Welcome back to another edition of Ravens Reacts, a Cool Sports Newsletter series made by a die hard Ravens fan! The Baltimore Ravens took a loss on Sunday in Jacksonville against the Jaguars, 28-27, despite holding a nine point lead with seven minutes to go and a seven point lead with two minutes to go. And after endless red zone attempts that ended in Justin Tucker field goals, and zero touchdowns through three and a half quarters, the defense could no longer make that “one” stop they needed, after making several when the offense wasn’t converting! This a problem, and it needs to end fast! This is what I think of the Ravens deja vu type loss on Sunday afternoon. Let’s, get into this!
Were my predictions correct?
Lamar Jackson has over 80 yards on the ground (Correct)
Trevor Lawrence has at least one turnover (Correct)
Trevor Lawrence has anywhere between 30-40 pass attempts (Correct)
Ravens run for over 170 rushing yards (Wrong)
Ravens lead by double digits again (Wrong)
Ravens win 24-16! (Wrong)
Who got injured during the game?
Travis Etienne
Christian Kirk
Marlon Humphrey
Kirk and Humphrey’s injuries didn’t mean as much, even though Humphrey was missed on one of Jacksonville’s key touchdown drives to come back. The big injury was Travis Etienne. If you would have told me that Etienne would get hurt, and the Jaguars would put up just 38 yards on the ground, I would have told you that the Ravens would win by around 20 points. But they didn’t! The Ravens had absolutely no answer for Trevor Lawrence, who had an 128.9 rating in the matchup, completing 29 of his 37 pass attempts. Etienne’s injury may affect Jacksonville long term, but it didn’t affect them is this game, especially when JaMychal Hasty decided to be impactful through the air as well.
Red Zone concerns:
The Ravens struggled heavily when getting inside the 20 yard line. The Ravens needed to settle for three chip shot Justin Tucker field goals (27,29 and 24) in three separate red zone appearances. If just one of those attempts ended up being touchdowns, the Ravens win the game, and go to 8-3 as the 3rd seed in the AFC. Instead, they’re not! This season, the Ravens are third in red zone attempts per game, and 24th in touchdown percentage inside the red zone, scoring a touchdown just over 50% of the time they’ve been in the red zone this season.
Why does this happen? Well, there isn’t one specific person/thing to blame. It’s a combination of different things. Coaching/play calling, roster building, and truthfully, execution from players. The problem in the red zone is when being at the 20 yard line, there is just 30 yards that Baltimore would have room to throw the ball. So the defense plays tighter, and doesn’t need to worry about DeSean Jackson 62 yard completions. They stack the box, and play man on running backs, to stop the run game. Then that forces the Ravens into must throw 3rd down situations, and they’re just not able to convert because of their lack of receivers to get open. If Jackson had just one of the weapons that Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, etc. had, then maybe it would be easier.
But Jackson doesn’t quite help his receivers out either. He has completed just over 47% percent of his passes inside the red zone. That’s lower than Mahomes, Burrow, Tagovailoa, etc. But how can these things be solved? And they need to be! Because, settling for three points when being inside the 20 yard line “ain’t gonna cut it” against Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Tagovailoa, etc. in the postseason. Those players are going to get those scores in that area; Mahomes (57.1% in red zone), Burrow (61.8%), Tagovailoa (65.1%), etc.
Well, it starts with play calling. If the passing game isn’t working, than how do you get rid of those “obvious” pass attempts and start opening the run game. Well, maybe utilize their tight end and fullback blocking. Between Patrick Richard, Mark Andrews, Josh Oliver and Isaiah Likely, the Ravens have a great blocking core outside of their offensive lineman. And considering all four of those players have proven themselves as worthy receivers, it wouldn’t be an obvious run when having those players in the game. So start running to the outside, especially when Ronnie Stanley comes back as a tackle. They can utilize those blockers, and pound the football and gain quick yardage.
They also do need to know how to pass the ball though. And with Demarcus Robinson, at the WR1 spot, that could be tough. So I would start putting Justice Hill in the game for difference screen plays, to make the defense play more tight at the line of scrimmage, and that will allow one of Andrews, Robinson, Likely or Jackson to get reasonably open for an opportunity. So while it seems like it is on play calling, it also is on execution. But the Ravens would also be in a better spot if they had more of a receiver core, which is on the roster construction. There are many things that go into succeeding in the red zone, and Baltimore needs to get on the right page and figure this out if they want to go anywhere in the postseason!
Position Grading
Quarterbacks: B (Lamar Jackson)
Lamar Jackson had his good moments, and had his bad in this game. Those bad included no touchdown passes until 2:02 left in the fourth quarter, and a 50% percent completion percentage to go along with it. But he also threw for 254 yards, while rushing for 89 yards on the ground. He played well towards the final drive, after a huge 62 yard completion to DeSean Jackson in a drive that ended up giving Baltimore a touchdown lead late in the fourth quarter; he also threw a 12 yard touchdown pass to Josh Oliver on that drive, and had a big completion to Oliver to give Justin Tucker a chance as time expired.
Jackson didn’t play a bad game. But at the same time, with an offense the caliber of Baltimore’s, you should be able to put together more than one touchdown drive, not including when starting in the oppositions territory. And he also missed some key deep throws, which could have given Baltimore early advantages. But at the same time, he limited turnovers, and played an overall good game.
Running backs: B-
The running back core did not impress me in this game. Gus Edwards started off great coming back from injury, but ended the day with just 52 yards on 16 carries, a 3.3 AVG, and despite a goal line touchdown, had a crucial fumble inside their own territory, which gave Jacksonville a free three points. If he has great ball protection, the Ravens probably win the game. Kenyan Drake also highly disappointed, especially for my fantasy team, rushing for just two yards on two carries. They weren’t terribly horrible, but they need to cut Jackson some slack in the running game. J.K. Dobbins though should luckily be near 100% after healing from a knee injury. His return shouldn’t be too far away!
Wide Receivers: B
The Ravens wide receiver core actually wasn’t terrible, but they weren’t great either. The leader in receiving yards for a wide receiver was DeSean Jackson, who had two receptions for 74 yards; that one 62 yard completion taking up over 83% of Jackson’s receiving yardage. Their next leading wide receiver was Devin Duvernay with 23 yards. They just don’t really have the wide receiver core, especially with Bateman out, to succeed.
Tight Ends/Fullbacks: A
The tight end core was the only reason the Ravens were in this game. Josh Oliver played absolutely incredible, as he had four receptions for 76 yards and a crucial late touchdown against his former team. Mark Andrews is also still rehabbing from injury, but he had four receptions for 50 yards, despite getting very lucky on a near turnover on the games opening drive. They were Baltimore’s two most reliable and productive players through the air. Patrick Ricard also had two catches for 14 yards, and was incredible blocking wise. I say there are three steps to succeeding in the Ravens offense when running the ball: and step one is find out where Ricard is, because you always want to go where he’s blocking. The other steps don’t matter without Ricard’s blocking. #bestfullbackinthenfl
Offensive Line: B+
You can’t say a rushing offense that had 162 yards on the ground had a bad offensive line, but I also don’t think the offensive line was incredible. Gus Edwards was held to just 3.3 yards per carry, and the offense didn’t seem to do incredible on short situations, which are some of the most important plays for the offensive line in the playbook. They did a good job, but didn’t have the big plays to make them stand out a lot. But limiting the penalties on false starts is a major improvement!
Defensive Line: A-
Most of this defensive line grade is because of Tyus Bowser, and his huge forced fumble on Lawrence in the 2nd half, which allowed Baltimore to take a two possession lead with seven minutes left. Bowser also added on three tackles and sack. Broderick Washington got in on Lawrence and sacked him on the first play of the game, and finished with five tackles. I would like to see more production however from Calais Campbell, Justin Madibuke, Justin Houston (who is one of the NFL’s sack leaders) and Travis Jones on this D-Line.
Linebackers: A-
The linebacker core played well as usual. They shut down the entire running game, and Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith had a combined 14 tackles, and a lot of Smith’s tackles were on crucial plays, and he does such a good job at limiting short yardage plays. Smith is also the leader of the defense, and his presence opens up the entire defensive playbook. Pay that man, but for the guy wouldn’t you’d think I’d be saying that for!
Cornerbacks: B
The cornerback core didn’t play terribly, and part of it is because of the injuries at the safety position, but allowing Trevor Lawrence to absolutely break down your secondary is inexcusable! I understand that Marcus Peters led the team in tackles, and had a very impressive fumble recovery after the Bowser force, but he was awful in coverage, and was the reason why Hasty was wide open on Jacksonville’s first touchdown of the day. But Marlon Humphrey’s six tackles, sack and two tackles for loss brings the grade up to a B.
Safeties: B-
The safety core, even though they were injured, were awful. They did absolutely nothing to stop the Jaguars pass defense, and didn’t get in the backfield or recover any fumbles to upgrade their grade. Chuck Clark didn’t do much, and there is a reason why Geno Stone was dropped out of PFF’s top three safeties based off of their PFF rating! Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton can’t return sooner!
Special Teams: A
I will not let you blame Justin Tucker for the loss, even though he missed that 67 yard field goal attempt at the buzzer! He’s human! No one has even ever made it to 66 besides him! He made a big 55 yarder, and made all of the big field goals when Baltimore needed to settle for them in the red zone. He’s still my GOAT!
Chase Coburn
chasecpc@gmail.com
chase@chasessportsnews.com
Wiz Talk with Chase
Cool Sports Network
chasessportsnews.com
chasecoburn.substack.com
chases_sports_news (Instagram)