It’s Monday, Flock Nation, and unfortunately, it was all very, very real.
This has to be a bad dream. How did we lose this game?!
— Justin Forsett (@JForsett) October 16, 2022
The Ravens once again found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by blowing another second-half lead against the Giants on Sunday, and it did not take long for the blame to start flying.
In 10 minutes of postgame radio:
* Fire John Harbaugh
* Fire Mike MacDonald
* Fire Greg Roman
* Trade Lamar— Kyle Phoenix Barber (@KylePBarber) October 16, 2022
Now does any of this happen? Well, Lamar Jackson isn’t going anywhere, and the Ravens prioritize stability at every turn, and a major mid-season firing would fly in the face of that philosophy.
But, as my good friend Ronald Toothe reminds us, the Ravens have pulled the trigger on such a move before.
Time is a flat circle. pic.twitter.com/8R4tAWQ8Xy
— Ronald Toothe (@_QuoththeRavens) October 16, 2022
Speaking of Lamar Jackson, It was another maddening afternoon from the former MVP, with stretches of struggles interrupted by periodic displays of brilliance.
He would do things like this…
Lamar is pure magic in the open field ✨
(via @Ravens)pic.twitter.com/yPvlBja8qe
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 16, 2022
…and this…
Lamar floats it to Mark Andrews 🙌 #RavensFlock
📺: #BALvsNYG on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/a2TYogddvg pic.twitter.com/8nIILC3MNY— NFL (@NFL) October 16, 2022
…and yet the game still turned on this play:
The Giants win probability increased from 17% to 57% on their first interception this season.
Xaiver McKinney pressured Lamar Jackson after a high snap, his 5th pressure this season (T-most among safeties).#BALvsNYG | #TogetherBlue pic.twitter.com/o3t7vIfd3P
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 16, 2022
Despite another strong – albeit turnover-less – day from the defense, the offense simply could not put points on the board when it mattered. I’ll present the next three tweets without comment and let you draw your own conclusions.
Ravens pick up first down on QB sneak, but it's coming back because of an illegal formation. More Ravens mistakes.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) October 16, 2022
The Ravens haven't scored a second-half touchdown since the waning minutes of their win in New England.
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) October 16, 2022
(this was just prior to the above Andrews TD, so they at least snapped that streak…)
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. -Albert Einstein
— marlonhumphrey.eth (@marlon_humphrey) October 16, 2022
And yes, Marlon Humphrey did actually tweet that out after the game.
It doesn’t take Einstein to see that something is wrong in Baltimore, and the Ravens need to figure it out.
The Ravens do not face a team with a winning record the remainder of the season.
— Daniel Rees (@DPRees8) October 17, 2022
Ignore their easy upcoming schedule; no opponent is below a team that’s sabotaging itself at the worst times.
4 Responses
It starts at the top with an old school HC whose ultra conservative keep it close and play not to lose control style philosophy where there is no killer instinct and mistakes are magnified and costly! As Marlon Humphrey observed: doing the same things and expecting different results is…….insane! And, if the HC refuses to change, then it’s time to change the HC!
It’s too easy for fans to criticize coaches. We are far less likely to criticize players because as fans, we can’t picture ourselves in their roles. They are younger, faster, stronger and more talented than we ever were.
But a coach is just a middle-aged donut-eating guy with a beer gut and a ball cap, just like us. It’s easy to imagine ourselves in that role, despite the fact that we know relatively squat compared to coaches, who have spent years scouting players, watching game film and devising plays.
Hell, we’ve watched college games. We’ve seen some All-22. We’ve learned some cool terminology! With the superpower of hindsight, we can point out the errors and beat our chests about the idiocy of the people who had to make the decisions without information about the outcome.
It’s just too easy and too cheap a criticism.
This is Harbaugh’s team! He gets credit for wins and losses and ultimately must take responsibility for his team’s performance! It’s also his prerogative and responsibility to make changes and adjustments when what they’re doing isn’t working! That’s part of what coaches do and he seems reluctant to change! So, you’re entitled to your opinion and I’m entitled to……mine!
You got it right “Some”! Everybody wants the quick pill to make it better but this thing called football is a complex attempt to bring a bunch of crazy variables together and produce a result.