The Ravens' defense took a beatdown on Monday night, with Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery delivering the knockout punch.
Montgomery's 31-yard touchdown scamper with 1:50 left to play put the exclamation point on a 38-30 Lions victory that dropped Baltimore to 1-2 in the young season.
The Lions dominated offensively, gashing Baltimore's defense for 224 yards rushing. Detroit had a 98-yard touchdown drive in the first half and a 96-yard touchdown drive in the second half.
The Ravens usually rise to the occasion in primetime, but not this time. It was crystal clear they were outplayed, and now the coaches and players must figure out how to regroup quickly.
It was a particularly disturbing performance for a team that prides itself on stopping the run. Even without Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) and veteran outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy (hamstring), this performance was not up to the Ravens' standard.
"That's not going to be good enough," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "There's nobody in that locker room that thinks that's good enough. That's disappointing. That's bad run defense. That's not who we are. That cannot be who we are."
Here are five thoughts on a loss that showed the Ravens have plenty of work to do:
The Ravens' defense is giving up backbreaking plays.
It's difficult to win when your defense gives up a 98-yard touchdown drive in the first half and a 96-yard touchdown drive in the second half. That's what Baltimore did in this game, and those time-consuming, demoralizing drives by the Lions turned this game in their favor.
With the score tied, 21-21, Montgomery exploded for a 72-yard scamper late in the third quarter that set up the go-ahead touchdown. The drive was capped when the Lions went for it on fourth-and-1. Jared Goff handed the ball to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who pitched the ball to Jahmyr Gibbs for a 4-yard touchdown run.
Why wouldn't the Lions go for it on fourth down? They were 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions for the game.
Far too often, when the Ravens needed a stop on third down or fourth down, they didn't get it. They had no sacks against Lions quarterback Jared Goff and the Ravens defense produced no takeaways.
That's a formula for defeat.
"I feel like they kind of did whatever they wanted to do all night," cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. "They just simply executed better than us and we never got them off schedule. … We're just not very good."
Derrick Henry's fumbles are coming at crucial moments.
In Week 1, Henry's fourth-quarter fumble was instrumental in helping the Buffalo Bills erase a 15-point deficit. In Week 2, he had another fumble the Ravens were fortunate to recover. Now he's had three fumbles in three games.
In this game, Henry's fourth-quarter fumble shifted the momentum back in Detroit's favor. The Ravens had just made a critical defensive stop, trailing by just 28-24. However, after Henry was stripped from behind by Detroit's star edge rusher Aiden Hutchinson, it gave the Lions a gift field goal that increased their lead to 31-24 with 6:35 left. The Ravens never got closer.
Hutchinson made a smart play going for the blindside strip, but Henry needs to do a better job of securing the ball, particularly in late-game situations. He's obviously a great back who's going to the Hall of Fame. But his fumbling issues early this season have cost the Ravens dearly.
Lamar Jackson is forced to make something out of nothing too often.
This could've been another magical Monday night for Jackson (21 of 27, 288 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions), but he was sacked seven times and pressured consistently. Even some of his completions came on acrobatic throws where he was forced to evade Lions in hot pursuit.
Detroit had a solid game plan for Jackson, putting a spy on him to limit the damage he could do with his legs, and playing two safeties deep to make it harder for him to create big plays. Teams will likely try to replicate that moving forward.
However, a consistent running game and better pass protection would have allowed Jackson to make even more plays. Instead, Henry (12 carries, 50 yards) was largely contained for the second straight week, and Baltimore's offense couldn't make up for the defense's shortcomings.
"I feel like Week 1 was a wakeup call, not just this loss," Jackson said. "Week 1 was a wakeup call. Last week was a wakeup call, because we started off slow last week. And we got beat tonight. The Lions had a great game plan."
Baltimore is dealing with a tough schedule and another slow start in September.
The Ravens didn't lose their first two games like last season, but falling to 1-2 with the schedule they have is no picnic. Baltimore's next three opponents all made the playoffs last season – at Kansas City, followed by home games against the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams.
Yes, the Texans are 0-3 this season, but can the Ravens take victory for granted against any team? Just because the Ravens climbed out of an early-season hole in 2024 doesn't guarantee it will happen again.
"The next tough team is Kansas City," Harbaugh said. "We just played a tough team. We go to work on the next tough team we're going to play and try to find a way to get that win. We're going to keep it simple, lock in on that and go to work."
Extra Points:
- Tight end Mark Andrews (six catches, 91 yards, two touchdowns) returned to being Jackson's favorite target and thrived in defeat. His second touchdown came on a diving catch despite being covered tightly in the end zone.
- Keeping kickoffs in bounds has been an early-season issue for rookie kicker Tyler Loop. His kickoff that went out of bounds after Baltimore took a 21-14 lead set up the Lions with first-and-10 at their own 40, and they responded with a touchdown drive to tie the score.
- After the first three catches of his career went for touchdowns, Devontez Walker didn't score on his 34-yard reception in the second quarter. Unfortunately for the Ravens, they didn't score either after Walker's catch made it first and goal from 3. After three runs by Henry didn't get the Ravens in the end zone, Jackson was sacked on fourth down. The Ravens have to come up with more answers on the goal line.
- Detroit rolled defensive coverages toward Zay Flowers and limited him to two catches for 13 yards, his lowest output of the season.
- Kyle Hamilton led the Ravens with nine tackles but didn't want to blame injuries to Madubuike and Van Noy for the team's poor defensive showing. "Shame on us if we need a Pro Bowl guy to play good defense," Hamilton said. "It hurts not having [Madubuike and Van Noy], but we have guys in the room with ample amount of talent to make up for that, at all three levels."
