Two sleeps later, it still feels no better. The Baltimore Ravens loss to the San Diego Chargers Sunday hurt in so many ways.
The Ravens lost to the Chargers because their defense just wasn’t good enough to win the game, and their offense stalled out too many times in the red zone. The Ravens loss has nothing, and I repeat, nothing, to do with the pass interference in the end zone on the Chargers last drive.
Think about this for a minute… when you score first and score 33 points at home, you should win.
When you have a 10-point lead in the 4th quarter at home, you should win.
When you don’t turn the ball over and win the turnover margin, you should win.
When you have a running back rush for over 120 yards and score on seven of nine drives, you should win the game.
But the Ravens did not.
It had nothing to do with the officiating. The Ravens simply were not good enough. Even scoring 33 points, the Ravens offense wasn’t good enough. Four of the seven red zone trips ended in field goals, not touchdowns. That won’t do.
The Ravens offense needed to be better. Why? Because their defense is not good… not good at all.
Baltimore committed 14 penalties, including Elvis Dumervil lining up three times in the neutral zone, and pretty close numerous other times. The only time the Ravens have committed more penalties was the infamous game in Detroit in 2005 when they were flagged 21 times.
The Ravens have given up 965 yards of total offense and 71 points in just the last two games. The Black and Purple are turning Black and Blue when they face premier quarterbacks.
San Diego converted nine of 11 third downs… that’s the highest percentage rate (81.8%) by an opponent in Ravens history.
The Ravens secondary simply couldn’t stop anyone and they certainly couldn’t cover anyone. Yes, they have struggled with injuries, but Ozzie Newsome’s job is to find “the next man up” and injuries cannot be an excuse. This team should be good enough to win the AFC North. Offensively, they are. Defensively, they have the playmakers to do the job, but they just simply aren’t.
With the Dolphins win Monday night, there are now six teams in the AFC with a 7-5 record that are fighting for the 6th and final playoff spot.
AFC playoff seedings as of now: 1. Patriots; 2. Broncos; 3. Cincinnati; 4. Indianapolis; 5. San Diego; 6. Miami.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 2, 2014
The Ravens controlled their own fate, but not any longer. They play at Miami, home against Jacksonville, at Houston, and home against Cleveland. Going 3-1 in those games will get them to 10 wins, but it won’t get them to the playoffs this year.
The Ravens playoffs should have started this past Sunday. But they lost.
They now have no room left for error.
The next game they lose will end their season, it’s that simple.
