Glenn Clark: Ravens’ Loss To Jaguars Nothing More Than A Close Road Loss, Unless …

Like usual, it probably isn’t quite as dramatic as you felt it was in the immediate aftermath.

And yet … it could still prove to be.

The Ravens’ 28-27 Week 12 loss to the Jaguars was at least as disappointing as it was surprising. The offense failed to capitalize on opportunities. The defense wilted in the game’s most important moments. Even a typically stellar special teams unit mixed in some puzzling decisions in the return game. And speaking of puzzling decisions, the coaching staff bears some responsibility for the outcome as well.

While the Ravens lost by just one point, it was without question a deserved result. There was complicity nearly from top to bottom. It was a reminder that for as good as the Ravens are (don’t kid yourself, they’ve held second-half leads in every game they’ve played), their margin for error remains strikingly small.

The Ravens don’t present nearly enough at wide receiver to be an explosive offense. They need to run the ball well and play defense to find success. In Jacksonville, they got Gus Edwards back on the field and yet … they didn’t run the ball particularly well. The running backs averaged exactly 3 yards per carry (certainly burdened by Ronnie Stanley’s absence). And their defense was ripped apart by the dynamic duo of … Zay Jones and JaMycal Hasty.

The run game wasn’t on. The defense wasn’t on. It could be argued that it was fairly remarkable that they still had so many chances to win the game and only lost by one point. I imagine no one will choose to make that argument (myself included), but I can acknowledge it exists. Like supreme pizza.

This thought crossed my mind in the immediate aftermath of the loss. “If the Ravens’ only path to winning a Super Bowl is by running the ball and playing defense and they weren’t even able to do it against the Jaguars, isn’t that concrete proof that they won’t be able to do it against the best teams in the AFC in the playoffs?”

And you thought I said the loss wasn’t as dramatic as you were making it out to be.

Alas, it’s a negative. While the Ravens were again gutted defensively late in the game, we do have to consider how depleted the secondary was. Top cornerback Marlon Humphrey missed many of the biggest plays of the game due to an ankle issue. After playing well in recent weeks, safety Kyle Hamilton missed the game altogether. The Ravens are still hoping to get safety Marcus Williams back before the regular season is over.

It felt like the Ravens were trending toward potentially becoming a dominant defense. The loss to the Jaguars certainly hurts the level of faith that they’ll be able to get there. But strange games happen in the NFL. It is plausible to consider that with an even-more-banged-up-than-usual secondary, what we saw is not a fair representation of what this defense can (or will) be.

That’s why I’m inclined to say that this isn’t quite as dramatic a loss as many of you are making it out to be. It’s more like “the type of loss that happens in the NFL because the other team is often trying too.” (See Colts vs. Chiefs, Week 3.) That doesn’t absolve the Ravens of blame or responsibility. There’s no way to describe this as an “acceptable” loss. It could prove to be the difference in why they haven’t clinched the AFC North ahead of their Week 18 matchup with the Bengals, preventing them from having the chance to rest their starters if they don’t have a playoff bye.

But we shouldn’t make this out to be anything more than a close road loss with a banged-up secondary.

Unless of course it proves to be more than that. We are forced to acknowledge that there is a chance this could be a crack in the foundation. The Ravens have to get back to running the ball and playing defense. A visit from the Broncos presumably should help. If they’re not able to do so, this could prove to be a house of cards. There just aren’t other paths available for this team to experience serious success.

But for now, it’s one loss. Which is a thing that happens to … everyone in the NFL sometimes.

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox

Glenn Clark

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