The Missed Tackles, the Injuries and the Special Teams

[QtR Nevermore]

It should be clear to all but the most zealot backer that Lamar Jackson is a run oriented QB and a dink dunker underneath kind of thrower. He can hit a receiver that breaks wide open but hes not an adept downfield thrower. We all know that. If the Ravens need to win the game with Lamar throwing. Its not likely to happen and the playoffs will shed light on that.

I'm not sure what Ravens fans who only show up after defeats to criticize Lamar are trying to achieve.

Are they trying to argue he's a bad QB? Or just a little bit worse than the rest of us think?

Or are they just trying to win an argument they started years ago, patiently waiting through MVPs, and a c. 70% win percentage for a chance to snipe?

If it's the latter, they'll win eventually with enough patience. He'll age out of being good and they can finally say they were right.

 

[Tank]

Been bummed since yesterday, bummed right now, will still be bummed tomorrow.

bummer :-)

 

[redrum52]

I'm shocked this loss hurt people as much. I was livid after the Colts and Steelers losses. This one not so much because we actually deserved to lose.

 

[ravenslord]

I'm shocked this loss hurt people as much. I was livid after the Colts and Steelers losses. This one not so much because we actually deserved to lose.

You are right. We got outplayed by the browns but not the Steelers and Colts

 

[OURavensFan]

I'm shocked this loss hurt people as much. I was livid after the Colts and Steelers losses. This one not so much because we actually deserved to lose.

Would have been nice to steal it though, it hurts because now if we lose on Thursday it’s crisis mode

 

[Militant X 1]

We like to give them ammo with all these pendulum swings.

Exactly! The Ravens are streaky. Just never know which team is going to show up on a given Sunday.

 

[Militant X 1]

I'm shocked this loss hurt people as much. I was livid after the Colts and Steelers losses. This one not so much because we actually deserved to lose.

We definitely earned that L.

 

[Militant X 1]

Would have been nice to steal it though, it hurts because now if we lose on Thursday it’s crisis mode

This is the Raven's way. They know nothing about being up a few games on their opponents and locking up the division early. Nope! Not their style for some odd reason. It's like they get so excited when they see clear sailing ahead of them (leading the division) and then trip all over themselves.

 

[D1City55]

He's certainly been playing with a lot more confidence in recent weeks. Still pretty quiet overall but seems the potential is there for a breakout.

I believe Lamar is 21st in the league in pass attempts. It's hard to get that many opportunities when theres not many drop backs. Andrews and Zay are going to command 6-8 targets a piece each. They also want to get Odell involved as well. Bateman is pretty much a 4th option. At this point they got to let the offense loose a bit more.

 

[Deebo813]

This is the Raven's way. They know nothing about being up a few games on their opponents and locking up the division early. Nope! Not their style for some odd reason. It's like they get so excited when they see clear sailing ahead of them (leading the division) and then trip all over themselves.

This is what we need tbh.. need those mistakes work on.. i feel like we all hate the hype anyway. If we wouldve blown browns out, media wouldve seen us as gods lol.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

Regarding the seven losses with a 75% win probability-

Someone did the math for the past two seasons and the Ravens actually win 75% of the games where they were favored to win 75% going into the fourth... meaning they're statistically exactly where they should be, based on this model.

I think what makes it frustrating is that it's games like Miami or Cleveland where the Ravens had such a commanding lead, but squandered it. Those losses stand out heavily.

On the flip side, though, think of games like Detroit or Seattle where the Ravens strangled their opponent after building large leads.

On the one hand, it's concerning that the Ravens cannot seem to hold onto large leads at a clip that seems to be below average against the league, but at the same time, I can't remember games under Lamar, especially recently, where the Ravens were heavily blown out and I felt hopeless.

Yes, it sucks, and it hurts, and it is worrying when the Ravens blow a big lead, but they're also competitive down to the wire in these games and are mostly losing due to "bad luck." Think the Oweh fumble. That's "bad luck." The thing with "luck" in sports is that you find a way to manufacture your own luck and given a large enough sample size, I do think it'll even out and the Ravens will start coming out on top, like they would have if they'd recovered the fumble.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm concerned with the Ravens inability to hold a lead and have to wonder where that starts (play calling? Players letting up? Leadership? Bad mistakes? All of it, most likely), but this is still a team that is extremely good and talented and this is a team that's going to win more blowouts than they're going to squander and lose. We remember the losses because they're painful, but for every Cleveland, there's a Seattle or Detroit.

This team will be okay.

 

[Militant X 1]

This is what we need tbh.. need those mistakes work on.. i feel like we all hate the hype anyway. If we wouldve blown browns out, media wouldve seen us as gods lol.

I don't like the hype but I like for the media to speak well of our boys every now and then when they are balling just like they would other teams.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

I just did a really quick search, but I checked how many times the Ravens have won by more than two scores under Lamar and how many times they've lost by more than two scores (looked at just regular season, but even adding playoffs would still be lopsided.)

The Ravens have won 31 such games under Lamar, but lost only 5.

Again, games like Cleveland are absolutely crappy and gut wrenching, but Lamar has had 71 starts and 31 of those games have been two score wins.

Also worth mentioning that for all the sky is falling fans- check out the Bills if you want to see a really good team on paper that's struggling. They just lost to the Broncos to be 5-5. They're absolutely fighting for a playoff spot. The Ravens are at least 7-3 and firmly control their own destiny as division leaders, let alone wild card contenders.

Total side note, but speaking of the Broncos- Wilson is playing really well... that team is still a rollercoaster, but Payton really turned around Wilson from last year.

 

[RavensMania]

Has Lamar hit a deep ball TD this year????? I dont think so.

yeah, multiple from the Steeler game. smh

 

[ravenslord]

yeah, multiple from the Steeler game. smh

Yeah Agholor drop would have been a deep ball td

 

[rmcjacket23]

Would have been nice to steal it though, it hurts because now if we lose on Thursday it’s crisis mode

Disagree with the last part. Wouldn't be close to crisis mode. 7-4 in the AFC is within a game of everybody in the AFC not named KC.

While I expect us to win, this game is exponentially more important to the Bengals than it is to the Ravens. Bengals would be 5-5 with a loss, which puts them closer to the Raiders/Chargers/Colts/Bills territory of teams than it does the Dolphins, Chiefs, Ravens, etc. level.

Bengals have literally the hardest remaining schedule of any NFL team. They pretty much have to win on Thursday.

For the Ravens, its all just a question of "what's the expectation". If it's to make the playoffs, a loss on Thursday shouldn't come close to making that a concern. 10-7 will get you a playoff spot in the AFC, and they can easily win 3 more games. They could win the next three games in a row after Cincy and it wouldn't surprise anybody. Being 10-4 at Christmas I think is the likeliest of all outcomes.

If the objective is to win the division or get the #1 seed outright, then I agree, a loss to Cincy hurts chose chances significantly. It will mean the best we can do in the division is 3-3, and it'll be another conference loss, which will hurt on potential tiebreakers.

 

[Militant X 1]

yeah, multiple from the Steeler game. smh

I remember being pissed that Zay fell on a deep ball attempt in that game. But to me, Lamar misses more on his deep ball shots by either under-overthrowing or tossing INTs than he hits with a receiver in stride for huge gains or a TD. I could be wrong, just my perspective.

 

[Militant X 1]

Been bummed since yesterday, bummed right now, will still be bummed tomorrow.

bummer :-)

He needs to "BREAKOUT" from being bummed out.

 

[cobrajet]

He needs to "BREAKOUT" from being bummed out.

Losing ain’t easy….lol!

 

[Militant X 1]

Losing ain’t easy….lol!

It's not. Sometimes, I carry a Ravens loss to heart for a few days as well. Losses like this foolishness vs the "clowns" really sting. But, we have to move on from it my brother. We're running a game in 2 days vs the Bengals in primetime and our Ravens need us (their fans) to ride with'em to advance to 8-3. So snap out of it: