Ravens Choke vs. Indianapolis; Quick Hits

In the National Football League, most games are not like Miami’s 70-20 destruction of Denver today. Or the lambasting KC is giving the Bears as I write this.

Each week we see a couple of blowouts, but the large majority of games are tight.
It’s not college, these are pros and the difference between the best and the worst is not that much.
Meaning on a given week, you could see San Francisco lose to Arizona in the NFL and you wouldn’t blink as hard in disbelief as you would if Georgia lost to Arkansas State.

If every game went exactly according to plan, there would be no reason to actually play the games.
The surprises that do exist, help make sports the best drama there is.

The Ravens losing to the Colts in OT is a surprise, but not shocking.
It’s not shocking, because multiple starters out + wet conditions + turnovers = a chance at a perfect storm.

One of our knowledgeable message board posters had posted in the game thread leading up to today’s game, that today was a trap game.
Part of his rationale was that Ravens fans were looking past the Colts; that they aren’t horrible.  Also pointing to the Ravens injuries.
Coupled with my initial point above – that the majority of NFL games are competitive – these were fair points.

While today was not ‘shocking’, it is deflating and disappointing.
The injuries the Ravens had coming into the game, and added today are real.
The weather today possibly having impact on game conditions is real (though both teams were playing in it).
But ultimately those are excuses which don’t hold up.

The excuses don’t hold-up today because Lamar Jackson was healthy, and the Ravens were home.
Jackson deserved all of the love he received for the road division win at Cincinnati last week.
He was a maestro and controlled that game.
Jackson had moments of brilliance again today, but the Ravens needed that much more from him.
QB’s and Coaches probably get too much credit when things go well, and too much blame when they don’t; but that’s part of the deal.
Football is a team game.  You win and lose as a team. There is plenty of blame to go around collectively today.
But there is only one Raven making $50+M annually, so more falls on Jacksons shoulders.

Quick Hits: 

1) Losing today doesn’t erase winning the division game at Cincinnati; but losing games you should win is typically the difference between winning a Division and playing home games in January or not.

2) As with last week, loved the initial Ravens drive today. 12 plays, 80 yards, 6 and half minutes.  Ball again spread around. Culminated with Jackson finding the endzone. That was fantastic.

3) Might get forgotten about in the disappointment of the loss, but what a day for Kyle Hamilton. 3 sacks, 2 Tackles For Loss.  The Colts might have helped him out some by not identifying him as a pass rusher, but Hamilton deserves credit for the influence he had.

4) Ball control for Jackson was a discussion point heading into this game.  My BSL Colleague Jamie Sieck mentioned in on our latest episode of The Bank. Two more fumbles today.

5) Patrick Mekari and Sam Mustipher played very well last week in Cincinnati. This week, Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Linderbaum were missed more. That’s not to say Mekari and Mustipher were horrible, but Mekari was beat at-least once for sack, and Mustipher of-course had the ground ball snap attempt.

6) The first Ravens drive of the 2nd Quarter ended on Kenyan Drake’s fumble. The second Ravens drive of the 2Q was a 3 and out. The third Ravens drive of the 2Q was 1 play, a Jackson fumble recovered at the Baltimore 19. The fourth Ravens drive of the 2Q was a 3 and out.  The fifth Ravens drive of the 2Q was one run from Edwards to end the half.  Zero pass attempts for Jackson in the Quarter.

7) Jackson had 14 rushing attempts for 101 yards and 2 scores.  The CBS announcers relayed several times how the Ravens told them didn’t have designed runs in the offense. You can’t take Jackson’s running out of the offense. It’s the biggest threat the Ravens have.

8) Gus Edwards had 11 carries at 4.6 yards per carry before leaving with a concussion.  Have to wonder what his availability will be next week. Melvin Gordon III looked okay to me, but he was limited to 3.2 ypc on his 10 attempts. If Edwards and Justice Hill are not available next week; then the Ravens will have gone from JK Dobbins, Edwards, and Hill being available in Week 1, to relying on Gordon and Drake in Week 4.

9) Zay Flowers had 8 more receptions today. Through the first 3 games of his NFL career, Flowers has 21 grabs.  Rashod Bateman was limited to 1 catch before leaving due to injury.

10) Justin Tucker missed his 61 yard attempt with 6 seconds left in regulation; but I would have liked to have found him another opportunity in OT. The Ravens took over offensively in OT, at the Colts 48 yard line. After gaining just 4 yards on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down; the Ravens faced 4th and 6 from the Colts 44.  Coach Harbaugh elected to punt vs. giving Tucker another opportunity from a yard further back.  The Ravens defense again got the ball back to the offense, allowing Jackson & Co to take over at the BAL 46.  Facing 4th and 3 at the Indy 47, Jackson’s pass to Flowers went incomplete. Yeah, it looked like Flowers was held, but you can’t depend on getting the call.  Would Tucker have hit from 65 yards in this humidity? Chances are probably low.  Low but not zero.  Tucker’s the best to ever do it.

10a) Yeah, Flowers was held.  Again looking at this replay, how was this missed?

11) Patrick Queen put the loss on himself for giving up the wheel route TD to Zack Moss in coverage, but I was ticked on the play because the Ravens went Cover Zero when it seemed apparent to me the Colts wouldn’t be running. Clearly the Ravens decided they had to get pressure home, but they allowed themself to be vulnerable in coverage.

12) Moss had 30 carries for 122 yards (4.1 ypc). Feels like he should have been contained better than that.

13) The Ravens have to give Jackson some additional options vs. the blitz. Get to the line quicker. Use motion and figure out where the pressure is coming from.  Have some hot reads. Ultimately, either bring additional WR’s on the field and pull defenders from the box, or go heavy and give Jackson some extra blocking. Whatever makes more sense when the film is evaluated.

14) Nelson Agholor had a nice game in Cincinnati last week…  the block in the back today was horrible.

15) Losing David Ojabo today didn’t help.

Up-Next: 

The Ravens have to shake off today, because the next two weeks are road-trips to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and those games followed by a trip to London.

ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gives the Ravens a 60.7% chance of beating the Browns in Cleveland.

Obviously we know Nick Chubb has suffered a season ending injury and how that changes the Browns offense.

Still, Cleveland’s defense has been strong to begin this year, and they completely overwhelmed Tennessee today in their 27-3 win over the Titans.
Deshaun Watson easily had his best day this year, completing 82% of his attempts, and averaging 8.8 yards per attempt.

Aside from today, Cleveland opened their season with a win over Cincinnati, and a loss at Pittsburgh.

Getting another road division win would be vital for the Ravens, and a blow for the Browns.