In the course of an NFL season or a series of them, certain results and statistics can be ignored, as they’re not indicative of a team overall or are considered aberrations or outliers.
Not so with the Baltimore Ravens, whose propensity to lose games in the fourth quarter is becoming a trend, and it’s one the front office should be taking very seriously in light of the teams’ last-minute 26-23 home loss to the traditionally-hapless Las Vegas Raiders (more on the game below). As many have noted, the Ravens lead the NFL in blown fourth-quarter leads in the last four seasons with 10 (the next nearest is the woeful Bears, with 6). Head coach John Harbaugh’s possibly most tone-deaf-ever response to fan concerns about it went thusly: “The fact that you have so many leads in the fourth quarter probably lends itself to, you’re going to lose more leads than most teams.”
What?
Prior to the Ravens’ acquisition of QB Lamar Jackson in 2018, the Ravens and Harbaugh appeared headed to an inglorious end, as the team was struggling to produce .500 records or play meaningful late-season football. Jackson’s ascension to the starting role essentially saved Harbaugh’s job, as Harbaugh demonstrated a deft hand in assembling a coaching staff that could extract the best of Jackson’s mobility and put the offense in position to succeed. Fast-forward five years, and it appears Harbaugh’s message is again growing stale. For all the overanalysis and consternation over the evolution of the decimated offensive line, Jackson still largely freelances and ignores playcalls and obvious QB mechanics such as basic timing patterns in favor of his well-known athleticism; traits he’s amply demonstrated he will never shake. The WR room consists of diminutive wonder Zay Flowers and a couple of also-ran first round busts. The tight ends, while superlative, are bailout options for Jackson, whose chemistry with former favorite target Mark Andrews appears compromised. The underutilized rushing attack, supposedly revived and frightening to opponents with the offseason acquisition of former Titans battering ram RB Derrick Henry, has been anemic and poorly timed, ignoring Henry’s vast history of success under a heavier workload.
This malaise has clearly filtered over to the defense, where the team is managing to create pressure and sacks, but not at meaningful times or in any sort of “clutch” manner. The secondary has been poorly deployed (why would anyone single-cover WR Davante Adams in the fourth quarter of a close game??) and flat-footed, and stalwart MLB Roquan Smith has been caught out of position on many passing downs as he attempts to do everything to compensate for the defense’s shortcomings. Perhaps this is the fault of new defensive coordinator Zach Orr, but ultimately, Harbaugh’s culpable here too, as he’s supposed to recognize obvious concerns and lead in addressing them.
I try not to be an alarmist when it comes to the Ravens; they’ve bounced back from adversity before and produced playoff runs. But something feels very different and uninspired about this year’s version, and it has to start at the top. Perhaps John Harbaugh is growing weary of his post; I hope it’s really that simple. But what the team is displaying looks more like an assertion that the players simply don’t care, and that’s an attitude that can be traced directly to the coaching staff and front office, who seemed to assume everything would be fine in the wake of significant offseason changes, and have done little to address any of it.
Look in the mirror, John.
Raiders 26, Ravens 23
As detailed above, the Ravens are nearly free-falling and stand to be 0-5 soon enough if they’re unable to cobble together some consistency. There were some good points Sunday, as the team finally utilized WR Zay Flowers downfield (7 catches, 91 yards, 1 TD) and gave RB Derrick Henry a bit more work (18 carries, 84 yards, 1 TD). Rookie RT Roger Rosengarten appears to be acclimating to his position enough to warrant the majority of gameday snaps there. Notable: 3-11 on third downs isn’t going to get it done.
The defense was fine…until it wasn’t, when the decision was made to single-cover all-pro WR Davante Adams (9 catches, 110 yards, 1 TD), with predictable results. Adams scored the 1-yard tying touchdown with little effort; the team had gotten into the red zone courtesy of an Adams sideline toe-touching catch that a questionable replay failed to overturn. The Ravens went 3-and-out twice at that point, and surrendered valuable field position courtesy of a 25-yard shanked Jordan Stout punt, putting the Raiders in easy striking distance of a game-winning field goal, which they easily converted.
Next: Ravens @ Cowboys, 9/22, 4:25 pm EST, FOX
Browns 18, Jaguars 13
The vaunted Browns defense has arrived, sacking Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence four times and muscling their way to a hardscrabble win in Jacksonville. No Jaguars receiver had more than three catches, a testament to the Browns’ coverage and deployment. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year DE Myles Garrett recorded a sack and three tackles amidst his double- and triple-teamed day. Jacksonville was held to 347 total yards on the day, testament to the smothering nature of the Browns defense and coordinator Jim Schwartz.
The Browns didn’t need to do much on offense, which was fortunate, because they didn’t receive much. Embattled QB Deshaun Watson (22-34, 186 yards) scored the team’s lone offensive touchdown on a one-yard scamper among his five carries. RB Jerome Ford added 64 yards on seven carries, while WR Elijah Moore led the team with six catches for 44 yards.
Next: Giants @ Browns, 9/22, 1:00 pm EST, FOX
Steelers 13, Broncos 6
As expected, the Steelers imposed their defensive will on the Broncos and rookie QB Bo Nix in typical Steelers fashion. The Steelers’ plodding offense (227 total yards) was stymied much of the afternoon, requiring the defense to post another heroic effort, which it invariably does these days. Edge rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith each contributed a sack and a combined three QB hits, and the secondary picked off two Nix passes.
Steelers QB Justin Fields (pictured) totaled 110 yards on 13 of 20 passing attempts, with one TD and most importantly, no turnovers, which is the key to the Steelers winning the way they have been. RB Najee Harris added 69 yards on 17 carries. The leading receiver was TE Pat Freiermuth with just four catches for 39 yards. This sort of offensive output is not ideal and the Steelers surely know that, but seem powerless to change it without significant improvement from their offensive line. For now, against the likes of the Broncos, it’s just enough.
Next: Chargers @ Steelers, 9/22, 1:00 pm EST, CBS
Bengals 25, Chiefs 26
The Bengals and their mouthy antagonist, WR Ja’Marr Chase, received a comeuppance of sorts in being dealt a last-second loss to the Chiefs despite Chase’s pre-game comments about the Bengals somehow being “the team to beat”, regardless of their abysmal showings since their one-off Super Bowl loss in 2022. It can be safely said that QB Joe Burrow is not a “Chiefs killer”, nor is their defense clutch in any capacity, as they amply demonstrated with a last-second pass interference call in which Bengals safety Daijahn Anthony was clearly well-ahead of a passed ball in making contact with Chiefs WR Rashee Rice. The infraction led directly to the winning 51-yard FG attempt from Chiefs K Harrison Butker as time expired.
Chase (4 catches, 35 yards) didn’t help his team’s cause by losing all composure in the fourth quarter after being stopped short of a first down, berating referees for not calling what he perceived to be a “hip-drop” tackle penalty (replays showed it clearly was not) and receiving an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as a result. The infraction proved costly, as the team was forced to settle for a FG instead of extending the drive and scoring a possible TD.
To be fair, the Bengals had played reasonably well to that point. Burrow (22-36, 258 yards, 2 TDs) posted his best performance in nearly a year, with TE Mike Gesicki’s seven catches for 91 yards leading the team. Defensively, the Bengals hassled Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes into two interceptions and a scant 151 yards passing; both hardly typical of the perennial all-pro and MVP candidate. DE Trey Hendrickson, easily the Bengals best defender, collected two sacks and several QB hits on a seemingly-unblockable day.
Next: Commanders @ Bengals, 9/23, 8:15 pm EST, ESPN
See you next time.
