The Baltimore Ravens are now 6-6 and staring into the barrel that is their own mortality following a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thanksgiving Night.
There are many things that the Ravens need to correct for the remainder of the regular season to earn a spot in the playoffs. The good news is that it can be fixed.
Lamar Jackson looks unlike himself
There are few times that the Ravens can be mentioned without Jackson’s name coming up positively. Whether it is through his ability through the air or the ground, his leadership style and overall dynamism on the field – his actions have enthralled the fan base of the Ravens since 2018. He became the National Football League’s Most Valuable Player in two seasons (2019, 2023) and has been the boon of Baltimore’s offensive renaissance.
None of this applied to Thursday night’s debacle in front of a home crowd. Jackson went 17-for-32 for 246 passing yards, zero touchdowns, an interception, two fumbles and a paltry passer rating of 65.4. This was not the only game where Jackson has looked like a shell of himself, as evidenced by his November stat line – 44-for-77 (57.1 completion rate) 522 passing yards (6.8 yards per attempt), one passing touchdown, two interceptions and a 71.5 passer rating.
It is not just that Jackson is playing poorly, he is looking hobbled currently and has been listless for the better part of the four games that he has played since returning from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for three contests prior. He added knee soreness, ankle problems and a toe injury head of the Cincinnati matchup that potentially exacerbated the problem.
Jackson could not plant his feet on throws, he has not been able to scramble well for much of the season – with the issue on display on national television on Thanksgiving – amounting to six carries for 27 yards (4.5 yards per carry).
How to fix it: Baltimore needs to keep Jackson up. Despite Jackson missing multiple games this season, he has been sacked 27 times. The Ravens made a change at left guard, swapping Andrew Vorhees for rookie Emery Jones and opting to keep the right guard at his starting spot. Vorhees’ Pro Football Focus grade was at 58.9, ranking 45th out of 79 NFL guards, while Faalele’s grade of 58.4 landed him at 46th.
Turnovers have crushed the Ravens
Thanksgiving is a day of feasts and many families gather for dessert. Turnovers were the Bengals desert – snatching five takeaways from the Ravens. Thursday night’s game was just one of the times that Baltimore had multiple turnovers in one game, tallying three against the Cleveland Browns in a win on Nov. 16, three against the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 12 in a loss, three more in a loss against the Houston Texans on Oct. 5 and two against the Kansas City Chiefs in a loss.
How to fix it: This all goes back to technique. Ball carriers must return to the basics with the five points of contact – holding the ball tightly with their fingertips, in their palm, tight to their forearm, bicep and chest. That is as simple as it can be stated, though attempting to tough it out against some of the most physically gifted human beings in the world punching the ball is a tall task.
Fixing the fourth down conversions both on offense and defense
The Ravens are a middle-of-the-pack team in fourth down conversion percentage. Teams are converting 57.1% of fourth-down plays against the Ravens, amounting to 18th. While not a particularly poor display by Baltimore, much of this stems from being a mediocre pass defense (2,784 yards allowed), ranking 25th in the league.
One can mention injuries to Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins and Kyle Hamilton respectively in the defensive backfield. Another point of emphasis is the lack of pass rush – Baltimore is ranked 29th in sacks per game (1.6), just a smidgen over the likes of Cincinnati, the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers. The Bengals are 4-8 and at the bottom of the AFC North, while the Panthers (7-6) and 49ers (9-4) are second and third and their divisions.
How to fix it: While there is not a correlation between sacks and team success based off the bottom four teams, it would necessarily hurt the Ravens to be a bit more like the No. 1 team in sacks per game – the Denver Broncos (4.3). Speaking of pass rush and injuries, the Ravens are potentially getting outside linebacker Tavius Robinson (foot) and safety Ar’Darius Washington (Achilles) back soon.
Baltimore missed putting Hamilton in nickel situations earlier in the year before acquiring safety Alohi Gilman from the Los Angeles Chargers ahead of Baltimore’s matchup with the Rams. If Washington returns from the Achilles injury, there would be an expectation from defensive coordinator Zachary Orr to get even more creative with his secondary packages. This goes without mentioning having Robinson back – who had two sacks in five games before his injury.
Time of possession woes
Baltimore is very all or nothing in its offensive approach and much of that is down to execution versus playcalling – at least from an outside perspective. Isaiah Likely’s fumble out of the endzone to incur a touchback, fumbles by Derrick Henry in past games, Jackson’s errant throws that become interceptions or passes that are popped up into the air by receivers who are unprepared, linemen who miss blocks or cause drives to stall because of penalties have all been the bane of Baltimore’s 2025 existence.
At the same time, Baltimore can get into the endzone swiftly. Henry has broken off massive runs with a long run of 59 yards this season. Keaton Mitchell had a 25-yard run, while wide receivers Zay Flowers (56 yards), DeAndre Hopkins (41), Rashod Bateman (36) and Devontez Walker (34) and Likely (43) have all had receptions over 30 yards this season.
Baltimore’s average time on drives is 2:39 (26th in the NFL) with 5.38 plays per offensive possession (30th).
How to fix it: What did Sandra Bullock say in The Blindside? “Run the dang ball!’ The team needs to sustain drives by running the ball, even when it is down. A perfect example is giving Henry more touches, as he only had 10 carries in Baltimore’s game against Cincinnati. He still had 60 yards on those 10 carries, displaying his ability to slice through defenses.
Even more confusing was Baltimore’s offensive strategy in that game, rushing 22 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.59 yards per carry. If a team is pounding the ball and continuing to have success in that facet of the game, why ever stray away from it?
Fourth down conversions are stagnant, but that’s changing…
Ravens are 52.63% on fourth down conversions, ranking 17th in the league.
How to fix it: Baltimore can simply stay the course. The Ravens have converted 80.00% of their fourth down conversions in the past three games.
The Ravens have five games remaining on the season.
Kyle J. Andrews is a 2018 University of Baltimore and Mount Saint Joseph High School graduate, along with former sports reporter for the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa., the Baltimore Sun Media Group, 105.7 The Fan, Baltimore Beatdown, and Fox Sports 1340 AM. He has covered the Orioles, Ravens, high school sports in the Baltimore area and Central Pennsylvania, minor league baseball, Penn State and Maryland athletics and more.