NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ After Buck Allen was ruled short of the yard to gain on fourth-and-1 on the first play of the fourth quarter, Ravens coach John Harbaugh informed the referees of his intention to challenge by spiking his red flag to the turf.
The Ravens lost the challenge and the ball. With an offense that didn't protect the ball or make any plays down the field, they weren't going to beat the Tennessee Titans, either.
Joe Flacco threw two interceptions and Allen was stopped on that key fourth-down play early in the fourth quarter as the Ravens were beaten by the Titans, 23-20, Sunday afternoon at Nissan Stadium.
They fell to 4-5 on the season and limp into the bye week with an offense that isn't good enough to overcome mistakes.
The Ravens defense gave the team every opportunity to get back in the game in the second half, holding Marcus Mariota and the Titans without a first down until early in the fourth quarter. However, safety Eric Weddle ended that Titans drive by intercepting an overthrow by Mariota and returning the ball to the Tennessee 40-yard line.
Flacco finally punched the ball in, finding Allen out of the backfield for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Justin Tucker's extra-point cut the Titans' lead to 16-13 with just under nine minutes to play.
The Ravens, though, couldn't get the stop that they needed. Mariota connected for first-down receptions to running back Derrick Henry (six yards), tight end Delanie Walker (25 yards) and running back DeMarco Murray (17 yards).
On third down, he found veteran Eric Decker all alone in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. That made the score 23-13 and all but put the Ravens away.
Flacco hit Mike Wallace for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds remaining, but Tucker's ensuing onside kick didn't go 10 yards, allowing Tennessee to take a knee.
The Ravens know their margin of error is slim, especially on the road and against a solid opponent. They can't continually make mistakes and expect to pull out a road win.
However, they made their share of them in the first half and the result was a 16-6 deficit heading into the break.
Their first problem came when they got conservative after a successful fake punt in which punter Sam Koch threw the ball to gunner Chris Moore for a 16-yard gain on fourth-and-7 from the Titans' 43-yard line. A facemask penalty gave the Ravens the ball on the Titans 13, but two straight runs followed by a 1-yard pass to tight end Benjamin Watson resulted in the Ravens settling for a game-tying 30-yard field goal by Tucker.
The Ravens got the ball back, but a pass by Flacco down the seam hit off the hands of Breshad Perriman and was intercepted by safety Kevin Byard. Perriman didn't go up and attack the ball at its highest point and he was hit by Logan Ryan just as the ball was getting to him.
Tennessee needed just three plays to turn the turnover into points. Mariota ran for seven yards, hit rookie Corey Davis for 23 yards and then found Rishard Matthews wide open in the middle of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown and a 10-3 lead. Both Davis and Matthews beat cornerback Brandon Carr.
The Ravens answered, but they again settled for a field goal after a 2-yard conversion by Allen on fourth down, which was overturned upon review after it was initially ruled that the running back was short, setting up a first-and-10 from the Titans 33. However, a 2-yard completion to tight end Maxx Williams and back-to-back incompletions, the first one a bad drop by Perriman, led to Tucker kicking a 49-yard field goal that made the score 10-6.
On their next drive, which started at their own 6, the Ravens went three-and-out. A 56-yard punt by Koch prevented them from giving up good field position, or so the Ravens thought. Instead, rookie outside linebacker Tyus Bowser was called for an illegal-formation penalty on the punt. Titans coach Mike Mularkey opted to make the Ravens punt the ball again and Koch followed with a 17-yard shank, giving Tennessee the ball on the Ravens 26. The penalty cost the Ravens 43 yards of field position.
Yet, another Ravens penalty, albeit on a questionable call, prevented the visitors from holding the Titans to a field-goal attempt. An unnecessary roughness call on outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith after Mariota had thrown the ball away on third down set up a first-and-goal from the 5. Smith didn't appear to do more than nudge Mariota, who certainly sold the call on the home sideline.
Henry then scored on a run off left tackle on a third-and-goal from the 1. Ryan Succop missed the extra point and the score remained 16-6 heading into halftime.
