How does anyone explain the performance of the Baltimore Ravens tonight? Playing one of the least talented teams in the National Football League, the Ravens were absolutely abysmal in their 12-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Forget about any talk you hear about the Jaguars also being professionals, or that playing in-front of a National TV audience energized Jacksonville. Baltimore was playing a Jaguars team that arguably does not have a player among their offensive or defensive starters that could start for the Ravens. There were thousands of empty seats in Jacksonville tonight, and the other half of the stadium was filled with Baltimore fans.
The Jaguars did not win tonight. The Ravens lost. I believe that Baltimore has a team capable of playing in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl title, but the truth is Super Bowl teams do not turn in performances like the Ravens did tonight. After this game, the focus for the Ravens and their fans has to be the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday and nothing else.
The Good:
1) Great catch from Torrey Smith, to give the Ravens a 1st and goal from the Jacksonville 5 with just over two minutes remaining. Boldin followed with a clutch catch to get Baltimore on the board.
2) Jacksonville would recover, but Pollard did a good job forcing a Jones-Drew fumble on the first Jaguars possession.
2a) Pollard made a great hit on the Jaguars WR in the 3rd Quarter. That 15 yard penalty was not justified.
3) After the Rice fumble, Suggs made a great play on Jones-Drew on 3rd down. Near the end of the 1st, Suggs would get a sack on 3rd and 4 – forcing Jacksonville into a long field-goal attempt.
4) Jacksonville would use their 4th down to pick up the first down following the Suggs stop, but Reed would force a second Jones-Drew fumble, which put the Baltimore offense back on the field.
5) Playing LDE on 3rd down, Paul Kruger got off the edge, and brought Gabbert to the ground.
6) Pernell McPhee and Ayanbadejo combined for a sack. McPhee just makes plays when ever he touches the field.
The Bad:
1) On the two 3 and outs to start the game for the Ravens offense, Flacco was looking to LaQuan Williams on 3rd down both times. I like spreading the ball around, but I think it is a problem having to look to Williams to move the chains.
2) Thomas would return Koch’s 3rd punt of the 1st quarter 28 yards, giving Jacksonville a second straight possession starting in Ravens territory.
3) When Mincey sacked Flacco and forced the 2nd quarter fumble (recovered by Flacco), the Ravens had Rice blocking Mincey.When Smith got Flacco in the 4th, it was again Rice by himself blocking the Jaguars defender.
4) Another road game, another game with penalties from Michael Oher.
5) On the Ravens first series of the 2nd half, Baltimore faced 3rd and 9 from Jacksonville 27. Flacco was sacked by Lowery for a 7 yard loss, and Cundiff would badly miss a 52 yard FG attempt.
6) Down 9-0 with 5:22 in the 4th Quarter, the Ravens started their second 4th Quarter drive. They would score with 2:02 left in the game, but the 3 minute 22 second drive had poor tempo throughout.
7) With two timeouts and the two minute warning, I think the Ravens should have kicked off and not attempted the onside kick.
The Ugly:
1) In the first-half, the Ravens had nine possessions. Eight separate times, the Ravens would go 3 and out. The other possession was a lost fumble. 25 offensive plays, garnered 16 yards of offense, with zero first downs. The longest possession was 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Really, how is that possible? Where was the preparation? The Jaguars were playing hard and running to the ball, but this display in ineptitude was almost entirely about Baltimore’s lack of performance. The Ravens were playing a horrible team tonight, with very minimal skill on either side of the ball. It was unbelievable that it was a game, and really disappointing that Baltimore looked so poor.
2) Kruger was called for a 5 yard penalty for the contact he made on Special Teams, giving Jacksonville an opportunity to kick a FG and take the 6-0 lead.
3) We’ve talked over and over again of how we do not want Ed Reed (or L. Webb) back returning punts. Our argument has been based on not wanting to put those players in a position that increased their opportunities of being injured. At least with Webb, Smith had returned to action tonight, providing depth to the CB’s. We know both players have return skills. We continue to think the risk is too great.
4) On the first Jacksonville series of the 2nd half, the Ravens had stopped the Jaguars on a 3rd down, which should have forced a FG attempt. Instead, Ayanbadejo picked up a dumb penalty which give Jacksonville a new set of downs at the goal line, and removed the LB from the game. The fact that Ravens defense would hold on and force the FG attempt, does not eliminate how poor the loss of composure was.
5) The Ravens were 2 of 12 on 3rd down, had just 10 first downs, and compiled only 146 yards of offense.
5a) On 21 completed passes, Flacco had just 137 yards. The interception to ice the game was on the Tampa 2 coverage which has haunted Flacco previously.
5b) Rice finished with 8 rushing attempts, for 28 yards.
6) My 35-3 prediction was nearly as poor as the on-field result.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.