BALTIMORE (AP) — Jesse Minter's first game as coach looked like a fresh start for the Baltimore Ravens.
His second brought back all sorts of unpleasant memories.
Baltimore's 24-17 loss to New Orleans on Sunday was the type of defeat that helped cost John Harbaugh his job after a long tenure with the Ravens. So it's not something Minter wants to be repeating.
Lose at home? Check.
Squander a double-digit lead? Check.
Dominated in the fourth quarter? Check.
The new staff even had its own why-didn't-they-just-give-the-ball-to-Derrick-Henry moment when Lamar Jackson threw a deep incompletion on third-and-1 in the final period. The ensuing punt led to New Orleans' game-winning drive.
“I am focused on creating a mentality and continuing to create a mentality that we play our style in those big moments. I felt like guys start pressing a little bit, and you start trying to make plays, and you are searching for that big play in those key moments,” Minter said Monday. “I have said this a bunch — in reality, it is your identity as a player (that) needs to show up in those crunch-time situations. You don’t have to go be somebody else. You don’t have to go out of the scheme or out of sorts from a play-caller standpoint and from a player standpoint.”
For most of the day, the Ravens (1-1) seemed on their way to a routine victory, albeit an unspectacular one, with injuries already hurting the offense. Then New Orleans had touchdown drives of nine and 16 plays in the fourth.
“The consensus amongst the team is like, everyone is kind of tired of doing what we just did,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “I think it is a lot of older guys — a lot of guys that it just feels like it is time.”
Coaches talk about playing complementary football. The Ravens did that in a 41-23 win over Indianapolis in Week 1. They did the opposite Sunday. The defense wilted at the end, but it was basically fine for the first three quarters, and during that stretch the offense didn’t do enough to build a bigger lead.
On special teams, Baltimore had a kick blocked and — with 24 seconds left in the first half — allowed a long kickoff return that enabled the Saints to steal three points before the break.
The Ravens were able to maintain their offensive balance despite being without injured receivers Zay Flowers and Ja'Kobi Lane. Rashod Bateman had seven catches for 88 yards and a touchdown, and Mark Andrews had six receptions for 49 yards. Five other players caught passes as well.
The offensive line went into the game with concerns on its left side. Both Ronnie Stanley (toe) and John Simpson (groin) were able to play, but Stanley missed 12 snaps and it's probably no coincidence the offense sputtered after he left the game.
Jackson looks more spry this year but still took three sacks Sunday.
Mike Green had a third-quarter sack and played nearly half the defensive snaps after playing under a third of them in Week 1.
The secondary had a hard time with New Orleans receiver Chris Olave, and the Ravens allowed New Orleans to go 8 of 15 on third down and 2 of 2 on fourth. The Saints converted third-and-13 twice, third-and-8 twice and third-and-7 once.
In addition to the issues on the offensive line and at receiver, the Ravens still weren't able to get defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) back last weekend.
“I feel like we will have a good shot with a lot of guys this week, which is encouraging,” Minter said. "We will know more probably Wednesday, but I think we are on a positive trajectory with a lot of those guys having a chance to be back.”
Since 2021, the Ravens have lost 15 games when leading after three quarters, the most in the NFL. Yes, that's in part because they've had a lot of those leads, but their record of 42-15 in that situation is significantly worse than other contending teams like Buffalo (53-6), Philadelphia (50-7), San Francisco (49-6) and Kansas City (44-7).
The Ravens head to Brazil for a marquee Week 3 matchup with Dallas on Sunday.
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