BALTIMORE — This was going to the night the struggling Ravens got right. Facing a Cincinnati defense that by virtually every metric ranked among the worst in the league, the Ravens seemed to have the ideal Thanksgiving recipe for an offense that has been scuffling mightily of late.
Instead, the Ravens invited only more questions about Lamar Jackson and the offense after the Ravens stumbled and bumbled their way to an error-prone 32-14 loss at M&T Bank Stadium before a national-television audience on Thanksgiving night.
The Ravens (6-6) came into the game riding a five-game winning streak, but they committed five turnovers, with four fumbles and an interception, and the Bengals pulled away in the second half.
“When you turn the ball over as much as we did tonight, that’s the story of the game,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “You can’t do it if you want to win football games.”
The Bengals (4-8), playing to keep their minuscule playoff hopes alive, got a boost from the return of All-Pro quarterback Joe Burrow, who had not played since Week 2 because of a turf toe injury. Burrow finished 24-for-46 for 261 yards and threw a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes.
That proved to be plenty against a Ravens offense that could not find much traction against a Bengals defense that came into the game ranked last in the league overall and 31st against the run and had given up more points than any team in the league.
Barring a one-play kneeldown at the end of the half, the Ravens had 12 offensive possessions, and five of them ended in turnovers. It marked the most turnovers in a game by a Ravens team in 12 years.
One of them summed up this game entirely. On one of the few good offensive drives the Ravens put together, Jackson hit tight end Isaiah Likely on a crossing pattern over the middle. Likely raced for an apparent touchdown, but he lost control of the ball just before crossing the goal line, and the ball bounced out of the end zone for a Bengals touchback.
“I just have to hold on to the ball and be more protective of the football,” Likely said. “The organization is in my hands.”
That led to a 74-yard scoring drive for the Bengals, and Evan McPherson’s third field goal of the first half, this one from 24 yards, gave the Bengals the lead for good at 9-7.
The defense kept the Ravens in the game early with multiple red-zone stops. The biggest came after Jackson fumbled and the Bengals recovered at the Ravens’ 2-yard line. But after netting 0 yards on three straight plays, the Bengals’ offense stayed on the field on fourth down, and Burrow’s pass intended for tight end Mike Gesicki fell incomplete with Kyle Hamilton draped all over him.
Jackson fumbled again late in the first half, and that set up McPherson’s fourth field goal for a 12-7 Cincinnati lead at the half.
The Bengals increased the lead to 19-7 on a terrific one-handed, 14-yard touchdown catch by tight end Tanner Hudson, but then the Ravens answered with one of their best drives of the game.
The drive began with Jackson’s 19-yard pass to Mark Andrews, finished with four catches and broke Derrick Mason’s record for the most catches in franchise history.
A few runs by Derrick Henry — who finished with 10 carries for 60 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown that have given the Ravens a quick 7-3 lead — and a 9-yard run by Jackson set up the Ravens at the Bengals’ 18-yard line. That’s when Keaton Mitchell took a toss to the right, got a key block from Zay Flowers and raced for a touchdown that trimmed the Bengals’ lead to 19-14.
But Burrow promptly marched the Bengals on another scoring drive. With both Marlon Humphrey and Alohi Gilman blitzing, Burrow found receiver Andrei Iosivas down the middle for a 29-yard score and a 26-14 Bengals lead with 15 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Ravens threatened to score on their next possession, but Jackson’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Demetrius Knight Jr. at the Bengals’ 8-yard line. He returned the ball to near midfield, and the Ravens offensive players made another long, frustrating walk to the sideline.
Here are five quick impressions of the loss, the Ravens’ first in the past five games against Cincinnati:
1. This Lamar Jackson isn’t leading the Ravens to the playoffs.
Lamar Jackson has missed three games with a hamstring injury, and he’s missed practice time over the past month with knee, ankle and toe injuries. After the game, he downplayed any injury concerns, but Jackson of late looks nothing like the two-time MVP quarterback who was always a threat to run and crisp through the air.
Jackson finished 17-for-32 for 246 yards and one interception, and his completion percentage (.531) was his lowest of the season. Perhaps most concerning was how many of his incompletions were badly off-target. He threw well over the head of Rashod Bateman on one play, and badly missed Zay Flowers a couple of times. Even a swing pass in the backfield to Keaton Mitchell, which should be a slam dunk of a throw, skipped on the ground in front of Mitchell and fell incomplete.
Jackson dismissed injury as the root of any probems, saying he just needs to be “more consistent.”
“I have to make those throws,” he said. “I don’t miss them in practice, so I shouldn’t be missing them in the game.”
In the past three weeks, Jackson has completed 44 of 80 passes (.550) with no touchdowns and three interceptions, and he’s been sacked nine times.
And Jackson is not generating scores for his team. For the third straight week, Jackson accounted for no touchdowns rushing or passing. That had never happened even twice in a row in his eight-year career until last week.
Tight end Mark Andrews vouched for Jackson, saying, “He’s our guy, and I have full trust in him.” That’s fine, and the right thing for a teammate to say, but the stark truth is this version of Lamar Jackson won’t be leading on the Ravens on any deep playoff run — and might not even get them there in the first place.
2. The offensive line remains a problem, and that’s on Eric DeCosta.
Lamar Jackson’s passing was not pretty, but one related problem throughout the season has been the level of duress Jackson has faced. It’s led directly to at least a couple of interceptions — one in this game off a deflection and one a couple of weeks ago when his throw glanced off the helmet of one of his linemen being pushed back into him.
Head coach John Harbaugh is tired of hearing chatter about his offensive line. He continually vouches for the group and bristles at questions about the line, but the questions arise weekly because weekly, the line is getting pushed around. The Ravens can’t run effectively between the tackles, they struggle in short-yardage situations and they are getting beaten by pressure.
In this game, Jackson lost a fumble at the Ravens’ 2-yard line when Joseph Assai blew past right tackle Roger Rosengarten and knocked the ball out of Jackson’s hand. The Ravens were fortunate their defense stood tall or this game might have gotten out of hand quickly.
Jackson has been sacked 27 times in nine games this season, compared with 23 sacks in 17 games last season. That could also be a function of receivers not getting open and Jackson being too deliberate with the ball, but it’s also about linemen simply losing their individual battles.
The Ravens made their first move along the line in this game when rookie Emery Jones was inserted at left guard for a few series in place of Andrew Vorhees. Jones, a third-round rookie, was making his Ravens debut after missing all spring and summer and the first 11 games while recovering from spring shoulder surgery. It’s unfair to view him as some sort of savior in his first NFL snaps, but maybe it’s a tacit acknowledgment that something needs to change.
But this shortcoming up front falls most squarely on general manager Eric DeCosta, who insisted he had the right players up front when he finalized the roster this summer. Mounting evidence suggests that was a bad miscalculation.
Yet in the midst of struggles, especially at the guard position with Vorhees and right guard Daniel Faalele, DeCosta didn’t give Harbaugh any better alternatives; it’s clear the coaching staff doesn’t view Ben Cleveland as an upgrade, and DeCosta failed to find any alternatives at the trade deadline. And to be clear, the issues extend beyond the guard position; it’s fair to say none of the five starting offensive linemen are playing as well as they did a year ago.
For better or worse, this is the group DeCosta has given to Harbaugh and offensive line coach George Warhop, who merits scrutiny in his own right. There’s been a lot of worse to go with the better.
3. The Ravens’ defense missed Nate Wiggins in the second half.
Nate Wiggins has turned into the Ravens best cover cornerback, and he was active in the first half as the Ravens held the Bengals out of the end zone despite multiple red-zone chances. Wiggins, though, left the game just before halftime with a foot injury and did not return.
Without Wiggins, the Ravens defense struggled to get off the field. The Bengals were 3-for-11 on third-down conversions in the first half, but then 4-for-4 in the third quarter, including a pair of touchdowns. They also were handed a first down on a third-down pass interference call against cornerback T.J. Tampa, who at times filled in for Wiggins.
And to their credit, the Bengals made the plays the Ravens did not. Tanner Hudson hauled in a beautiful one-handed touchdown catch. Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase were on time and on target more than Lamar Jackson was with anyone.
Chase last year had torched the Ravens for 21 catches for 457 yards — the most by any receiver against one team in one season in NFL history — and five touchdowns. He wasn’t quite as dominant in this game, but he finished with seven catches for 110 yards.
The Ravens secondary has been banged up, and Marlon Humphrey again was playing with his surgically repaired left hand taped up. Chidobe Awuzie again delivered a couple of nice pass breakups, but the absence of Wiggins proved to be a real loss for the Ravens. It’s no coincidence that Burrow and the Bengals found some rhythm once he left the game.
Afterward, head coach John Harbaugh said Wiggins’ injury is not serious, though Wiggins’ availability for the Ravens’ showdown against Pittsburgh is unclear. Wiggins’ availability will be one of the big storylines of the next week.
4. The offense looks broken, and the pressure is on Todd Monken.
For at least a month, the Ravens’ offense has looked fundamentally broken. Lamar Jackson doesn’t look right. The running game has not gotten in rhythm, save for a few big plays. The red zone has remained a problem.
There’s no bye week for self-scouting any more. The Ravens are down to five more weeks, fighting for their playoff lives, and the pressure is on offensive coordinator Todd Monken to figure out why this offense looks like it does and what can be done to fix it.
Is it as simple as Jackson’s health? He says that’s not an issue. So why is he misfiring so badly in games? Is it just the offensive line getting beaten at the point of attack? Is it the inability of receivers to get open, leading Jackson to hold the ball and take sacks? Is it predictability in play-calling?
Every week, Monken reiterates that success or failure comes down to scheme, coaching, and execution, and this ultimately falls on him. He has repeatedly said his job is to score points. The Ravens against the Bengals scored fewer points than any team the Bengals have played all season. In fact, in 10 straight games the Bengals had allowed at least 26 points. The Ravens were held to nearly half that.
The Ravens’ offense right now looks as broken as it has in the Lamar Jackson era, and this was probably one of the worst games of Jackson’s career.
Jackson has had three straight games with his lowest completion percentages of the season. Other than one big run, Derrick Henry continues to struggle to get going, and the Ravens forget about the run game for stretches. Body language is awful as players come off the field after a turnover or a failed third down. Frustration abounds.
Monken seems to be open to new ideas. Fans were encouraged to see Emery Jones get a look at guard. Keaton Mitchell is getting more involved. Maybe Monken needs to be reminded he has a receiver with 1,000 career catches in DeAndre Hopkins and make sure the ball finds him more than once a game.
Scheme, coaching, execution. It all starts with Monken. The pressure is on him to get it fixed, and fast.
5. The tenor of the AFC North has shifted again.
Riding a five-game winning streak, the Ravens were viewed as the prohibitive favorite to wrest control in the AFC North and take command from the fading Pittsburgh Steelers. But the way the Ravens looked in this game — and the way the Bengals looked — might have completely changed the calculus.
The Ravens could still find themselves in a tie for the division lead by Sunday night, depending the result of the game between the Steelers (6-5) and the Buffalo Bills (7-4). But if the Steelers win that game, they will have a one-game lead over the Ravens when they come to M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 7.
If the Ravens offense muddles through another mess like this, they could find themselves two games behind the Steelers — with a trip to see Joe Burrow and the Bengals again in Cincinnati the next week.
Head coach John Harbaugh reiterated after this burn-the-tape game that the NFL is a week-to-week league — “Every game stands alone” — and the Ravens need to hope that’s the case. What felt like steady momentum toward the AFC North title seems much different after watching this flawed offense badly exposed on national TV.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox