Ravens Give Away A Game In Pittsburgh; Quick Hits

The headline here should have been the Baltimore Ravens improved to 4-1 on the year, with a victory in Pittsburgh.
Instead the headline is the Ravens collectively gave away a game against an inferior team.
Instead of leaving Pittsburgh 3-0 against the North with 3 road victories; they gave new life to the Steelers today and took Pittsburgh off life-support.

Quick Hits:

1) We say it often, most of the time, games are close in the NFL. When you have a chance to knock opposing teams out, you have to deliver the final blow.  Bateman’s endzone drop, Hill’s fumble, and the Ravens not getting Tucker an opportunity to end the half; kept this game closer than it should have been at the break. That was followed by more drops, a Safety, not cashing in with a 1st and Goal, and turnovers when you couldn’t have them in the 2nd half.

2) Normally you’d feel good about going 2-1 in the division on the road. The Ravens should feel horrible tonight on their quick flight back to Baltimore.  The Steelers looked as bad as could be to start this game. You were in-control. Dropping the game at home to Indianapolis, and losing this game today are both deflating losses and missed opportunities.

3) I wanted to say it was nice seeing Ronnie Stanley, Marcus Humphrey, Marcus Williams, Rashod Bateman, and Odell Beckham each available and active today. But the returns of Bateman and OBJ would have been a bit more enjoyable if Bateman hadn’t dropped a would-be TD, and if Beckham didn’t have to immediately head to the medical tent after his first reception of the day.

4) Lamar Jackson’s overall numbers were muted a by the drops of his receivers.  Zay Flowers, Bateman, Mark Andrews, Nelson Agholor. All had drops. Some of them easy would-be catches.  Flowers in-particular had two drops, where I was wondering if he was thinking about contact after the catch. He also fell down on a possible grab in the middle of the 4th.

5) There will be lots of rightful discussion of the failures of his WR’s today, but Jackson – who had largely been in-control of the game today, similar to the wins at Cincinnati and Cleveland – had the opportunity to end this game with a TD in the 4th. The Steelers had fumbled the PR and the Ravens were set-up with 1st and Goal. Gus Edwards had a nice downhill run on 1st. The Ravens got cute with a shovel pass on 2nd, and Lamar was picked on 3rd.  Nobody really helped Lamar today, but he can’t get picked there.  Down 14-10 with 1:02 left, Jackson would fumble after a sack. I don’t put that fumble on him, given the hit, but it was another opportunity the Ravens couldn’t capitalize on.

6) His drop aside, Agholor was a nice upgrade from James Proche.

7) Justice Hill scored the Ravens initial TD today on a nice run outside.  He also had a grab with some YAC. Unfortunately those positives were followed by his fumble, which halted the growing momentum for the Ravens.

8) Call me crazy, but when you have the best Kicker ever, you should utilize him.  John Harbaugh looked surprised by the play call, so possible Jackson thought Pittsburgh was off-sides and it was a free play. However it played out, the bottomline there is that Justin Tucker has to have the opportunity there to extend the lead.

 

9) Going into the 4th, this was a one score game. Normally you’d feel good about being up on the road in Pittsburgh. Today watching these two teams, it was just frustrating that the game was that close. I went into the year believing the Steelers would be the 7th seed in the AFC, with a chance to be better.  Thought Pickett would a league average QB.  Pickett generally looked uncomfortable, and the Steelers as a whole looked limited.  Obviously that frustration would only increase as the 4th Quarter played out.

 

10) It has been an issue for sometime, and showed again today. The Ravens can’t generate pressure unless these scheme extra pass rushers. Obviously no Odafe Oweh today, and Tyus Bowser still being out factors. But didn’t see David Ojabo today.

11) Edwards had 12 carries for 48 yards today.  Can we have a game where he gets 20 touches?

12) The Ravens were 5 of 14 on 3rd down, and 0 for 2 on 4th.  The Steelers were 6 of 15 on 3rd. Just two penalties for the Ravens.

13) What is the bottomline with the Ravens?  Are they capable of winning the North? I think you’d have to say they are. That’s partly about them, and partly about the Bengals, Browns, and Steelers. It’s also partly because the Ravens did manage to win 2 of 3 of the division road games. If they reach the playoffs are they capable of winning multiple games against quality teams? I don’t know. It feels like they are still searching for an identity. There are quality pieces all over the place for the Ravens. And current irritation for Harbaugh aside, John and his Coordinators are probably an upper 1/3 Coaching staff. Lamar certainly gives you at-least a punchers chance in any game. But it you feel like something ls missing overall, I’m not sure I disagree. Maybe that corrects itself if all of the players you’ve been missing return, and stay available? And maybe the overall mix of coaches and players just isn’t good enough?

Up-Next: 

The 3-2 Ravens head to London to face the 2-3 Tennessee Titans. ESPN”s Match-up Predictor gives the Ravens a 71.3% chance of winning. Thursday Night and games in London are seemingly always odd. You just really don’t know what you are going to get in these games.  9:30AM EST Kickoff.