The Baltimore Ravens appeared to be on their way to another surprising win with Tyler Huntley at the helm of their offense, taking a 13-0 lead into halftime against the Cincinnati Bengals.
But Baltimore’s defense completely folded in the second half with no support from an offense that managed just two first downs after their first drive on the third quarter. The Bengals dropped 35 unanswered points, leading to a dismal 35-13 final result that leaves the Ravens at 4-3 heading into a tough stretch
with two games against division-leading teams in the next 11 days. Here are Baltimore Beatdown’s instant reactions to Sunday’s loss:
Nikhil Mehta
Jesse Minter and Anthony Weaver should have to watch that second half before every single one of their defensive meetings for the rest of the season. Allowing four straight touchdown drives out of halftime – three of at least 65 yards – is completely inexcusable for what is supposed to be one of the better defenses in the NFL. On every play, the Ravens seemed to be a second behind, unable to finish plays in the backfield or limit explosive passes over the top. Those struggles distracted from another woeful second half from an offense that simple cannot get out of its own way with procedural penalties. Vega Ioane’s knee injury also seemed to have a major impact with a steep drop-off in right guard play to Emery Jones. But regardless of his personnel issues, Declan Doyle’s inability to figure out short yardage is maddening. Even when Lamar Jackson is back, this team has major issues that currently will keep them far from the AFC North crown.
Stephen Bopst
I’m not really sure where you go from here if you’re the Ravens. I don’t know if the stats would support this but this must be one of the more stark performance differences between a second half and first half in NFL history. The Ravens completely dominated the first half – but it didn’t matter. Predictably, they fell apart the moment the second half started allowing the Bengals to score touchdowns on every drive. Offensively, the Ravens couldn’t do much in the second half and couldn’t convert in short yardage or in the red zone – even when the offense was productive. Even if Lamar Jackson comes back healthy, there’s no way to have optimism about them. The offensive line can’t hold a block, the defense can’t tackle, and the pass rush completely disappeared in the second half. This looks like the same team from last year that’s been covered up by an easy schedule. It might be an overreaction, but Jesse Minter and Eric DeCosta’s seats should be warming up a little.
Kevin McNelis
The fanbase used to be angry about this. Then they became numb. Now, I think we might all actually be expecting the blown leads.
I’m grateful that Lamar is expected back next week, but he’s going to need to put on a master class if they have any hope of keeping pace in the next couple of games. I don’t know what the plan was in the second half on defense, but the absences of Tavius Robinson, Jaylinn Hawkins and Roquan Smith (for a potion of the half) should never have had an impact like that. To have an opponent score touchdowns on five straight possessions is inexcusable. Back-to-back weeks of getting humiliated on defense by division opponents has this defense looking mentally broken, and I’m not sure how they fix it.
Dustin Cox
The Ravens being this helpless without Lamar Jackson is not a good sign for this team going forward. I truly do not understand how the defense could allow 35 points in the second half after shutting the Bengals out through the first two quarters. Missed tackles, blown coverages, and a lack of finishing sacks has haunted this unit for years now and I am completely lost on how Jesse Minter is supposed to go about fixing it. Giving up plays to a talented Cincinnati offense was always expected, but 35 points in one half is simply inexcusable with the resources invested into the defense and a highly-touted defensive head coach now. On offense, I would love to say that the issues boiled down to Jackson’s absence, but the problems go beyond just quarterback play. The offensive line continues to be a revolving door due to injuries, with Vega Ioane being the latest, while Short-yardage situations feel impossibly hard. Derrick Henry, when not getting hit behind the line of scrimmage, has not looked like usual dominant self outside of a few games this season. Declan Doyle needs to seriously consider giving another running back the ball on short-yardage runs going forward. Getting Jackson back next week will help tremendously, but Minter, Doyle, Anthony Weaver, and Anthony Levine Sr. all have some serious soul searching to do after these past two losses.
Zach Canter
The Ravens are a bad team right now. The roster needs a massive reset. Lamar Jackson doesn’t add enough to fix what happened here. The offensive line is too soft to get a yard when it’s 3rd/4th-and-short, and losing Vega Ioane isn’t enough to take the entire blame there. The scripted plays and drives on offense were great again, but Huntley once again couldn’t do much outside of that and they didn’t convert in the red zone enough. The defense pissed down their leg in the second half once more, giving up 35 unanswered.
I’m over blaming coaches. We blamed Harbaugh and Orr and Monken and Roman and Macdonald (early in his career). Now everybody wants to be mad at Minter and Doyle. But I’m over it.
The players aren’t good enough.
They are mentally and physically soft. Minter and Doyle aren’t perfect. But eventually players need to be held accountable.
