With the Ravens losing to Detroit in a 38-30 final to fall to 1-2 on Monday night, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Bullied. Humbled. Outplayed and outcoached. The Ravens made their mistakes, of course, but this wasn’t about them beating themselves in that way so many fans and media like to describe their defeats. The Lions imposed their will and were simply better. This team has to look itself in the mirror.
2. Marlon Humphrey summarized the state of the defense: “We’re just not very good. The biggest thing playing on the Ravens defense is the organization, the fans, they’ve seen greatness. Being bad, being good really is just not the standard.” Surrendering 224 rushing yards — mostly between the tackles — is just unacceptable.
3. Not having Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy obviously hurt, but the likes of Humphrey, Roquan Smith, Kyle Hamilton, and Travis Jones are supposed to lead in such situations. Instead, PFF graded them among Baltimore’s worst performers. Your stars must be stars when facing adversity, but they wilted instead.
4. I don’t recall many opposing 95-plus-yard drives at M&T Bank Stadium, and Detroit logged two. That all-too-familiar nervous energy resurfaced after that second-quarter meat grinder lasting nearly 11 minutes, and Baltimore never really shook it beyond those touchdowns sandwiching halftime. You could see it on players’ and coaches’ faces.
5. Dan Campbell told you what kind of game Detroit believed it was going to be by going for fourth-and-3 on the opening drive instead of settling for a field goal. The Lions’ bookend fourth-and-2 conversion essentially ended the game before Baltimore’s final empty-calorie touchdown. The contrast in composure was telling.
6. What do you say about Derrick Henry losing a critical fourth-quarter fumble for the second time in three games and fumbling for the third straight week overall? I respect the postgame accountability he showed, but his sideline reaction really leaves you wondering how much this is in his head now.
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7. It’s debatable how much blame goes to the offensive line compared to Lamar Jackson holding the ball too long as Detroit collected seven sacks. However, the big-picture concern is Jackson not looking like he trusted the protection despite his shiny overall numbers. That’s not good for a passing game.
8. Meanwhile, the Ravens had no sacks and five quarterback hits as Jared Goff carved them up whenever Detroit really needed a play through the air. Per Next Gen Stats, Zach Orr blitzed nearly twice as often as he did over the first two games, but those extra rushers did little.
9. Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman making a combined 11 catches for 154 yards and three touchdowns was encouraging. But regardless of how many points Baltimore has scored, this high-variance offense is unnerving, especially in goal-to-go situations. The ground game’s performance since late in the opener has also been troubling.
10. As poor as the overall defense was, John Jenkins played quite well, which is important if whatever physical issue that was impacting Travis Jones later in the game impacts his Week 4 status or effectiveness. Nate Wiggins and Chidobe Awuzie also continued to play rock-solid football on the outside.
11. The Lions were 7-for-14 on third down and 3-for-3 on fourth downs, which headlined their success and caused the Baltimore defense to wear down as the night progressed. There’s nothing more demoralizing for a defense than not being able to get off the field in those spots.
12. Though hardly the same situation as punting on fourth-and-3 in Buffalo, John Harbaugh trusted his defense by punting on fourth-and-9 late and was again let down. That’s a lower-percentage fourth down, of course, but so was Baltimore’s win probability at that point. This defense warrants no trust whatsoever right now.
