I had written after week four that the Ravens were approaching a crossroads of sorts after starting the season 2-0, but falling to 2-2. Six games into the season, I see little reason to believe that the Ravens have decided on a path to travel because so far this season, the only consistency is inconsistency.
Was there any reason to think that the Ravens would lose against the Chicago Bears? The Bears were coming into the game at 1-4 and starting a rookie quarterback. The Bears had lost 11 road games and the Ravens had won their last nine games at home against rookie quarterbacks. The Bears had forced just three turnovers, all three fumbles, and the secondary was setting a record for the most pass attempts faced without an interception. Nothing about this game screamed win for the Bears, but come Monday morning, here we are. The Ravens are sitting at 3-3 after a 27-24 loss to the Bears in overtime.
So what exactly went wrong? It all goes back to the same thing: inconsistency. The Joe Flacco that we saw in week 5 against the Oakland Raiders was not the same Joe Flacco that we saw in week 6 against the Chicago Bears. Granted, the Bears have a vastly superior defense, but we have seen that Flacco is capable of beating these defenses. In week four against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Flacco split tight coverage and fit passes into extremely tight windows for completions. Against the Bears, though, Flacco was late on his progressions and late in throwing the football. Save a few throws, Flacco was generally inaccurate and too conservative when throwing the football. When he did take a chance, it resulted in interceptions because he was late. The lack of anticipation was a major driving force in what became a pick 6 for Adrian Amos. Had Flacco thrown before Chris Moore had broken off his route, Kyle Fuller would not have had time to come back to the ball and disrupt the route. It was just one issue in a long day of problems for Flacco. At what point is a 3.8 YPA net average acceptable when coupled with two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown? For a quarterback that is carrying a cap hit that is higher than all other players in the NFL, it is not acceptable and if it were any other quarterback, they would surely be riding the pine. But here we are- Flacco is still showing that he cannot regain his form from before 2015 and makes the fans wonder which Flacco will show up week to week.
But unfortunately it extends beyond Flacco. Breshad Perriman has only shown that you can count on him for incomplete passes and drops. Before leaving with a concussion due to a nasty (should be) illegal hit, Perriman had dropped a perfect pass from Flacco that resulted in an interception to Bryce Callahan. Mike Wallace, who looked like a deep ball master against the Raiders, could not recapture the same performance against Prince Amukamara, catching just three passes for a paltry 30 yards. The same offensive line that looked like a stonewall against the Raiders had an up and down day that mirrored that of the rest of the offense. There was no consistency from the trenches. The Ravens could spring a running back open for 10 yards and allow Flacco 10 seconds in the pocket and on the very next play allow a sack or tackle for loss.
Unfortunately, it does not stop there because what is Marty Mornhinweg thinking? The Bears knew that Mitch Trubisky would not beat the Ravens with his arm. So what do the Bears do? They ran the ball 50 times with the running backs. Despite averaging just 2.96 yards before Jordan Howard’s 53 yard run in overtime, the Bears kept smashing the ball down the throat of the Ravens defense. The Ravens though? Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara stuck like glue to the Ravens receivers, but the front seven struggled to contain Alex Collins and Buck Allen. As a result, the Ravens ran 41 times against 26 passes. Even more perplexing was a near total lack of play action calls. The play calling makes absolutely no sense and does not fit the Ravens offense. Joe Flacco has shown he excels of off the play action and throwing the deep ball and this offense has deep ball receivers. Rather than do this, the Ravens would rather run three step drops and dump it off to the backs and tight ends. At what point will we see change? This falls on Flacco, too, though. If Flacco sees a chance to take a shot, he must do so. He cannot play conservative. He must attack deep and force the safeties and linebackers to respect the fact that Flacco will challenge a defense with his arm. At this point, opposing defenses just stack the box and wait for the inevitable dump off.
At some point, I have to feel sorry for the defense in this game. They gave it their absolute all, but will be given the absolute brunt of the blame for allowing the game sealing run to Jordan Howard. They will be blamed for not sacking Mitch Trubisky and allowing him to climb the pocket and find Kendall Wright for a long completion that set up the 40 yard game winning field goal.
The blame, however, should not fall on the defense for this game. In the first half alone, the Ravens had three three-and-outs and two turnovers offensively, yet they only allowed 10 points, one touchdown coming off an interception that put the ball at the Ravens 20 yard line.
Want an insane stat from the defense? The Ravens had FOURTEEN tackles for loss to go along with four sacks. Matt Judon, who has looked far from a dominant run defender this season, had four tackles for loss on his own. The secondary held Trubisky to just over 100 yards and a 50% completion percentage. The run defense, as aforementioned, held the Bears to just 2.97 YPC before Jordan Howard’s long run to ice the game. Despite forcing two turnovers, both by fumble, the Ravens offense repaid the defense by scoring… well, just a field goal and allowing an interception to be returned for a touchdown for a grand net of -4 points off of turnovers. The Bears, though? They generated 14 points off of turnovers.
Many will want to blame the defense because they allowed the game winning drive, but the Ravens allowed just 29% of third downs to be turned into first downs and held up well all game despite facing a ridiculous 16 possessions. Just four of 16 possessions resulted in a score for the Bears with one of the two Bears touchdowns coming because an interception put the ball at the Ravens 20. Can we really be that upset at the defense in this game?
At some point, the Ravens offense will have to find its footing. We have zero reason to think that there will be consistency week to week from the offense. At some point, the defense will falter harder than it had this week due to shouldering the load. At some point, we have to recognize that the only consistency is inconsistency and hope that the Ravens see the same. Hopefully, changes are on the horizon and we see the Ravens regain the same consistency they had from 2008-2012. I sure hope they find that consistency because I cannot keep writing these articles and holding out the hope that things will turn around. At some point, the Ravens really will have to prove that they can turn things around and find their consistency again.
Was there any reason to think that the Ravens would lose against the Chicago Bears? The Bears were coming into the game at 1-4 and starting a rookie quarterback. The Bears had lost 11 road games and the Ravens had won their last nine games at home against rookie quarterbacks. The Bears had forced just three turnovers, all three fumbles, and the secondary was setting a record for the most pass attempts faced without an interception. Nothing about this game screamed win for the Bears, but come Monday morning, here we are. The Ravens are sitting at 3-3 after a 27-24 loss to the Bears in overtime.
So what exactly went wrong? It all goes back to the same thing: inconsistency. The Joe Flacco that we saw in week 5 against the Oakland Raiders was not the same Joe Flacco that we saw in week 6 against the Chicago Bears. Granted, the Bears have a vastly superior defense, but we have seen that Flacco is capable of beating these defenses. In week four against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Flacco split tight coverage and fit passes into extremely tight windows for completions. Against the Bears, though, Flacco was late on his progressions and late in throwing the football. Save a few throws, Flacco was generally inaccurate and too conservative when throwing the football. When he did take a chance, it resulted in interceptions because he was late. The lack of anticipation was a major driving force in what became a pick 6 for Adrian Amos. Had Flacco thrown before Chris Moore had broken off his route, Kyle Fuller would not have had time to come back to the ball and disrupt the route. It was just one issue in a long day of problems for Flacco. At what point is a 3.8 YPA net average acceptable when coupled with two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown? For a quarterback that is carrying a cap hit that is higher than all other players in the NFL, it is not acceptable and if it were any other quarterback, they would surely be riding the pine. But here we are- Flacco is still showing that he cannot regain his form from before 2015 and makes the fans wonder which Flacco will show up week to week.
But unfortunately it extends beyond Flacco. Breshad Perriman has only shown that you can count on him for incomplete passes and drops. Before leaving with a concussion due to a nasty (should be) illegal hit, Perriman had dropped a perfect pass from Flacco that resulted in an interception to Bryce Callahan. Mike Wallace, who looked like a deep ball master against the Raiders, could not recapture the same performance against Prince Amukamara, catching just three passes for a paltry 30 yards. The same offensive line that looked like a stonewall against the Raiders had an up and down day that mirrored that of the rest of the offense. There was no consistency from the trenches. The Ravens could spring a running back open for 10 yards and allow Flacco 10 seconds in the pocket and on the very next play allow a sack or tackle for loss.
Unfortunately, it does not stop there because what is Marty Mornhinweg thinking? The Bears knew that Mitch Trubisky would not beat the Ravens with his arm. So what do the Bears do? They ran the ball 50 times with the running backs. Despite averaging just 2.96 yards before Jordan Howard’s 53 yard run in overtime, the Bears kept smashing the ball down the throat of the Ravens defense. The Ravens though? Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara stuck like glue to the Ravens receivers, but the front seven struggled to contain Alex Collins and Buck Allen. As a result, the Ravens ran 41 times against 26 passes. Even more perplexing was a near total lack of play action calls. The play calling makes absolutely no sense and does not fit the Ravens offense. Joe Flacco has shown he excels of off the play action and throwing the deep ball and this offense has deep ball receivers. Rather than do this, the Ravens would rather run three step drops and dump it off to the backs and tight ends. At what point will we see change? This falls on Flacco, too, though. If Flacco sees a chance to take a shot, he must do so. He cannot play conservative. He must attack deep and force the safeties and linebackers to respect the fact that Flacco will challenge a defense with his arm. At this point, opposing defenses just stack the box and wait for the inevitable dump off.
At some point, I have to feel sorry for the defense in this game. They gave it their absolute all, but will be given the absolute brunt of the blame for allowing the game sealing run to Jordan Howard. They will be blamed for not sacking Mitch Trubisky and allowing him to climb the pocket and find Kendall Wright for a long completion that set up the 40 yard game winning field goal.
The blame, however, should not fall on the defense for this game. In the first half alone, the Ravens had three three-and-outs and two turnovers offensively, yet they only allowed 10 points, one touchdown coming off an interception that put the ball at the Ravens 20 yard line.
Want an insane stat from the defense? The Ravens had FOURTEEN tackles for loss to go along with four sacks. Matt Judon, who has looked far from a dominant run defender this season, had four tackles for loss on his own. The secondary held Trubisky to just over 100 yards and a 50% completion percentage. The run defense, as aforementioned, held the Bears to just 2.97 YPC before Jordan Howard’s long run to ice the game. Despite forcing two turnovers, both by fumble, the Ravens offense repaid the defense by scoring… well, just a field goal and allowing an interception to be returned for a touchdown for a grand net of -4 points off of turnovers. The Bears, though? They generated 14 points off of turnovers.
Many will want to blame the defense because they allowed the game winning drive, but the Ravens allowed just 29% of third downs to be turned into first downs and held up well all game despite facing a ridiculous 16 possessions. Just four of 16 possessions resulted in a score for the Bears with one of the two Bears touchdowns coming because an interception put the ball at the Ravens 20. Can we really be that upset at the defense in this game?
At some point, the Ravens offense will have to find its footing. We have zero reason to think that there will be consistency week to week from the offense. At some point, the defense will falter harder than it had this week due to shouldering the load. At some point, we have to recognize that the only consistency is inconsistency and hope that the Ravens see the same. Hopefully, changes are on the horizon and we see the Ravens regain the same consistency they had from 2008-2012. I sure hope they find that consistency because I cannot keep writing these articles and holding out the hope that things will turn around. At some point, the Ravens really will have to prove that they can turn things around and find their consistency again.
