Near the end of a game Sunday that had defied most logic and rational thinking, tight end Mark Andrews looked up at the scoreboard inside M&T Bank Stadium, staring at a score that was painful not only because of how close the margin was but also how far the Ravens had fallen.
The Ravens, depleted by injuries and the coronavirus, had lost to the NFC-leading Green Bay Packers, 31-30, but they’d also been just a 2-point conversion away from a last-minute go-ahead score. Quarterback Tyler Huntley’s 8-yard scramble with 42 seconds left had almost been enough to keep the Ravens in command of the AFC North, but instead they were left with a third straight loss and second-fiddle status in the division.
The narrow defeat set up a potentially season-defining rematch next Sunday with the Cincinnati Bengals (8-6), who hung on to beat the Denver Broncos and now lead the AFC North by virtue of their Week 7 win in Baltimore. A loss at Paul Brown Stadium could put a division title out of reach and send the Ravens (8-6) back amid the muck of a crowded wild-card picture.
Few thought it would come down to a rollout and a deflected pass to Andrews, an eerily similar fate the Ravens faced two weeks ago in a 20-19 loss to the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Huntley, filling in for an injured Lamar Jackson and leading an offense missing wide receiver Sammy Watkins, left guard Ben Powers and eventually right tackle Tyre Phillips, finished 28-for-40 for 215 yards and two touchdowns and found Andrews 10 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns. He was also the Ravens’ leading rusher, finishing with 73 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
Huntley’s assured final drive was not enough to knock off the NFC North champion Packers (11-3) and quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who finished 23-for-31 for 268 yards and three touchdowns. After a failed onside kick following Huntley’s misfire to Andrews, the Ravens were left to lick their wounds and regroup.
Just how short-handed was coach John Harbaugh’s team? The Ravens didn’t have Jackson, and still their defense might have been their most compromised unit. Pro Bowl-level cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters were already lost for the season. So were starting defensive end Derek Wolfe and safety DeShon Elliott.
In the three days before kickoff, the defense’s losses mounted like it’d been dropped in its own personal “Squid Game.” Pro Bowl defensive lineman Calais Campbell was sidelined by a thigh injury he’d suffered the week before. Cornerbacks Jimmy Smith and Chris Westry and starting safety Chuck Clark were added to the reserve/COVID-19 list. Cornerback Tavon Young was ruled out with a concussion early in the third quarter.
That left the Ravens with just one cornerback with recent starting experience, Anthony Averett, and a grab bag of special teams contributors and practice squad call-ups behind him. Kevon Seymour had played just 25 defensive snaps all season. Robert Jackson had seen only special teams snaps in his two games with the Ravens. Mazzi Wilkins hadn’t played at all since joining their practice squad in early October.
At safety, the names were more familiar and more proven, but not significantly so. Geno Stone, who seldom appeared on defense over the season’s first half, wore the green dot as the defense’s on-field signal-caller. Special teams leader Anthony Levine Sr., who hadn’t played a defensive snap all season, started the game. Tony Jefferson, who’d rejoined the team only six days earlier as a practice squad member, got meaningful snaps.
Slowly but surely, the Ravens’ decimated depth revealed itself. On Rodgers’ first touchdown pass, he picked on Jackson, who’d started once in his young career. On Rodgers’ second, he went after inside linebacker Josh Bynes, who stumbled after running into a wide receiver pick he hadn’t seen. On Rodgers’ third score, he went after Jackson again.
For a half, the Ravens defied the odds and kept pace, entering halftime tied at 14. But in a matchup where the depleted Ravens had to summon every lever, trick and advantage imaginable, they crucially lost momentum along the game’s margins. On a third-and-10 in Ravens territory early in the third quarter, Seymour was called for pass interference after lightly contacting wide receiver Alan Lazard.
Instead of seeing kicker Mason Crosby trot onto the field, the Ravens watched Rodgers find running back Aaron Jones uncovered on the next play for a 9-yard score and 21-14 lead. Fans’ booing only intensified.
Facing their first deficit all game, the Ravens advanced to Green Bay’s 15, where they faced fourth-and-1. But rookie left guard Ben Cleveland, starting his first career game in place of the injured Powers (foot), flinched early. The Ravens called back their offense and leaned on Tucker for a 38-yard field goal, which he nailed to trim the Packers’ lead to 21-17.
Their hopes of a go-ahead score quickly faded. At the end of an 11-play, 88-yard drive five minutes later, Rodgers found Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a routine-looking 11-yard touchdown over the middle. After the Ravens went four-and-out on their next drive, forfeiting possession at their 29, the Packers took a 31-17 lead on a 29-yard field goal by kicker Mason Crosby.
The game began with the kind of Ravens momentum that the week’s events had seemingly neutered. On the game’s opening drive, Huntley marched the Ravens as far as Green Bay’s 3-yard line, helped by Andrews’ 43-yard catch-and-run. But coordinator Greg Roman’s boldness on fourth down was not rewarded, with Huntley taking a sack at the end of a seven-plus-minute possession.
Their next two drives didn’t hit any speed bumps. Huntley opened the Ravens’ scoring by scrambling to his right and finding Andrews for a diving 8-yard score in the back of the end zone. On their next red-zone trip, Huntley again found Andrews, who leaped over safety Darnell Savage in the corner of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown.
There was only so much the Ravens could do to stop Rodgers, though. After going three-and-out on its first drive, Green Bay faced a third down just twice over its next two drives, both of which ended with touchdowns. Running back AJ Dillon punched it in from 2 yards for the Packers’ first score, and on their next drive, Rodgers easily found wide receiver Davante Adams, who’d turned around Jackson, from 3 yards out on third-and-goal.
Week 16
RAVENS@BENGALS
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Bengals by 2 ½
