ExtremeRavens Posted September 28 Posted September 28 Here’s what The Baltimore Sun sports staff had to say immediately after the Ravens’ 37-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 of the NFL season on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium: Mike Preston, columnist This game went almost as expected with defensive end Nnamdi Madubuike and tackles Travis Jones and Broderick Washington injured. Maybe the defense was going to play a little harder because of the “next man up” mentality, but the Ravens weren’t going to win this game, not with receiver Xavier Worthy back in the Kansas City starting lineup. Regardless, the Ravens have been fortunate to play the past two years without any major injuries, but it seems to have caught up with them this season. This game was basically over once starting quarterback Lamar Jackson went out of the game with a hamstring injury near the end of the third quarter. Ravens coach John Harbaugh has to make some interesting decisions. Does he stick with second-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr for the rest of the season and allow the Ravens time to heal, or does he go with another top assistant, such as secondary coach Chuck Pagano, who was previously the coach of the Indianapolis Colts? Pagano was brought in during the offseason to bolster the secondary, but that has been a major part of the problem. The Ravens should just stay the course and see what happens. To rock the boat at this time might cause a major player revolt. The Ravens can still go on a nine- or 10-game winning streak because the NFL is an awful league. Once the Ravens get through the first 10 games, the schedule becomes easier. Josh Tolentino, columnist Kansas City left Baltimore’s battered defense in ruins. The Chiefs, who hadn’t topped 23 points all season, erupted for 37 in a must-win spot. Patrick Mahomes faced little resistance against a defense shredded by injuries. Baltimore generated minimal push at the line of scrimmage and was repeatedly beat to the punch. The Chiefs scored on seven of their nine drives; Kansas City punted just once, while Harrison Butker missed a 56-yard field goal attempt to account for the team’s other two non-scoring possessions. To make matters worse, the Ravens witnessed Lamar Jackson (hamstring), Ronnie Stanley (ankle), Roquan Smith (hamstring), Marlon Humphrey (calf), and Nate Wiggins (right arm) all exit the contest with injuries. The Ravens entered the season believing they were capable of bullying their way to conference supremacy. It’s a long season, but one month in, the Ravens sit at 1-3 and face serious questions about the team’s direction. Sam Cohn, reporter The Ravens are down bad. The latest nadir of what has been a downtrodden season came when the broadcast panned to Lamar Jackson sitting on the bench, gazing up at the scoreboard. A hat sat atop his head. Tape wrapped his hamstring. And backup Cooper Rush checked in with Baltimore trailing 30-13. It was seemingly the final straw in a game stockpiling the injury report with starters, All-Pros and playmakers. This season is on life support. The schedule gets easier from here, but there is every reason to worry about where the Ravens go from here if their health doesn’t improve. Grab the panic button and cautiously hold your hand above it while we await injury news. C.J. Doon, editor Even John Harbaugh’s worst nightmare couldn’t have imagined this. Key players keep dropping like flies. His defense, led by hand-picked coordinator Zach Orr, is hemorrhaging points week after week. Lamar Jackson suddenly can’t avoid a sack and coughed up a pair of ugly turnovers and inexplicably threw the ball away on fourth down before exiting with a hamstring injury. The offensive line is getting run over. Even Derrick Henry can’t be trusted amid a run of uncharacteristic fumbles. At one point Sunday, the Ravens’ defense had five rookies on the field. With Nnamdi Madubuike, Kyle Van Noy, Broderick Washington and Travis Jones already sidelined and Marlon Humphrey, Roquan Smith, Ronnie Stanley and Nate Wiggins exiting early Sunday, the team that experienced the best health in the NFL last season is suddenly being torn apart. How drastic will the changes be? It’s not out of the question that the Ravens will want to shake up the coaching staff after such a dreadful start to the season. Injuries are a huge part of the problem, but the Ravens have been uncharacteristically blown off the field in back-to-back weeks. Doing nothing would be a sign of complacency. For a team that prides itself on being tough and resilient, it will have to practice what it preaches to get out of this rut. Tim Schwartz, editor What a disaster. The Ravens’ season is teetering on the edge of a nightmare, and it’s not even October. Lamar Jackson is hurt — how seriously is yet to be determined — and he joined Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins and Ronnie Stanley on the sideline. Baltimore is 1-3. The defense stinks. The offense looks totally out of sync. Jackson isn’t the all-time dynamic playmaker he has been throughout his career — dare I say he’s lost a step? Maybe it would be an overreaction to fire defensive coordinator Zach Orr or even coach John Harbaugh, but someone needs to be held accountable for this truly awful start to 2025. Bennett Conlin, editor The Ravens had some of the best injury luck in the NFL in 2024. It’s safe to say that luck is gone. The absences of three key interior defensive linemen coupled with Ronnie Stanley, Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins exiting early would be hard for any team to overcome in a road game against the Chiefs. Adding a Lamar Jackson injury into the mix is nightmare fuel. The Ravens are going to have to figure out how to successfully navigate life with injured contributors. The defense looks abysmal, and it had issues before the rash of injuries. What might it look like in coming weeks with some of its best players unavailable? At best, Baltimore will enter its bye week 3-3 if it can beat the Texans and Rams in consecutive weeks. At worst, the Ravens will come out of their bye with a losing record. Jackson’s superhuman talent means the Ravens can (and likely will) make a playoff push, assuming his hamstring injury isn’t a major issue. But fans should be worried about this team, especially if Jackson misses any time. They’ve spotted the Bills and Chiefs head-to-head wins, so even if they rally to make the postseason there’s a good chance that their path to a Lombardi Trophy will include road games against at least one of Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. It’s not a lost season yet, but between the results and injuries, it’s hard to imagine a worse start to the year for the Ravens. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor C.J. Doon at cdoon@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/CJDoon. View the full article Quote
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