There are going to be some long film sessions in Owings Mills this week when the Ravens review the fourth quarter against the Miami Dolphins.
The Ravens gave up four touchdown passes, including two long passes from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill, that allowed Miami to tie the score. Tagovailoa’s seven-yard pass to Jaylen Waddle with 14 seconds left gave the Dolphins a stunning 42-38 come-from-behind victory.
The Ravens led 28-7 at halftime and 35-14 at the end of the third quarter,
They then blew the largest lead in franchise history.
“I told the guys in the locker room, ‘How we respond to this, that will be the story.’ We have a 17-game season, this is the second week of the season,” coach John Harbaugh said. “What we do from here on out, everyone taking a hard look at what we did; coaches, players, everyone. Calls that we made, plays that we made, plays that we didn’t make, and let’s come out of here a better football team for it and get to work and get ready for the next game against New England in New England.”
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) September 18, 2022
What happened?
After getting pressure on Tagovailoa throughout the first half, the Ravens rushed three players for much of the final quarter. With the extra time and his mobility skills, Tagovailoa picked them apart.
The Ravens had major injuries in the secondary as cornerback Brandon Stephens couldn’t play because of a quad injury and Marlon Humphrey was sidelined with a groin issue late in the game. Marcus Peters was back in the lineup for the first time since 2020 and had some rust issues. He was beaten by Hill for one of those long scores.
Tagovailoa threw for 469 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. That was a Patrick Mahomes-like performance.
The Ravens’ secondary was dominated by Hill (11 receptions, 190 yards, two touchdowns) and Waddle (11 receptions, 171 yards, two scores). Those two players consistently got behind the Ravens’ cornerbacks and safeties.
New defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald will certainly have to make some adjustments. If Tagovailoa put up those big numbers, what are Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow going to be able to do?
Burrow already threw for almost 1,000 yards against the Ravens last season.
On a positive note, the Ravens’ offense is clicking, and scoring 38 points should be enough to win the game.
Lamar Jackson had an MVP-like performance, throwing for 318 yards with three touchdowns and having a career-high 79-yard scoring run. He finished 119 yards rushing and set an NFL record for games with 100 or more rushing yards for quarterbacks at 11.
“It’s not the Ravens of the past no more,” Jackson said. “This is the NFL; it’s a new era. We’ve got to play ball. We’ve got to know that if the passing is working, we’ve got to keep passing it – if we’re doing it. We had some success running the ball, because we did score on the long one – we aren’t going to say that – but we’ve just got to finish. That’s the main thing because we were up. We’ve just got to finish, man – all phases.”
Jackson was not the problem.
Rashod Bateman has shown that he is a true No. 1 wide receiver. One week after catching a 55-yard touchdown against the Jets, Bateman had a 75-yard TD against the Dolphins. Bateman also gets yards after the catch much better than Marquise Brown, an area where the Ravens’ wide receivers have struggled in the past.
So, it’s only Week 2 and it’s not all Gloom and Doom.
But the Ravens have to get better.
5 Responses
Memo to all those clamoring to pay Lamar……he doesn’t play defense! With no pass rush and poor line backing, the secondary doesn’t stand a chance against an accurate passer, which Tua proved to be yesterday! And, without a running game, no way to control the tempo of the game to keep opposing offenses off the field! Yep, this is the new “PFL”, as in Passing Football League, courtesy of draconian rules that make pass coverage more challenging than ever! And, with all the attention Lamar is bound to get by opponents, his ability to stay healthy is dubious at best! In fact, watching him flip into end zone again yesterday after going untouched begs this question……what in the hell are you risking yourself unnecessarily to injury for?!
Worst take ever. Just say it for everyone to see ” You are a Lamar Hater” I could I could use another word but I’ll resist. Any logical reasonable person doesn’t take away from that game “Don’t Pay Lamar ” or we can’t pay Lamar after he puts up an Alltime MVP Performance. That’s what insane person says. And if you are complaining about defense breaking down etc vast majority of the finances are spent on defense so that tells you something. Maybe they shouldn’t put 100mil a yr into a secondary which goes to the IR yr after yr.
As for the overarching problem, They can’t run the ball without 8. Until they do, they can’t salt away games and leads in the second half with Time of possession! Thats Ravens football.
No clue what you’re ranting about! Jackson was sensational, but the defense lost this game, which prompted the response about his not playing defense! And,mtgsts where they’ve spent a ton of money!
Don’t know what you’re ranting about! Jackson was spectacular, but the defense lost the game and that’s where they’ve spent the most money and he doesn’t play defense! Get it now?