BALTIMORE — Zay Flowers walked slowly to the sideline as the boos rained down at M&T Bank Stadium. Flowers and quarterback Cooper Rush had mishandled a potential jet sweep by Flowers, and the Rams pounced on the loose ball for the Ravens’ third turnover of the day.
For an offense trying to cobble together drives without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson, the execution wasn’t nearly good enough as the reeling Ravens fell, 17-3, to the visiting Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 12 for their fourth straight loss.
“We didn’t do the things that you have to do to win the game,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We made some critical mistakes that cost us an opportunity to win the game, and that’s really what it boils down to.”
The Ravens — a preseason Super Bowl favorite in Las Vegas — thus head into their bye week at 1-5, matching the worst six-game start in franchise history. Since the playoff format expanded in 2020, only one team that started 1-5 has made the postseason. (The Washington Commanders won their division at 7-9 in 2020.)
With Rush making his second straight start in place of Jackson, who suffered a hamstring injury at Kansas City in Week 4, the Ravens engineered a 12-play, 53-yard drive on their opening possession and took a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Tyler Loop with 7:22 left in the first quarter.
But they never scored again and ended with their lowest scoring output at home since they were shut out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 25-0, in 2002.
The Ravens’ maligned defense, which entered the game ranked 31st in the league, held the high-powered Rams without a touchdown in the first half as the teams slogged to a 3-3 halftime tie.
Both teams should have scored more. Rams kicker Joshua Karty doinked a 26-yard field-goal attempt off the right upright on the Rams’ first drive. The Ravens, meanwhile, squandered a golden opportunity on their final drive in the half, failing to score on three plays from the Rams’ 1-yard line.
Tight end Mark Andrews was stuffed twice on “tush push” plays, and then Derrick Henry was dropped for a loss on fourth-and-goal.
But Matthew Stafford and the Rams scored two touchdowns less than two minutes apart early in the third quarter — aided greatly by a fumble by Flowers — and that proved to be plenty of cushion against the Ravens’ anemic offense.
Stafford, who finished 17-for-26 for 181 yards, threw a 30-yard pass to running back Kyren Williams on fourth-and-2 from the Ravens’ 33-yard line. On the next play, Williams slashed off a hole on the right side for a 3-yard score to put the Rams ahead, 10-3.
On the Ravens’ next possession, Flowers fumbled as he tried to pick up extra yardage after making a catch, and the Rams recovered and returned the fumble to the Ravens’ 21-yard line. Two plays later, Stafford found wide-open tight end Tyler Higbee for an 8-yard touchdown and a 17-3 Rams lead early in the third quarter.
Given the struggles of the Ravens’ offense without Jackson, that deficit felt insurmountable, and it was.
Looking for a spark, the Ravens turned to Tyler Huntley at quarterback in the fourth quarter. While Huntley did engineer a sustained drive that included a 19-yard scramble on fourth-and-12, the drive ultimately ended with Huntley, under pressure, throwing incomplete on fourth down, and that sent disgruntled Ravens fans headed to the exits en masse.
Here are five quick impressions of the loss, which drop the Ravens to 4-12 in games not started by Lamar Jackson since he became the full-time starter midway through the 2018 season:
1. The Ravens desperately need Lamar Jackson back, and that still might not be nearly enough.
Head coach John Harbaugh and running back Derrick Henry both insisted after the game that all of the team’s goals are still in front of them, and they spoke like two people just dazed that they find themselves 1-5 entering the bye week.
“It is still a long season,” Henry said. “We still have time to win the division and set ourselves up to have a good season. I know we’re 1-5, and it doesn’t look good … but we still have a lot of games left ahead of us.”
No one can fault Harbaugh and his players for looking through purple-colored glasses, but it’s clear that unless they get Lamar Jackson back at quarterback, none of it will matter. And even if they do get him back, they have a lot of other issues to fix.
In two games, Cooper Rush has looked nothing like a quarterback that can lead the Ravens on any sustained winning streak. He finished 11-for-19 for 72 yards and was ultimately yanked for Tyler Huntley, who went 10-for-15 for 68 yards.
In two starts, Rush has thrown four interceptions and lost a fumble. (Technically, he was charged with the fumble when he and Flowers botched the jet sweep.)
Harbaugh said the plan was to play both quarterbacks, but there’s a saying that if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any quarterbacks. Neither Rush nor Huntley have inspired confidence that, even with a soft belly of the Ravens schedule coming up, they could lead the Ravens on the kind of run they will need to get back into playoff contention.
In seven quarters as the Ravens’ starter, Rush has led the offense to one touchdown.
Harbaugh suggested that the Ravens could have Jackson back when the Ravens next take the field against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 26. But even if they do, they’ll need to eliminate the turnovers, create more pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and win physical battles up front, something that isn’t happening nearly enough.
“Bad football will get you to 1-5,” wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins said, “so whatever you put out there, that’s how football works.”
This was considered a “Super Bowl or bust” season for the Ravens, with what was thought to be a deep roster and a lengthy list of pending free agents. It’s also become more clear than ever that this team is “Lamar Jackson or bust.”
2. The Ravens’ goal-line futility illustrated how they are just losing in the trenches.
The Ravens had three chances to score from inside the 1-yard late in the first half. They couldn’t do it.
With the defense stifling the Rams for the first half, the Ravens had a chance to take a 10-3 lead. Two runs by Derrick Henry got the Ravens to the Rams’ 1-yard line.
On second down, tight end Mark Andrews kept the ball on a “tush push” play, but he never reached the goal line. On third down, Andrews tried again. Again he was stopped.
“We didn’t get any push,” Harbaugh said. “You’ve got to get ‘pad under pad,’ and you have to get push, and we didn’t do it. We’re a big, physical, offensive line with big physical guys. … We can do it well enough to score from inside the 1-yard line; there’s no question about that. I give the Rams credit, but that’s on us. That should get done.”
Then on fourth down from inside the 1, the Ravens went to a traditional alignment, but the Rams blew up the left side of the line and dropped Henry for a 2-yard loss.
“They wanted it more than us,” center Tyler Linderbaum said. “When it comes down to it, who wants it more?”
The Ravens’ offensive line has struggled to win physical one-on-one battles all season, and while Harbaugh last week had suggested that “everything is on the table” in terms of personnel and lineup changes, the Ravens didn’t make any changes to the line.
This group simply isn’t winning the physical battles enough, and that especially shows in short-yardage, power situations. The Ravens have run the ball on third-and-2 or less eight times this year, and they’ve gotten the first down on just three of them.
They sorely miss battering ram fullback Patrick Ricard, who is expected to be back from his calf injury to make his debut against Chicago, but the rest of the starting line — Stanley, left guard Andrew Vorhees, Linderbaum, right guard Daniel Faalele and right tackle Roger Rosengarten, just aren’t winning in the trenches.
3. Oweh trade, Robinson injury leave edge rush group perilously thin.
The Ravens traded edge rusher Odafe Oweh to the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this week, and that put the onus on the four remaining edge rushers — Kyle Van Noy, Tavius Robinson, David Ojabo and Mike Green — to step up.
Then in this game, the Ravens lost Robinson to a broken foot, rendering the remainder of his season in question. Robinson has been relatively quiet this year, with 17 tackles and two sacks, but he has been a durable workhorse who was on the field for 70 percent of the defensive snaps in the first five games.
Losing Robinson days after losing Oweh will leave this group scrambling and in need of some replacements, either via the practice squad, street free agents or a trade.
The edge rush group did not register a sack or a quarterback hit in this game. Green finished with three tackles, Van Noy had one and Ojabo did not have any. As of now, that is the edge rush group.
Malik Hamm is a Baltimore native who has spent two-plus seasons on the practice squad but has been sidelined extensively by injuries. Kaimon Rucker is an undrafted rookie on the practice squad. At the moment, those are the potential reinforcements.
Adisa Isaac, a third-round draft pick a year ago, is on injured reserve with an elbow injury.
The trade of Oweh and injury to Robinson is a tough one-two punch for this group, which was already struggling to make an impact. It will be interesting to see how general manager Eric DeCosta goes about addressing what is now an urgent need not just for production, but for bodies.
4. The defense showed up for embattled coordinator Zach Orr.
Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr has been a weekly punching bag on social media this year, with the Ravens ranked near the bottom in virtually defensive metric and allowing the most points in the league. Last week, a 44-10 loss to Houston might have been rock-bottom, as Orr’s depleted, injury-ravaged defense started five rookies and watched C.J. Stroud and a struggling Houston offense score on eight straight possessions.
Against the Rams, the defense came out with much more fire and intensity — and certainly having Pro Bowl defensive backs Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey back helped. Humphrey broke up a pass in the end zone for Rams receiver Puka Nacua, who entered the game as the league leader in both catches and receiving yards. (Nacua left the game for a while with a foot injury, and Humphrey hobbled off late.)
Safety Alohi Gilman, acquired just days ago from the Chargers in the Oweh trade, started, and he, Hamilton and Malaki Starks were on the field together in three-safety looks. That helped solidify the secondary.
Defensive lineman John Jenkins had one of the signature plays of the Ravens’ defensive effort, driving Rams center Coleman Shelton right back into quarterback Matthew Stafford, who fumbled. Jenkins scooped up the ball and rumbled for a short return.
Nacua finished with just two catches for 28 yards. The Rams, who came into the game averaging 289 passing yards, second-most in the league, finished with 181. Teddye Buchanan and Trenton Simpson combined on a sack of Stafford on fourth down to stuff one Rams drive.
The Ravens held the Rams to 74 rushing yards on 23 carries, and to 241 yards of total offense, 160 below their season average.
In short, the defense did enough to win. The offense just couldn’t produce enough to match.
But after the game, Jenkins gave a strong endorsement to Orr.
“I’ve seen a lot of football,” Jenkins said. “This is about my 13th year. … Zach is a good D.C. He’s been around a lot, and he’s just putting in the work. He’s so passionate about it. I stand behind him 110 percent.”
5. Major questions loom during the bye week.
John Harbaugh indirectly gave a vote of confidence to Orr after the game, saying, as he did a week ago, that he anticipated no coaching changes during the bye week.
“I don’t really have any plans to do that,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t think there’s any obvious move there that would make us better. … I love our guys. They work hard, and I think they’re doing a good job of coaching. I’m sure they want some things back, too. Certainly, we can do things better.”
For struggling teams, the bye week is often the time for a more substantial reset than during the weekly grind of the season. Sometimes coaching or other personnel decisions take place that week, and owner Steve Bisciotti can’t be happy with how things have unfolded this year.
Would he demand changes? Bisciotti highly values organizational continuity and is not prone to rash, impulsive moves, but it’s fair to wonder whether he will bend Harbaugh’s ear this week about changes to the staff.
DeCosta, too, has serious questions to consider with the roster, especially with the trade deadline coming on Nov. 4. DeCosta almost certainly needs to find another edge rusher now. He’s already swung one deal, but can he afford to be a buyer this year and deal away future draft capital with his team floundering at 1-5?
Does he consider becoming a seller, shedding some of the team’s pending free agents, to add for the future, but in effect punting on a season that began with such high expectation?
These are questions no one in the organization expected to be asking six weeks ago. And they have a very long bye week to reckon with what the rest of the season might look like, and who might be along for that potentially bumpy ride.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox