BALTIMORE — A 5-1 stretch is supposed to feel a whole lot better than that 1-5 start for the Ravens.
The five-game winning streak obviously righted Baltimore mathematically to the point of moving into first place in the mediocre AFC North with a choppy home win over the New York Jets and Pittsburgh’s loss in Chicago last Sunday. But even when languishing at 1-5, the Ravens knew most of their injured players would return sooner than later and there was plenty of time to get back on track, especially with the Steelers not being good enough to run away with the division. While the Baltimore defense has improved markedly since the first month of the season, we’ve also acknowledged the benefit of a soft post-bye schedule and the Ravens not exactly passing the eyeball test as a top-shelf contender, especially on offense with star quarterback Lamar Jackson having more ailments listed on the injury report than touchdowns since his four-touchdown night in Miami a month ago.
There’s no sugarcoating a dreadful five-turnover showing in a 32-14 loss to Cincinnati on Thanksgiving night. While there was no shame in having difficulties against tough Minnesota and Cleveland defenses on the road earlier this month, playing like this at home against the last-place New York Jets and a 32nd-ranked Bengals defense threatening to be one of the worst the NFL has seen in decades?
Come on now.
At 6-6, time is running out for this offense to get back to where it needs to be, and it’s not getting any easier.
Make no mistake, the Ravens still control their path to a division title and a playoff berth. They were never likely to run the table after the 1-5 start and hadn’t really looked the part of a team capable of doing so. But all bets are off and trust is lost after a prime-time showing like that. If your offense can’t get right at home against the lowly Bengals defense, what’s going to happen against the Steelers, New England and Green Bay next month?
While at least appearing to move around better — a silver lining amidst the Thanksgiving night frustration — than he did against the Jets and Browns, Jackson turned in his worst performance in a long time as he struggled with accuracy and seeing the field in addition to committing three turnovers. The two-time MVP denied this being the toughest stretch of his career after the defeat, but it’s difficult to recall the last time Jackson has struggled to this degree over multiple weeks as he’s gone three straight games without throwing for a touchdown or running for one. That had occurred in just seven of his first 100 career starts, and two of those were games he exited early with injuries.
8
As much as the focus has been on the physical concerns for Jackson, you have to wonder about the mental toll at this point.
Much of what plagues this offense can be traced to a below-average offensive line, of course, and tight end Isaiah Likely also had a game-changing fumble that transformed a touchdown into a turnover in the second quarter, but the Ravens are unlikely to make the playoffs, let alone have any practical shot of making a run with Jackson continuing to play like this. It’s a compliment to the brilliance of his career that these last several weeks have felt so jarring, but Baltimore needs Jackson to be better starting next weekend with the Steelers coming to town for a massive AFC North showdown.
“I just have to play consistently. I can’t have turnovers,” Jackson said. “Not just this game, but in any game, I can’t have turnovers — two fumbles and the tipped interception. We have to be consistent. We’re putting our defense on the field too much. I can’t have that.”
That was certainly the case Thursday when three turnovers and a three-and-out contributed to the Bengals possessing the ball for more than 20 minutes in the first half. It was almost miraculous that Baltimore allowed only 12 points after the Bengals went 0-for-4 in the red zone before intermission, which included a goal-line stand late in the first quarter. Of course, that flipped in the third quarter with the Ravens defense unable to get off the field on third down and the returning Joe Burrow heating up to throw two touchdowns to put Cincinnati in control for good.
It’s tough to put too much of Thursday’s loss on the defense, but the pass rush that had made strides in recent weeks all but disappeared over the course of the night. Being without top cornerback Nate Wiggins certainly didn’t help as his foot injury late in the second quarter knocked him out of the game and leaves his short-term status in question.
Burrow deserves much credit for how he played in his first game in 2 1/2 months, but it was all the more reason that the Ravens needed much more from their offense.
“It’s one of those days that you have, and the defense had a lot of those days early in the year,” said safety Kyle Hamilton, who played through last Sunday’s ankle injury looking less than 100%. “We aren’t pointing the finger at anybody, not pointing the finger at Lamar, not pointing the finger at whoever it may be — skill guys, O-line, whatever.
8“We’re all one family. We have to roll with the punches and get through the lows and the highs at the same time.”
The punch from the Bengals not only ended the five-game winning streak, but it knocked the wind out of whatever expectation remained that this offense would be getting back on track sooner than later. What happens now is anybody’s guess.
With the calendar turning to December, tougher competition looming, and a mediocre 6-6 record leaving little margin for error, the Ravens hardly look ready to take off in an AFC that looks as wide open as it has in a very long time.
Instead, they just looked like any other team with flaws threatening to sink their playoff hopes.
