The Ravens have a bye in Week 7, and they need it.
They must regroup, get healthier, and find ways to end a four-game losing streak that is threatening to ruin their season.
A 17-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday dropped the Ravens to 1-5 and sent their frustration to an even higher level.
Whenever the Ravens did something right, it wasn't long before something went wrong. Baltimore played its best defensive game in weeks, but with Lamar Jackson (hamstring) still sidelined, the offense committed three turnovers and squandered opportunities.
"We could've won that football game, probably you could say in some ways we should've won it," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "We had some critical mistakes. That's really what it boils down to."
Here are my five thoughts on the Ravens, who will either do plenty of winning after the bye or say goodbye to their playoff hopes:
The Ravens don't finish enough in crucial situations.
Sometimes it's finishing games, like Week 1 in Buffalo when they squandered a 16-point fourth-quarter lead. Sometimes it's their defense not finishing a tackle or getting off the field on third down.
In this game, the Ravens didn't finish a potential touchdown drive, despite having second-and-goal from the 1-yard line with the score tied, 3-3. That was the turning point. Without Jackson, the Ravens can't afford to leave scoring opportunities on the table, or their offense won't eat.
If the Ravens had taken a 10-3 halftime lead, who knows how this game would've played out?
We'll never know. On first-and-goal from the 4, Derrick Henry gained three yards to put Baltimore on the doorstep of the end zone. Then the Rams slammed the door in Baltimore's face. Mark Andrews was stopped for no gain on two consecutive "Tush Push" attempts. Then on fourth down, Derrick Henry was dropped for a two-yard loss.
The decision not to run Henry (24 carries, 122 yards) on either second or third down can be questioned. However, Harbaugh liked nothing about the sequence. He said the Ravens should've been good enough to gain one yard, regardless of what play was.
"Every single player and coach would agree that we should be pushing that in there," Harbaugh said. "The fact that it didn't go in, I think it's easy to criticize it. I do the same myself. We didn't get any push. We didn't do it well. We're a big physical offensive line, Mark's a big physical guy. Give the Rams credit, but that's on us."
The Ravens are 1-5, and not just because of injuries. Too often, they don't finish what they start, and that will have to change to turn around their season.
"Bad football will get you 1-5," veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins said.
Jackson can't return to the lineup soon enough.
The Ravens have scored 13 points in two games without Jackson this season, giving further illumination to how important he is. Baltimore has surrounded him with more playmakers than ever, yet with Jackson missing, the offense has run like a sports car with a faulty engine under the hood.
Cooper Rush was signed during the offseason to give the Ravens a better chance to win in case Jackson went down. Jackson went down, and the Ravens haven't won without him. Rush (11 for 19, 72 yards, one interception) struggled and was replaced by Tyler Huntley in the fourth quarter. Huntley (10 for 15, 68 yards passing, 39 yards rushing) provided a spark, but it was too late to save the day.
Since the current playoff format started in 2020, with seven teams from each conference making the postseason, Washington (2020) is the only team that started 1-5 to make it. Only four teams since 1970 have reached the postseason after getting off to such a bad start.
Jackson isn't a cure-all for Baltimore's offense, but he is a two-time MVP. If Jackson comes back in Week 8 as Harbaugh anticipates, it gives Baltimore more hope than most teams in their situation.
The turnover-takeaway disparity is killing the Ravens.
The Ravens have 10 turnovers and just three takeaways in six games, a difference of -7 that puts them near the bottom of the NFL.
That isn't championship football. Defensive tackle John Jenkins made a superb play when he sacked Matthew Stafford, forced him to fumble, and recovered it. But that was the defense's only takeaway. Meanwhile, they had two fumbles that involved Zay Flowers – his fumble and his muffed exchange with Rush on a handoff – and Rush's interception.
Two of the Ravens' best players, Henry and Flowers, have had costly fumbles in key situations in games Baltimore had a chance to win.
Losing the turnover battle on a consistent basis makes it more difficult to win, no matter how talented you are. It's a trend the Ravens need to change, or getting Jackson and more healthy players back may not be enough.
Baltimore's defense can build off this performance.
Holding the high-powered Rams to 17 points was definite progress after giving up 44 points to Houston in Week 5. The trade that brought veteran safety Alohi Gilman to the secondary paid quick dividends, as Gilman (seven tackles) started, and Kyle Hamilton played more snaps closer to the line of scrimmage.
The Ravens entered this game giving up the most points in the NFL, but even without Roquan Smith (hamstring) in the lineup, they looked quicker and more confident against a high-powered Rams offense. Stafford entered the game as the NFL's leading passer but was held to a season-low 181 yards.
Getting Smith back and working through more adjustments during the bye could be enough to continue their improvement.
"I thought that dynamic was a good dynamic for us on defense," Harbaugh said of the Gilman addition. "When you watch that, you're probably going to feel pretty good about that when you watch that tape again. And within that, the way individual players played."
Extra Points:
- Harbaugh said after the game that outside linebacker Tavius Robinson suffered a broken foot. That's yet another key starter missing from a defensive front that doesn't have Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) for the rest of the season and traded Odafe Oweh to the Los Angeles Chargers.
- Ronnie Stanley (ankle) did not finish the game and Joseph Noteboom played the rest of the game at left tackle.
- The Ravens had seven penalties for 80 yards, and penalties against Stanley and Daniel Faalele on the Ravens' opening drive forced them to settle for a Tyler Loop field goal, their only points of the game. A block in the back penalty on Tyler Linderbaum in the first half was also costly.
- This was only the fourth game since the Ravens drafted Jackson in 2018 that they were held without a touchdown, including the playoffs. In each instance, Jackson either did not start the game, did not play at all, or left the game with an injury.
- The Ravens had two sacks, Jenkins' strip sack and a ½ sack from Trenton Simpson and Teddye Buchanan.
