The Baltimore Ravens suffered their first loss of the season, a 33-28 defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. It came down to the final plays as Baltimore mounted a comeback attempt from a 17-point deficit.
While some fans are left irate after such a performance, there are things the Ravens can take away from this game that will make them better through the rest of the season. Here are the four takeaways from Baltimore’s 33-28 loss to Kansas City in Week 3.
Ravens need to balance their passing attack
Watching this game, you were probably wondering if Baltimore had traded away every wide receiver not named Marquise Brown. Quarterback Lamar Jackson mainly targeted Brown and all three tight ends to start the game, and it was painfully obvious at times as he missed open receivers in favor of his main targets. It took until the second quarter before Jackson targeted another wide receiver. By the fourth quarter, Jackson had targeted only Brown, the tight ends, running backs and wide receiver Willie Snead (twice).
It wouldn’t have been a problem had Brown been able to haul in any of those deep shots Jackson had been forcing to him. But he finished the game with nine targets and managed to catch just two passes, both of which occurred in the second half. Andrews didn’t fare much better, seeing seven targets and just three receptions. Kansas City put an emphasis on stopping those two pass catchers and clearly, it worked.
The Ravens opened up their offense in the fourth quarter, targeting Miles Boykin and Seth Roberts while more consistently running the football. It’s no shocker that they scored 17 of their 28 points with that style of play in the final quarter.
Ravens have to relax a little
The Ravens clearly felt they had to come out and do everything possible to beat the Chiefs, and I like that mentality — to a point. The occasional fourth-down attempt in an opponent’s territory is a show of trust in a young, burgeoning offense and is a limited risk. Doing so in your own territory twice on a single drive is foolish, though. And Baltimore got burned doing exactly that, giving Patrick Mahomes and the talented Chiefs offense a short field to score points — which they then did.
The Ravens have arguably the best punter in the league, Sam Koch. Had they punted on either of those fourth-down attempts in the first half, they would have likely pinned Kansas City deep in their own territory. While there’s no guarantee Mahomes doesn’t march down the field and put up a touchdown anyway, it forces the Chiefs to have to do it instead of handing them the points. Had they forced a punt or even a field goal instead, this game might have a different outcome.
The same goes for the two-point conversions. The Ravens attempted three in this game and failed to pick up any. The first can be excused somewhat, but Baltimore had quieted the stadium and allowed the crowd to get right back into the game with the stop. It also put them behind the eight-ball early.
One or two aggressive calls isn’t the end of the world and it can clearly be beneficial if they work. But this was a game that was undoubtedly going to be close, and by gambling so much, the Ravens effectively threw the dice on a handful of points that could have won them this game.
The officials are dreadful
Being an NFL official is a tough job, no doubt about it. Officials have to watch a lot of things simultaneously while having laser focus. Bad calls are bound to happen, though they should be pretty limited in scope.
But this year has been especially marred by inconsistent rulings, even within a single game and overzealous flag throwing. This was the case yet again today with quite a few ticky-tack and questionable penalties being called that absolutely killed the game for both teams. A roughing the passer penalty on Ravens outside linebacker Pernell McPhee and a holding call on Snead that was just a solid block either took points off the board or helped put them on in a game that was going to come down to the wire.
But the two worst calls are ones that just leave me scratching my head and ultimate has fans wondering which version of the officials we’ll see with every game. These are the reason we see so many memes of the officials from fans.
The first was a spot for tight end Mark Andrews, who was easily a yard short of the first-down marker. Yet the officials gave him the first down initially, forcing Kansas City to burn a much-needed challenge on something that should be a really basic part of the job.
The second was a no-call on offensive pass interference on what was a pretty blatant push-off from Roberts in the fourth quarter, even being upheld with replay. We’ve seen that be called a penalty before and we’ve seen it completely ignored while the defender fighting for position be flagged instead. There’s absolutely no consistency and in a five-point game, these are the single plays that can determine who wins. Fans and reports alike were left completely clueless on nearly every flag and replay in this game as to what the outcome would eventually be and that’s not good for the sport.
The Ravens didn’t lose because of the officials, they had plenty of their own issues. But the officials’ lackluster performance adds problems that teams have to fight around.
Someone please cover the flats
This is me outright calling for someone to draw up some plays and for players to specifically cover the flats. Mahomes found his running backs completely uncovered frequently and they burned Baltimore for big gains every single time he threw to them. After the second or third time, you’d have assumed the Ravens would have figured it out and planned for it.
But drives were kept alive thanks to a running back running out into the flat with no purple jerseys within 10 yards of them. Sure enough, an easy reception would happen and they’d pick up a bunch of free yards. Darrel Williams and LeSean McCoy caught a combined eight passes for 73 yards and a touchdown in this game and most of them were wide open pitch-and-catch plays. With the game on the line on third-and-9, Mahomes found Williams on a screen practically uncovered, who then ran for the first down to seal the victory.
This isn’t a problem completely new to this defense but it’s one they really have to sort out quickly. This won’t be the last time they see offenses cater to that if the Ravens are going to give them those plays and they have a few running backs on their schedule capable of turning easy receptions into long touchdowns if they aren’t careful.
Ravens are still the real deal
For as frustrating as the game was on all fronts, it was still just a five-point game at the final whistle. That might seem like eternal optimism but it points to the Ravens being the real deal, even in defeat. Had they played their brand of football instead of trying to get cute with their fourth-down and two-point conversion calls, Baltimore could very well have walked out with a win today.
The Ravens hung in this game for all 60 minutes, not giving up in spite of what looked like an insurmountable deficit at halftime. They did some things exceptionally well and they hopefully know they don’t have to be as gimmicky and aggressive in order to win. For an early-season loss, this one stings but it also shows Baltimore is right in the thick of things at the top of the AFC.
This is a team that should get even better as the season wears on, the units jell and players get healthy. If they play the Chiefs again in January, I’d believe in the Ravens to win.
