It was a weekend of “miscommunication” in Baltimore professional sports activities.
One day after Orioles outfielder Aaron Hicks missed a hit-and-run signal within the ninth inning Saturday, resulting in Gunnar Henderson being thrown out making an attempt to steal second base in a 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of the American League Division Series, the Ravens made a pricey mistake of their very own in a 17-10 defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Leading 10-3 with 30 seconds left within the first half and the clock working, the Ravens confronted a fourth-and-2 from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 23-yard line. With one timeout remaining for Baltimore, it made little sense to threat turning the ball over on downs and coming away with no factors.
Well, that’s precisely what occurred.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson lined up within the shotgun with large receivers Nelson Agholor and Zay Flowers and tight finish Mark Andrews in a bunch formation to his proper, large receiver Odell Beckham Jr. cut up out left and working again Justice Hill within the backfield. While it initially appeared the Ravens had been simply making an attempt to get the Steelers to leap offside within the hopes of getting a free play and/or an automated first down, heart Tyler Linderbaum snapped the ball with 19 seconds to go.
Outside linebacker T.J. Watt ran in unblocked from the correct aspect of the offensive line, forcing Jackson to scramble to his proper and throw beneath strain from blitzing linebacker Cole Holcomb. The ball fell incomplete 10 yards previous his meant goal, Flowers. Justin Tucker, some of the correct kickers in league historical past, may solely watch helplessly from the sideline.
After the sport, during which the Ravens had been outscored 14-0 within the fourth quarter, coach John Harbaugh mentioned the plan was to kick a subject objective there earlier than a “miscommunication” — there’s that phrase once more — derailed the drive.
“The idea was to run the clock down and not leave them time to come the other way and then just call a timeout and kick the field goal. But we had just a miscommunication — [in the] heat of battle,” Harbaugh mentioned. “We weren’t on the same page. They jumped the neutral zone, and guys thought they were in the neutral zone and went ahead and snapped it. So, that wasn’t what we were planning on doing.”
Although Steelers linebacker Kwon Alexander did bounce towards the road of scrimmage simply earlier than the snap, he didn’t cross it. Linderbaum and Jackson each acknowledged that the snap was a mistake.
“Well, [Linderbaum] thought the guy had jumped in the neutral zone, so I thought we had a free play right there,” Jackson mentioned. “Just a miscommunication — that’s all.”
The misplaced three factors didn’t show the distinction within the ultimate rating, although it was amongst a number of pricey errors Harbaugh lamented in an unsightly defeat. In the fourth quarter alone, the Ravens allowed a blocked punt for a security, Jackson threw an interception ultimately zone with 4:04 left and Jackson fumbled after getting hit from behind by Steelers exterior linebacker Alex Highsmith with 1:02 to go.
“We just have to get better at operational things and just clean stuff up and make those plays,” Harbaugh mentioned. “I think we’re that close in so many ways, but that’s the difference in a game on the road like this and in this kind of a rivalry game, so we’ll learn from it.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com