There it was, sitting right there in front of them. The Ravens’ first ever regular-season victory in New England against Tom Brady and company looked within reach.
And then, it was gone in the blink of an eye.
When Kenneth Dixon hauled in an eight-yard touchdown pass to bring the Ravens within a touchdown from taking the lead against the Patriots, it appeared as if the momentum had been sucked out of the air at Gillette Stadium. Two New England special teams gaffes gave the visitors new life, and the offense was able to take advantage. Justin Tucker then drilled a 38-yard field goal to get the Ravens within three points.
The Patriots set up at their own 21-yard line with 6:28 to play. A stop would get the Ravens’ offense the ball back with the chance to tie or take the lead. Instead, on New England’s very first play, Tom Brady found Chris Hogan wide open behind the Ravens secondary for a 79-yard touchdown strike.
“It wasn’t Matt Elam’s play to make, for the coverage, before we start pointing fingers,” John Harbaugh stated following the loss that dropped the Ravens to the eighth seed in the AFC playoff race.
It appeared to many that Elam fell, leaving Hogan uncovered on the play. (Our own FILMSTUDY thinks the defense was misaligned).
“I’m not getting into all that,” replied Harbaugh when the veteran HC was asked whose play it was to make. “Never do, never will.”
While that play was the proverbial dagger, it was by far the only one to contribute to the loss – there was plenty not to like. The poor clock management by Harbaugh, the lack of urgency from the offense in the final minutes of the game, the dink-&-dunk game plan by Marty Mornhinweg, and of course the continued poor play of Devin Hester.
There was also the porous play of the secondary once cornerback Jimmy Smith suffered what Harbaugh called a high ankle sprain.
There is plenty to point to when we look back upon why the Ravens lost this game. Still, Hogan’s long touchdown stung the most. Even after all the errors made by the Ravens for 53 minutes, the game was there for the taking.
Fighting for their playoff lives
This hardly looked like the team that choked out the Miami Dolphins a week earlier.
As the Ravens are already looking ahead to Sunday’s game against Philadelphia, Harbaugh and company are fighting for their postseason lives.
“Yes, absolutely, we know where we stand and the situation we are in,” said Harbaugh. “And that we basically have to win three games, you know, and [we are] certainly fully capable of doing that.
“That’s what we intend to do, but all the focus goes to the next game. That’s what I told the guys in the locker room, pack up the buses as quick as we can, get back to Baltimore and get to work on Philadelphia. It’s a very good Eagles team that we are playing on a short week.
“We’ve got to get healthy and we’ve got to get rested and we’ve got to get prepared. We’ve got to go play our best football next Sunday in M&T Bank Stadium. We are going to need our crowd man, we are going to need our crowd in full force, because we are making a run for the AFC North title and it starts with that game.
“We have to win that game. And that’s what we will be preparing for.”
Here’s hoping they prepare a bit better than they apparently did this week.
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