Every year, there is seemingly one loss that stands out above the rest for the absolute brutality in which it took place. Every year, the Ravens forget that they are actually supposed to show up and play football and end up getting trounced. This year was no different when the Ravens got absolutely smashed by the Jacksonville Jaguars in London this past Sunday.
This loss, though, felt… different. It felt more deflating and more unacceptable. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the perpetual laughingstock of the AFC South. The butt of NFL quarterback jokes, Blake Bortles, commandeers the Jaguars. The Jaguars were absolutely dominated the week prior by the Tennessee Titans in a game that told us that the week one domination of the Houston Texans was a lucky performance against a weak team. Yet, here we are. The Baltimore Ravens, who were 2-0 going into the game, limped out at 2-1 after the Jacksonville Jaguars jumped the Ravens in a back alley and stripped them of all their belongings, including their clothes.
The game truly had a feel that left fans asking the question, “Who is this team that we are watching? The Baltimore Ravens did not show up to play today.” And it is completely fair and right to ask that question if you had seen the first two weeks of the NFL season. The Baltimore Ravens had shut out the Cincinnati Bengals and embarrassed the Cleveland Browns, forcing 10 total turnovers between the two games. The Ravens, however, would not force a single turnover in this game.
In fact, the defense was so bad that it was reminiscent of the NFL’s worst defenses. Whether it was Corey Grant, Leonard Fournette, or Chris Ivory, the Jaguars ran the ball at the vaunted Ravens front with ease. Blake Bortles, a quarterback with 52 interceptions in his last three seasons combined, looked poised like Joe Montana as the Ravens could not pressure him or put a finger on him. Mercedes Lewis, who had not caught a single pass in the first two games, caught three touchdowns and worked CJ Mosley and Tony Jefferson like dogs all day. The Ravens end zone might as well have been called Mercedes Lewis Zone. Speaking of Mosley, he was also beat in zone coverage on Allen Hurns touchdown as Mosley was late to react and close the window. Eric Weddle even looked lost and unsure of his positioning, an uncharacteristic sighting for the veteran who has been the best safety the Ravens have had since the great Ed Reed.
Give props to the Jacksonville Jaguars, though. They took advantage of an extremely aggressive defense with plenty of counters, misdirection plays, and play action. The Jaguars often pulled their offensive line one way, faked a pass to the same direction, and pulled a complete 180 to throw to a receiver who was not even in the play a second ago. The running game operated in the same way. Fourtnette, Grant, and Ivory would start following their blocks to the right and without a moments notice, they would turn up field and head off the left edge for large gains. The Jaguars operated extremely efficiently off of play action to keep the Ravens pass rush at bay. A defense cannot pin its ears back when the risk of a run looms so great. It was a genius gameplan that left an incredibly aggressive defense unsure and second guessing itself. If there is a blueprint on how to stop the Ravens, it may have just been found. Run the ball well and operate with misdirection. Brandon Williams cannot come back soon enough. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Marshal Yanda.
The Ravens missed Yanda likely a little bit more than they would care to admit. Sure, the Jaguars only amassed two sacks and five tackles for loss, but this hardly tells the whole story. From left to right, the Ravens offensive line stood no match for the front seven of the Jaguars. Ronnie Stanley who was supposed to take the second year leap instead appears to be suffering from a sophomore slump. Matt Skura and Jermaine Eluemunor swapped in and out after every series as neither could cement themselves as a viable starter. Austin Howard showed there are still valid concerns lingering from the preseason. Despite finishing with 186 yards total and gaining 134 yards on the ground, the Ravens only gained 73 of those yards in the first three quarters before the game was well out of hand. The Ravens may have finished with 134 rushing yards, but 85 of those rushing yards came in the fourth quarter alone when the game was well out of hand. The game was so bad that the Ravens did not even gain their first first down until there was 4:18 to go in the second quarter. The game started with four straight three and outs and an interception. The Ravens would then lead a five play drive before suffering yet another three and out to close out their abysmal first half.
Perhaps the most abysmal part of this game, though, was the play of Joe Flacco. Instead of looking like a seasoned veteran who was ready to face adversity, Flacco looked shaken and off for the entire three quarters that he was in the game. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who would say Flacco was given a clean pocket all game and had all the time in the world to throw, but that does not excuse 8/18 and 28 yards through the air. Rather than standing in and taking the pressure, Flacco routinely dumped off the ball to his backs or tight ends for modest, at best, gains. Rather than waiting for plays to open up downfield, plays that did open up, Flacco looked short and let the opposing defense get into his head. When he did look deep, though, Flacco could not connect, failing to complete a pass of more than 10 yards down the field… unless of course you count the interceptions to AJ Bouye and Jalen Ramsey as completions. Flacco had plays for the taking; he just failed to connect. On a day where the team needed a true leader to step up and take command, Flacco faultered under pressure and could not lead his team to the promised land.
Make no mistake; though, there were positives to this game. Despite only playing 26 snaps, Marlon Humphrey looks like the real deal at corner. He was routinely tested and thrown at, but he did not allow a single reception. Sans a single pass interference penalty where Humphrey had perfect coverage and did not need to interfere, his performance was flawless in coverage and a major boost to the recent drafts that have faltered. Jimmy Smith played the majority of the defensive snaps for the Ravens cornerback group and showed shades of his 2014 self. By my count, he allowed on reception on a shallow cross. When lined up with Marqise Lee, he was targeted three times, had two pass break ups, and allowed no receptions. Alex Collins looks like he could separate himself from a stable of ordinary running backs. Collins routinely makes plays when there appears to be no hope of positive yardage. He runs with patience, vision, and excellent balance to always gain positive yardage.
If the Ravens are going to get back on track; however, they are going to need many more of these positive performances to crop up in the following weeks. They are going to need the team as a whole to step up and live up to their potential. If they do not and continue to look like the shell shocked team that lost to the Jaguars, the Ravens may be looking at yet another top 10 pick.
This loss, though, felt… different. It felt more deflating and more unacceptable. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the perpetual laughingstock of the AFC South. The butt of NFL quarterback jokes, Blake Bortles, commandeers the Jaguars. The Jaguars were absolutely dominated the week prior by the Tennessee Titans in a game that told us that the week one domination of the Houston Texans was a lucky performance against a weak team. Yet, here we are. The Baltimore Ravens, who were 2-0 going into the game, limped out at 2-1 after the Jacksonville Jaguars jumped the Ravens in a back alley and stripped them of all their belongings, including their clothes.
The game truly had a feel that left fans asking the question, “Who is this team that we are watching? The Baltimore Ravens did not show up to play today.” And it is completely fair and right to ask that question if you had seen the first two weeks of the NFL season. The Baltimore Ravens had shut out the Cincinnati Bengals and embarrassed the Cleveland Browns, forcing 10 total turnovers between the two games. The Ravens, however, would not force a single turnover in this game.
In fact, the defense was so bad that it was reminiscent of the NFL’s worst defenses. Whether it was Corey Grant, Leonard Fournette, or Chris Ivory, the Jaguars ran the ball at the vaunted Ravens front with ease. Blake Bortles, a quarterback with 52 interceptions in his last three seasons combined, looked poised like Joe Montana as the Ravens could not pressure him or put a finger on him. Mercedes Lewis, who had not caught a single pass in the first two games, caught three touchdowns and worked CJ Mosley and Tony Jefferson like dogs all day. The Ravens end zone might as well have been called Mercedes Lewis Zone. Speaking of Mosley, he was also beat in zone coverage on Allen Hurns touchdown as Mosley was late to react and close the window. Eric Weddle even looked lost and unsure of his positioning, an uncharacteristic sighting for the veteran who has been the best safety the Ravens have had since the great Ed Reed.
Give props to the Jacksonville Jaguars, though. They took advantage of an extremely aggressive defense with plenty of counters, misdirection plays, and play action. The Jaguars often pulled their offensive line one way, faked a pass to the same direction, and pulled a complete 180 to throw to a receiver who was not even in the play a second ago. The running game operated in the same way. Fourtnette, Grant, and Ivory would start following their blocks to the right and without a moments notice, they would turn up field and head off the left edge for large gains. The Jaguars operated extremely efficiently off of play action to keep the Ravens pass rush at bay. A defense cannot pin its ears back when the risk of a run looms so great. It was a genius gameplan that left an incredibly aggressive defense unsure and second guessing itself. If there is a blueprint on how to stop the Ravens, it may have just been found. Run the ball well and operate with misdirection. Brandon Williams cannot come back soon enough. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Marshal Yanda.
The Ravens missed Yanda likely a little bit more than they would care to admit. Sure, the Jaguars only amassed two sacks and five tackles for loss, but this hardly tells the whole story. From left to right, the Ravens offensive line stood no match for the front seven of the Jaguars. Ronnie Stanley who was supposed to take the second year leap instead appears to be suffering from a sophomore slump. Matt Skura and Jermaine Eluemunor swapped in and out after every series as neither could cement themselves as a viable starter. Austin Howard showed there are still valid concerns lingering from the preseason. Despite finishing with 186 yards total and gaining 134 yards on the ground, the Ravens only gained 73 of those yards in the first three quarters before the game was well out of hand. The Ravens may have finished with 134 rushing yards, but 85 of those rushing yards came in the fourth quarter alone when the game was well out of hand. The game was so bad that the Ravens did not even gain their first first down until there was 4:18 to go in the second quarter. The game started with four straight three and outs and an interception. The Ravens would then lead a five play drive before suffering yet another three and out to close out their abysmal first half.
Perhaps the most abysmal part of this game, though, was the play of Joe Flacco. Instead of looking like a seasoned veteran who was ready to face adversity, Flacco looked shaken and off for the entire three quarters that he was in the game. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who would say Flacco was given a clean pocket all game and had all the time in the world to throw, but that does not excuse 8/18 and 28 yards through the air. Rather than standing in and taking the pressure, Flacco routinely dumped off the ball to his backs or tight ends for modest, at best, gains. Rather than waiting for plays to open up downfield, plays that did open up, Flacco looked short and let the opposing defense get into his head. When he did look deep, though, Flacco could not connect, failing to complete a pass of more than 10 yards down the field… unless of course you count the interceptions to AJ Bouye and Jalen Ramsey as completions. Flacco had plays for the taking; he just failed to connect. On a day where the team needed a true leader to step up and take command, Flacco faultered under pressure and could not lead his team to the promised land.
Make no mistake; though, there were positives to this game. Despite only playing 26 snaps, Marlon Humphrey looks like the real deal at corner. He was routinely tested and thrown at, but he did not allow a single reception. Sans a single pass interference penalty where Humphrey had perfect coverage and did not need to interfere, his performance was flawless in coverage and a major boost to the recent drafts that have faltered. Jimmy Smith played the majority of the defensive snaps for the Ravens cornerback group and showed shades of his 2014 self. By my count, he allowed on reception on a shallow cross. When lined up with Marqise Lee, he was targeted three times, had two pass break ups, and allowed no receptions. Alex Collins looks like he could separate himself from a stable of ordinary running backs. Collins routinely makes plays when there appears to be no hope of positive yardage. He runs with patience, vision, and excellent balance to always gain positive yardage.
If the Ravens are going to get back on track; however, they are going to need many more of these positive performances to crop up in the following weeks. They are going to need the team as a whole to step up and live up to their potential. If they do not and continue to look like the shell shocked team that lost to the Jaguars, the Ravens may be looking at yet another top 10 pick.
