With the Ravens dropping their fifth straight game in a last-minute 20-19 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Tyler Huntley has been a bright spot in a disappointing second half of the season, winning one of three starts and giving Baltimore a chance in the others despite his limitations. As someone who subscribes to the Tom Moore philosophy on backup quarterbacks, I believe that’s all you could expect.
2. I saw little problem being aggressive with three timeouts late in the first half, but Los Angeles coach Sean McVay called Huntley’s interception “one of the biggest plays of the game” as it led to points and mojo for the sleepwalking Rams. Missing Mark Andrews underneath hurt even more.
3. Speaking of interceptions, turnovers “came in bunches” as Wink Martindale likes to say with Chuck Clark picking off two in just over 17 minutes of play. His break on the ball for the first one returned for a touchdown was a beauty. Such plays have been too rare this season.
4. Cleveland acquired Odell Beckham Jr. to break the Ravens’ hearts in the way he did for the Rams on Sunday. His run with the Browns was forgettable, but his catch on fourth-and-5 and game-winning touchdown on back-to-back plays had to sting for a fan base whose team was officially eliminated.
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5. Except for Tyus Bowser’s strip-sack on the opening drive of the second half, the difference in the pass rush for these teams was telling. That was the only sack for Baltimore while the Rams had five, including a critical one to torpedo each of the Ravens’ last two drives.
6. We’ve noted the lack of big pass plays, but Devonta Freeman’s 32-yard run was the Ravens’ first of 30-plus yards since September. They don’t have a run of 40-plus all season after a league-leading 10 combined over the previous two campaigns. Think they miss J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards?
7. Since his 116-yard performance in the Minnesota win, Marquise Brown has cracked 50 receiving yards just twice and is averaging only 4.33 yards per target after a mark of 9.88 over the season’s first eight games. You can only point to opponents’ scheme to explain that for so long.
8. It was a rough day for Kevin Zeitler, but the right guard had been excellent prior to Week 17 with PFF crediting him with no sacks or quarterback hits allowed all season. A defensive line led by Aaron Donald has a way of making even the good ones look bad.
9. If someone told you in July that five defensive backs would be on injured reserve, you could have made good money betting on Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young playing every snap in Week 17. The 33-year-old Smith seems likely to retire while Young carries a $5.8 million salary next season.
10. Tony Jefferson had two tackles on 15 defensive snaps and made a terrific stop on the Rams’ 2-point conversion try to keep the score at 20-19. With Anthony Levine soon turning 35, you wonder if Jefferson might return to play the dime role and factor more prominently on special teams.
811. John Harbaugh said James Proche was inactive because of numbers, but Sammy Watkins wasn’t targeted and played only 14 snaps. Understanding much of last week was garbage time, I still don’t love sitting a young receiver who set career highs in catches and yards for a veteran who barely played.
12. The Ravens need only a win over Pittsburgh, a Jacksonville win over Indianapolis, a Las Vegas win over the Chargers, a New England win over Miami, and one Cleveland loss to sneak in the playoffs. Multiple sites list their postseason chances at about 2%. What a difference a month makes.
(Updated: The Browns lost to Pittsburgh on Monday night.)
