The Baltimore Ravens fell to 1-5 on Sunday with a 17-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Unlike their Week 5 showing against the Texans, there were actually some positives to take away from Baltimore’s performance, but as in any loss, there were still plenty of negatives. Let’s get into them!
The Good
Derrick Henry: One of the biggest issues with the Ravens offense in their recent losses was the lack of focus and rhythm in the running game, especially last week with a backup quarterback. On Sunday, the Ravens seemed
absolutely intent on rectifying that. Henry was a focal point for much of the game, except for a goal-to-go situation before the half (more on that later) and a few pass-heavy drives in the fourth quarter. Henry had 24 carries for 122 yards, good for 5.1 yards per carry. The explosive gains weren’t there yet – his longest rush was only 12 yards – but it’s the best this run game has looked since Week 1. Hopefully the team can build off it going forward.
DeAndre Hopkins: He continues to see limited targets each week compared to his output, but it seems like he makes a spectacular catch every game. Some call it ‘vintage Hopkins’, but in reality, that version of him didn’t go anywhere. It will be great to see QB1 targeting him again soon.
Defense: It wasn’t clean. Heck, it probably wasn’t even good. But compared to how it’s been, this is the best the defense has looked all season outside of Week 2 against the Browns. They were aided heavily by missed throws, dropped passes, and Rams’ penalties, but the Ravens defense had some of the tightest coverage all season and finally managed to have some success against the run again. Matthew Stafford only passed for 181 yards, and the Rams only ran for 74 yards as a team. Even Marlon Humphrey looked better than his pre-injury form. The pass rush is still basically nonexistent despite the two sacks on the stat sheet, but so expect the Ravens may need to make some personnel and scheme changes during the bye week.
Tyler Loop: Loop passed another test on Sunday with the wind swirling at M&T Bank Stadium. He was only asked to make three kicks – a 37-yard field goal and two kickoffs – but he delivered all three times. Crucially, he drove the ball through the wind to avoid another kickoff penalty, something he struggled with early in the year.
LaJohntay Wester: Wester has been fairly consistent in his rookie season as the punt returner without dazzling the way he did in the preseason. But he was in the spotlight for the wrong reason on Sunday with a fumble on his first punt return. Luckily, it was called back due to a penalty. Wester bounced back on the re-punt with a 35-yard return that gave the Ravens their best field position of the day.
Lamar Jackson: The best part of this game came after it ended when head coach John Harbaugh confirmed that Jackson was expected after the bye week. While this has been the expectation, it was nice to hear the head coach say it out loud. The Ravens are 1-5, and their only chance of making a playoff run is with Jackson under center.
The Bad
Cooper Rush: Rush wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t good, either. He hit a couple of throws and missed others with a terrible interception to a tightly-covered Zay Flowers. Overall, it did not seem Rush was going through his progressions; his best plays were on quick reads. He also got the Rams to jump on two straight plays to turn a 3rd-and-8 into a first down.
Unfortunately, there’s a clear disconnect between what the offense needs at quarterback and what Rush can do. He hasn’t protected the ball well or run the offense cleanly for more than a few drives. There was a clear spark when Tyler Huntley entered the game in the fourth quarter, and while he still committed the cardinal sin of throwing the ball away on fourth down, he’s clearly a better fit for this offense. Rush had a 53.1 PFF grade compared to Huntley’s 66.2. They both finished with the same passing grade but Huntley adds the element of the run game that Rush simply can’t replicate. The Ravens should probably make Huntley the top backup and see if they can get a return on Rush elsewhere, or at least move on from him in the offseason.
The edge rushers: Injuries have played a big role in the Ravens’ struggles this season, especially along the defensive line. Now the outside linebacker room is shorthanded as well. Adisa Isaac is missing much of his second season from a preseason injury, just like his rookie year. Kyle Van Noy was sidelined for a few games, and though Odafe Oweh was not living up to expectations, trading him did thin the team’s OLB depth.
To make matters worse, Tavius Robinson suffered a broken foot on Sunday, leaving the Ravens with only Van Noy, Green, and David Ojabo on the roster. Green has been disappointing considering his draft billing; the same has been true of Ojabo for years. Even Van Noy was not his usual self against the Rams. In fact, none of Baltimore’s edge rushers generated a single pressure on Sunday, an ugly stat that summarizes this group this season.
The Ravens have the time to figure out how they are going to reinforce this position during the bye week, and they will need to find answers in the long-term as well.
The Ugly
Goal line play calling: It was the biggest blunder of the game. The defense managed to hold the Rams’ to three points the entire first half, but the Ravens had only managed a single field goal of their own. Following Wester’s bounce-back punt return, Derrick Henry ran the ball five straight times to get the Ravens to the one-yard line. Then came a cacophony of madness. Instead of allowing Henry to finish his drive, they ran their tush-push play with Mark Andrews under center two times. Both were stuffed. Then instead of just running it a third time to go a half yard into the end zone, they chose to go back to Henry on fourth down. The offensive line collapsed and Henry was stuffed for a two yard loss. This was arguably the most impactful sequence of the game. Instead of going into the half up 10-3, the Ravens stayed tied with the Rams, who got the ball coming out of halftime.
Baltimore has struggled in the red zone all year, and Monken’s play-calling has drawn a lot of criticism, especially the decision not to go to Henry. But a lack of consistency might be the bigger issue. Why can the Ravens run their tush push sometimes and not others? Why does their 250-pound running back get stuffed at the goal line? The Ravens do not have answers to these questions, and it felt like they panicked after the tush push did work. Instead, they should have picked a plan from second down and stick with it. Either run Henry three times or run the push play three times. Don’t do one twice then hope the other can save your failures on fourth down.
Fumbles: The Ravens were actually in this game for longer than expected. Despite the aforementioned goal line sequence, the defense kept the Rams to three points in the first half. Los Angeles scored on the opening possession of the second half, and rather than responding with points, Zay Flowers lost the football on the first play of the Ravens’ next drive. The Rams recovered and followed it up with a touchdown. Now down 17-3, the Ravens responded with a 13-play drive that got inside the Rams’ 30 yard line. With a chance to make it a one score game, Cooper Rush and Flowers mishandled a jet sweep handoff, fumbling it away once more. The defense perform admirably, but the offense quite literally dropped the ball.
