Ravens News 11/29: Playoff Concerns and more

Twelve Ravens Thoughts following Week 12 loss at Jacksonville – Luke Jones

The bye week is supposed to rejuvenate and provide the opportunity to clean up your deficiencies, but the Ravens were flat in an uninspiring home win over Carolina and sprung leaks in every phase of the game on Sunday. That doesn’t reflect particularly well on anyone.

Many try to continue arguing Baltimore can win in January with a great running game and defense to control time of possession. Through three quarters, the Ravens played very well defensively and had the ball 11 more minutes than Jacksonville. That meant nothing in the final period.

Credit Josh Oliver for stepping up to catch a career-high four passes for 76 yards and a touchdown against his old team. Some have fairly argued that he could have gone down at the 1-yard line to drain more clock, but that’s a coaching call.

Lamar Jackson’s 7.9 yards per pass attempt was his second-best mark of the season, but the Ravens targeting Patrick Ricard on second-and-14 and then third-and-10 on their final drive of the first half said plenty about the state of this passing game, especially against a poor defense.

Defensive Notes vs Jaguars Week 12 2022 – Ken McKusick

Marlon Humphrey

Humphrey was not often targeted as Lawrence chose instead to go after Peters and Stephens in addition to the WR screens. Marlon was injured on the dropped INT by Stone (Q4, 8:53). The Jaguars converted 4th/8 on the next play en route to the TD that cut the lead to 19-17. He returned on the next drive.

Calais Campbell

Lawrence and Pederson schemed to get the ball out quickly in part due to the impact of Campbell. When afforded time to mount a pass rush, Campbell was the most effective Ravens pass rusher.

Tyus Bowser

It was a balanced and positive outing for Tyus who set the edge well versus Cam Robinson, forced a fumble on a cleanup sack, and was not targeted in coverage. As with Stone and Houston, his day would have been much improved had he converted a game-sealing turnover.

NFL Week 12 One Up, One Down For All 32 Teams: Garrett Wilson, Josh Jacobs shine, Alvin Kamara struggles – Doug Kyed

BALTIMORE RAVENS

One up: QB Lamar Jackson

Key grade: 89.6 passing grade

Jackson went just 16-of-32 passing, but Ravens receivers dropped five passes. He made three big-time throws, didn’t have any turnover-worthy plays and carried the ball 14 times for 89 yards, with 61 coming after contact.

One down: RB Kenyan Drake

Key grade: 48.6 offensive grade

Drake carried the ball twice for just two yards, dropped a pass and allowed a hurry in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars.

Week 12 DVOA Preview: the Dolphins-Ravens Paradox – Mike Tanier

The 7-4 Baltimore Ravens climbed from fourth to second overall in the pre-Monday Night Football DVOA rankings despite their 28-27 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Ravens outperformed the Jaguars on Sunday, running more plays (68 to 61), averaging more net yards per play (6.1 to 5.4) and accumulating more net total yards (415 to 332). They led most of the afternoon. The Jaguars won thanks to a handful of high-leverage plays, including a pair of late-game fourth-down conversions. When a team forces a fumble and places its opponent in a third-and-21, no-timeouts-left situation while leading by seven points with 1:59 to play, it usually wins. That’s just what the Ravens did against the Jaguars. And Sunday’s Ravens loss mirrored their early-season losses to the Dolphins and Giants: they held two-score leads in the fourth quarter against all three opponents, only to lose in the last moments in unlikely ways.

Five things we learned from the Ravens’ 28-27 loss to the Jaguars – Childs Walker

If the Ravens left this many cracks for the Jaguars to exploit, how can they expect to hold up against the league’s best come playoff time?

Are the Ravens in crisis again, as they seemed to be after a 3-3 start marked by missed opportunities and second-half collapses? Not exactly. Their defense is too good and their schedule too soft for us to say their playoff push is in peril. But they sure have not been easy to watch the past two weeks.

What else can we say after watching them drop passes and rush to get off misbegotten attempts before the play clock ran out? After watching Lawrence pick on Marcus Peters all afternoon? Even the Ravens’ league-best special teams faltered, with Devin Duvernay handing them pitiful field position via a pair of poorly judged returns.

The problem is not so much that the Ravens lost to a team they should beat. This happens to everyone, and we knew the Jaguars, led by an on-form Lawrence, were live underdogs. No, the worry is that we’ve seen the cracks Jacksonville exploited in all of the Ravens’ losses this season and in some of their victories. Imagine how the Kansas City Chiefs or Buffalo Bills or Miami Dolphins might punish these same failings — the unfinished drives, the mistimed deep strikes, the presnap confusion, the coverage lapses — in January. The Ravens fancy themselves a legitimate contender, but they’re not playing like a team that’s going to outlast the NFL’s best when it matters most. They still have time to tune up but not that much.

NFL Sunday’s nine worst Week 12 losses: Seahawks crashing back to Earth; Packers, Broncos hit bottom? – Adam Schein

2. Baltimore Ravens

THE LOSS: 28-27 at Jacksonville Jaguars

I’ve never taken the cheese on these Ravens being true Super Bowl contenders. Never put them in the class of the Chiefs, Bills or Dolphins on the AFC side. In fact, I have more belief in the Bengals and Titans, too. For the second straight year, Baltimore has been injury-riddled and just a little off all season.

Well, the bloom is officially off the rose after Sunday’s choke job. The Ravens were up 19-10 on the three-win Jaguars with 13 minutes remaining. They even scored another fourth-quarter touchdown, supplementing it with a successful two-point conversion. And yet, they still lost in regulation.

Second-year QB Trevor Lawrence shredded Baltimore’s secondary on a pair of 75-yard touchdown drives. In between, Ravens RB Gus Edwards coughed up a first-down carry deep in Baltimore’s own territory, giving Jacksonville three free points. With Doug Pederson going for the jugular, Lawrence sealed the Ravens’ fate by converting the go-ahead two-point attempt with just 14 seconds remaining.

Yes, the Ravens’ remaining schedule is easy. No, they aren’t good enough to take advantage. I still think the Bengals are clearly the most dangerous AFC North team.