year goes on.
And of course with all of this said, I fully expect Oher and McKinnie to handle Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas. The Jets lack a pass rusher to exploit the tackles.