Ravens in Need of a Reality Check at the Bye

The Ravens lost to the Rams yesterday 17-3 and fell to 1-5 for the first time since 2015.

It’s been a rough season so far and the Bye week couldn’t come at a better time for a team that seems destined for a high draft pick at its conclusion.

This season has been frustrating on many levels but yesterday had several moments that left you shaking your head in disbelief.

There’s a lot to unpack as we look ahead into an off week.

Here’s what I learned yesterday:

The Offense Needs Lamar Jackson to Succeed

This isn’t a hot take.

I think that all Ravens fans and those around the league know that the Ravens offense is built around the unique skills of the two-time MVP. So, when it was announced that a hamstring injury would keep Jackson sidelined for another game all eyes turned to the backup – Cooper Rush.

Rush was signed this past off-season to a two-year deal worth around six million dollars and was seen as an upgrade over previous backups Josh Johnson and Tyler Huntley. However, in just seven quarters, Rush has thrown four interceptions and coughed up one fumble.

Yesterday Rush was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of the fan favorite Huntley after leading the offense to just three points.

With Lamar, this offense has been one of the league’s best, averaging 32.8 points per game and 338 total yards per game. Without him Baltimore has scored 6.5 points in the past two contests and average 251 yards per game.

Sometimes it takes removing your best player to truly see how important he is to this team. In this case his absence reveals so much more. His ability covers up for so many deficiencies from poor coaching decisions to questionable roster moves.

Red Zone Inefficiency

Todd Monken’s game plan made sense yesterday as they established the run and their best back Derrick Henry (24 carries for 122 yds. , 5.1 ypc). This helped control the clock and slowed the game down to a pace where Baltimore could compete against Los Angeles.

His choices once the Ravens were on the one-yard line though did not make sense.

The offense had four chances to score and could not as they attempted a “Tush Push” twice in a row and finally gave it to Henry on fourth down on an ill-conceived play.

As I sat watching dumbfounded as I attempted to piece together the logic of that sequence I tried to decide which was worse; that or having Henry attempt a Halfback option inside the ten.

In the modern game you must convert red zone opportunities into touchdowns. The Ravens are in the bottom half of the league at 44%. This must get better.

Here’s what I’m keying this week:

Reality Check

It’s time to take an honest look in the mirror.

Is this a team that you think can make a run and grab a Wild Card berth?

No.

Spin it any way you like but this team just invents ways to lose and even when they were considered a Super Bowl favorite, they always found ways to come up short and underachieve in big games.

There needs to be an audit from the top all the way down the line. It’s time for you to step out of the shadows, Mr. Bisciotti.

He spoke publicly in April about his hopes for his team. It’s time to prove it. https://www.nfl.com/news/ravens-owner-steve-bisciotti-on-12-year-super-bowl-drought-i-want-to-win-now

In the link above he talked about “wanting to win now”.

His Ravens have made it to the playoffs six of the last seven seasons. They are also 3-6 over the past playoff trips, never winning more than one game in any span and bowing out three times in their first game.

It could be time to re-evaluate the “Ravens way” in conducting business which means putting Eric DeCosta and John Harbaugh on notice.

DeCosta has long been lauded as one of the league’s best executives and he was groomed for years as Ozzie Newsome’s successor. He has done well in helping build a perennial contender and playoff participant but many of his draft misses are starting to impact the club.

DeCosta has never been able to properly address the pass rush. Inside Tackle Justin Madbuike was given a huge contract because he could not only stop the run, but he could get interior pressure. Now his career may be in jeopardy. Roquan Smith was given a huge deal almost immediately after he was acquired from Chicago and his performance has not been up to par. Odafe Oweh, David Ojabo, and Jaylon Ferguson all have been washouts.

John Harbaugh enters his 18th season as Head Coach after inking another extension this off-season. His answer this morning to the current quarterback situation sort of sums it up for me.

Harbaugh said that the plan all along yesterday was to alternate Cooper Rush and Tyler Huntley.

Huh?

That wasn’t what happened, so why lie? There were questions about signing Rush in the first place and whether he was a good fit for this offense. After one full game under center and the organization is scrambling for a different answer.

I appreciate the Ravens being a model of consistency and not responding in a knee jerk manner, but I feel that consistency has morphed into complacency.

There will be no mid-season firing of anyone. But when the final chapter of this season’s tale has been written it will be important to re-evaluate and it’s time for a fresh perspective on everything.

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