Ravens Begin December With A Loss

Coming off of their Monday Night win in LA; the Ravens got out to a 9-0 lead today vs. Philadelphia.

The Eagles would outscore Baltimore 24-3, until Isaiah Likely high-pointed a Touchdown with 3 seconds left.

Philadelphia won 24-19, improving to 10-2 overall, with the Ravens dropping to 8-5.

The Ravens are now 2-2 over their last four games, and 3-3 over their last six games.

The Bottomline

Losing is never fun.

Some losses are more annoying than others.

Today was a rough watch if you are a Ravens fan.

I want to give the Eagles credit.
They are a good team.
Probably the 2nd best team in the NFC.
Philadelphia has legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
Their defense played well, and their offense did enough.
The Ravens didn’t look great, and the Eagles contributed to that.

While giving Philadelphia credit, it’s yet another game where if the Ravens didn’t outright beat themselves, they certainly made things easier for their opponent.

Justin Tucker took 7 points off the board with his missed extra-point, and two missed Field Goals.
Is he being impacted by the snaps and holds? I have no idea.
I know he’s missing too many kicks, and the Ravens have to bring in competition.

Do I think the Ravens are going to find someone on the street that is any better?
I doubt it.
Do I think it’s possible that Tucker is largely going through a mechanical hitch he could figure out in the off-season?
I do.
But at this current moment he’s become a liability.
What’s really difficult is that you have no idea what you can realistically ask of him right now.
He misses an XP, but then hits a FG from 50 yards out.
He hits the 50 yard FG, but then misses from 47, and 53.

So, where are you comfortable with him kicking from?

If he makes his kicks, it’s a different game.
The whole 4th Quarter plays out differently with those points on the board.
Doesn’t mean the Ravens would have won; but it’s hard to beat a quality team when you don’t get points you expect.

Today was also frustrating, because the defense had a good day.
Saquon Barkley is playing like an MVP. Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Dallas Goedert are quality players.
Yes, the Ravens caught a break with Devonta Smith being inactive.
Yes, Barkley gashed the Ravens defense some in the 4th Quarter, but Baltimore did hold the Eagles to 252 total yards.
Philly was just 4 of 12 on 3rd down.
The defensive performance was good enough for the Ravens to win with.

What Happened Today? What Are The Takeaways?

The Ravens defense forced the Eagles to punt on their first three drives of the game.

Baltimore scored on their first two possessions, and built a 9-0 lead.
The Touchdown coming when Lamar Jackson had 5 plus seconds to find Mark Andrews, who ‘Mossed’ the Philadelphia defenders.

The Ravens would punt on their 3rd drive, going 3 and out.
The Eagles would score on their 4th drive, going 49 yards over 6 plays, to make it 9-7.

Baltimore again went 3 and out after Philadelphia’s first score.
The Eagles put up a 2nd straight scoring drive, this time going 68 yards over 6 plays, to take a 14-9 lead with 2 minutes left in the half.

The Ravens would pull within 2, as Tucker hit from 50 yards out.
This had the game 14-12 at the break.

The Ravens had the first possession of the 3rd Quarter, and put together a 10 play, 41 yard drive, lasting just over 5 minutes.
With 3rd and 5 at the Philadelphia 15 yard line, Lamar Jackson took a sack that made it 4th and 19 at the Eagles 29.
Tucker would miss a kick from 47 yards out, which would have given the Ravens back the lead.

The Baltimore defense again forced a 3 and out on the Eagles, and another punt.
This gave the Ravens the ball back with 8:16 left in the 3rd.

Baltimore put together another time consuming drive, this time 14 plays and 7 minutes.
At 3rd and 7 from the Philly 35, the Ravens attempted to find Nelson Agholor deep down the sideline.
The Jackson pass was perfect, but Agholor was unable to complete the catch, and maintain possession.
That decision (going for the deep pass) locked the Ravens into another field goal attempt, that Tucker missed this time from 53 yards out.

The Baltimore defense again forced and Eagles punt to end the 3rd Quarter.
The Ravens dominated possession in the 3rd Quarter, but had nothing to show for it.

To begin the 4th Quarter, the Ravens took over at their own 5 yard line.
The Ravens would reach their own 39 with a 1st and 10.
Jackson was incomplete to Zay Flowers on 1st.
Jackson was incomplete to Likely on 2nd.
On 3rd down and 10, Jackson dropped down to Justice Hill for 5 yards.
On 4th and 5 at their own 44, the Ravens elected to punt.
I went into that drive thinking the Ravens needed to be thinking about using all 4 downs when they had the opportunity; but in the moment at 4th and 5 on their 44 – I felt punting was the right call.
The offense wasn’t doing much, it was a 2 point game, the defense was playing well – you didn’t want to potentially hand the Eagles great field possession.
The Ravens had already elected to punt when they were called for a false start which made it 4th and 10.

I’m second guessing myself and the Ravens decision making there.
The defense performed admirably today, but I did have the sense there was only so much you could realistically ask of them.
It felt like the Ravens needed to maintain possession and finish a drive.
So, while understanding the call to punt when it was 4th and 5; I think you can question the decisions to not feed Derrick Henry on either 1st or 2nd down.

The Eagles took over on offense with 11:20 left.
They put together a 7 play, 71 yard drive, which lasted just over 3 minutes and made it a two score game at 21-12.

Down 9, the Ravens were back on offense with 7:56 left.
Still time to mount a late comeback, but obviously you have to score quickly, knowing that you will have to score twice.
Henry picked up a 1st down on the first play of the series, moving the ball to the Ravens 40.
On 1st down, Jackson and Flowers couldn’t connect.
On 2nd down, Henry was stopped for a 1 yard loss.
On 3rd and 11, Henry caught a pass for 3 yards.
On 4th and 8 from the Baltimore 42, Jackson was again incomplete to Flowers and the game was effectively over.

The Eagles would tack on a FG.
The Ravens would score a meaningless TD.

Other Notes?

• Jackson was off today, and probably cost himself a 3rd MVP.  His accuracy, and timing were off for the 2nd straight game. Even some of his bigger gains, were his targets making plays vs. him throwing guys open.
• To be fair to Jackson, it seemed like he was largely uncomfortable in the pocket. While sacked just 3 times, he wasn’t getting a lot of time to step into throws.
• Jackson finished with 79 yards rushing, 39 of that coming on the Ravens last meaningless possession. I felt there were times earlier in the game he could have been more decisive running the ball. His running always needs to be a part of the offense.
• Rashod Bateman left the game with a knee injury. That probably had some corresponding impact on all of the Ravens targets, and the windows Jackson had available.
• Flowers had 3 catches for 74 yards. His yards per catch has jumped up significantly here in his second year.
• Diontae Johnson was again nowhere to be found. He has 1 catch as a Raven. Hard to believe he had 107 receptions in 2021.
• Kyle Van Noy was inactive today. The Ravens had 2 sacks (Broderick Washington with 1, and Roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey splitting the other).
• Kyle Hamilton briefly left the game to be checked for a concussion before returning. As we said Monday, the defense has looked markedly better with him playing deep, and not at the line of scrimmage.
• An awful lot of Eagles fans at M&T Bank today. That’s partly understandable given the proximity of the two cities, and Philadelphia having a good year. And I can’t really complain about other Ravens fans, when I’m someone that prefers to watch games at home. Admittedly, I’m part of the problem. Regardless, hearing MVP chants for Saquon at M&T is not a good look for any of us Ravens fans.
• Jalen Hurts was 11 of 19 for 118 yards. Barkley finished with 107 yards, and a healthy 4.7 yards per carry; but he was largely contained until the 4th.
• In the five games the Ravens have lost this year, Henry has averaged 15 carries. In the eight wins, Henry has averaged 21 carries. Yes, that doesn’t tell the full story, but still.
• Without Bateman available to get looks, Likely had his most targets since Week 1.
• Chris Board, and Travis Jones flashed today.

 

Next Up?  Bye Week. 

The Ravens are now heading into their bye week.
They have four games remaining.
At the New York Giants.
Home vs. Pittsburgh.
At Houston.
Home vs. Cleveland.

At 8-5, and with wins over the Chargers and Broncos; I’m highly confident that the Ravens are going to make the playoffs.

Pittsburgh is 9-3.
The Steelers remaining schedule is Cleveland, at Philadelphia, at Baltimore, Kansas City, Cincinnati.

I think the AFC North is still in-play for the Ravens, but the odds dropped precipitously after this loss today.