It appeared the Ravens reached all-time low 4 weeks in the past after they allowed 4 fourth-quarter touchdowns to blow a 21-point lead and lose to the Miami Dolphins.
And then got here Sunday, a 24-20 loss to the New York Giants.
This setback isn’t on the backside of the barrel, however beneath it. The Ravens managed a brand new trick Sunday: they out-uglied the Giants.
It was embarrassing, even pitiful at instances, as a result of the Ravens managed the sport for greater than three quarters. Then, after Lamar Jackson’s 12-yard landing move to tight finish Mark Andrews gave them a 20-10 lead early within the fourth, they allowed New York to attain 14 straight factors.
It was paying homage to the Miami recreation, however no less than the Dolphins have huge receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. It was paying homage to the Bills recreation — which the Ravens misplaced after they allowed 20 unanswered factors — however no less than Buffalo has quarterback Josh Allen and huge receiver Stefon Diggs.
But the Giants? They have a quarterback named Daniel Boone, or Daniel Jones, or one thing like that. And he led them on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that pulled New York inside three factors with 6:01 remaining.
And then it bought actually ugly. Jackson bought an early snap from rookie heart Tyler Linderbaum, one he had no probability of dealing with, and made a much bigger mistake by rolling to his proper and throwing again to the center of the sphere to fullback Patrick Ricard.
The move was picked off by security Julian Love and returned 27 yards to the Ravens’ 13. Four performs later, Barkley scored to place the Giants forward, 24-20, with 1:43 remaining.
Two performs later, Jackson did not safe the ball whereas dropping again to move and was stripped by rookie outdoors linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux. The Giants recovered it on the 13-yard line.
Game over.
“Yes, we stopped ourselves a lot — a lot of missed opportunities out there, especially in the red zone,” Jackson mentioned. “I really feel like we must always’ve put extra factors up. Little hiccups right here and there. We’ve bought to repair these as a result of that’s making the distinction in our recreation.
“We’re just messing up ourselves. We can’t let that happen. The mistakes happen in practice and shouldn’t happen in the game. But it’s a part of NFL football. We try to overcome it, sometimes it happens.”
This loss shall be onerous to beat. I’ve seen Jackson after playoff losses earlier than, however this was completely different. Never has he appeared so mentally drained.
And then there was left sort out Ronnie Stanley viciously slamming his helmet into the bench quickly after Jackson fumbled. He’s had his personal share of disappointments, however he’s by no means been so demonstrative.
This must be a low level for Jackson. The fumble was considerably comprehensible, however the interception, thrown again throughout his physique with a result in defend, was only a boneheaded play, one which he has gotten away with a number of instances this season.
He ought to know higher. Jackson is in his fifth season and he’s making an attempt to get a brand new contract that may make him the very best paid participant within the NFL. That play is unforgivable.
It could be OK guilty Jackson if it weren’t for the ugliness exhibited by the Ravens. They had 10 penalties for 74 yards, together with 4 false begins. They had an unlawful formation penalty that nullified what was a primary down with 3:09 left and made it third-and-6. Jackson threw the interception on the following play. Those penalties are blamed on the coach.
“That shouldn’t happen. They were shifting with a move call of some kind; there’s no reason [for that]. We practice that all the time; we practice that constantly. Our defense does it. It shouldn’t happen,” coach John Harbaugh mentioned.
“That’s the biggest story for us, is winning the game at the end of the game. Making the plays that need to be made, and not making the errors that cost you an opportunity to win the game.”
Harbaugh tried to provide credit score to the Giants, however let’s not go overboard. New York has a brand new coach in Brian Daboll, and their gamers are on a mission to point out that former coach Joe Judge was the issue, not them. The Giants are a troublesome bunch, however they entered the sport with the No. 23 ranked offense and the No. 26 ranked run protection, permitting 131.1 dashing yards per recreation.
The Ravens’ offense pushed them round, ending with 406 complete yards and 211 dashing. But they misplaced as a result of Jackson, who hasn’t performed effectively in three weeks, overthrew huge receiver Devin Duvernay on two doable landing passes within the second and third quarters and missed Andrews on an extended move into the tip zone within the second.
They misplaced as a result of they’ve two cornerbacks, Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, who aren’t quick and should maul receivers. The result’s what we noticed Sunday in crunch time, when Peters’ interception was referred to as again as a result of he grabbed huge receiver Darius Slayton and was referred to as for move interference. Barkley scored the go-ahead landing on the following play.
At this level, there are quite a lot of inquiries to be requested about this staff. Are they in good bodily form after three second-half collapses? Why can’t they cowl, and why do groups discover so many holes between the linebackers and secondary in crunch time? Playoffs? Let’s not point out that phrase for some time.
After the sport, the Ravens mentioned the same old proper stuff about successful and shedding as a staff and placing this loss behind them as they put together for Cleveland.
But they may not beat the Browns both. Cleveland has a great offensive line, a powerful operating recreation and a really athletic defensive entrance. They have some gamers who simply might star on different groups.
Because of the storied custom of taking part in nice protection in Baltimore, the Ravens have a historical past of successful ugly.
This shedding ugly received’t stand.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com