ExtremeRavens Posted Monday at 10:30 AM Posted Monday at 10:30 AM Right now, the only thing that can slow the bleeding of this Ravens season from hell is the bye week. We’ve finally arrived, but not before another Baltimore clunker. This one, a 17-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Here are five things we learned: If it’s not one thing with this team, it’s another In a postgame locker room largely cleared out by players itching to get home and flush this fourth straight loss — a first for Baltimore since 2021 — there stood DeAndre Hopkins. He’s a 33-year-old veteran who has experienced the many highs and lows football has to offer. Hopkins, a three-time All-Pro in Year 13, is as thoughtful as he is talented. This particular question in a postgame media scrum didn’t warrant much musing. Was Hopkins surprised by the Ravens’ 1-5 start? He shook his head no, “Bad football will get you 1-5.” Unfortunately for these Ravens, that’s not a singular fix. They can’t point to just one facet of their play, six weeks into the season, that consolidates all their “bad football.” It seems every week offers something new. For much of this season, enough of it could be blamed on the defense. Sunday was different. “Our defense did a hell of a job,” running back Derrick Henry said. “But as far as offense, we definitely have to be better.” If it’s not one thing with this team, it’s another. Baltimore returned defensive staples Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey from injury. Then outside linebacker Tavius Robinson broke his foot. The Ravens forced their first takeaway since Week 2. But they turned the ball over thrice. The defense held Los Angeles’ very good offense to a manageable 17 points. But the offense was held out of the end zone for the first time in three years. Henry clocked his most yards on the ground (122) since Week 1. But the Ravens failed to convert 4 of 6 fourth-down tries. Now, Baltimore’s season enters unsalvageable territory. One win through six weeks matches the worst start in franchise history. Three points marks their fewest points scored in a home game since 2002. Every week, players and coaches try to make sense of what went wrong the previous Sunday. They vow to correct it. Then they find another way to box themselves out of the win column. “Obviously, a little tired of getting up here and having this conversation,” coach John Harbaugh said. The Ravens’ only option is to stack a win streak coming out of the bye, with games against Chicago, Miami then Minnesota. It’s not impossible. “I feel like we still have time,” Henry said. “Just believe in us.” The Ravens finally lost faith in Cooper Rush With 13:30 left in the fourth quarter and the Ravens trailing by two scores, a No. 5 purple jersey emerged from the bench. Third-string quarterback Tyler Huntley, whom Baltimore signed to its practice squad in late August, refocused all the wandering eyes. Every fan who might have opened the discussion among their traveling party about heading for the exits early was now locked in, leaning forward in their seats. Even Lamar Jackson stood up to watch Huntley — who replaced the injured two-time Most Valuable Player in 2022 — take over. Harbaugh said he planned to play both throughout the game. He claimed to have not seen an obvious mid-game opening to pull Cooper Rush and give Huntley a try. Those watching such an uninspiring offense seemed to think differently. Fans on a windy October Sunday let Rush hear it. They already saw him throw three interceptions last week. Baltimore’s slugfest rolled into Week 6, and so fans called for Huntley. But not before booing Rush off the field on three straight drives. When Rams kicker Joshua Karty shanked a chip shot in the first quarter that gave the ball back to Baltimore with a lead (something we haven’t seen much of this year), Rush threw his fourth interception in five quarters as a Ravens starter. When the Ravens opted to go for it on fourth-and-3, Rush rolled out to his right and sailed a throw intended for Zay Flowers streaking into open grass. That pulled the plug on any momentum gained from the forced turnover moments before. When Todd Monken’s offense picked up some steam and reached midfield, Rush threw a third-and-8 ball at the feet of an open Mark Andrews. So ensued the negative energy from an antsy home crowd. Ravens quarterback Cooper Rush threw for only 72 yards against the Rams before being replaced by Tyler Huntley in the fourth quarter Sunday. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Rush finished the day 11 of 19 for 72 yards. His replacement finished out the fourth quarter 10 of 15 with 68 yards through the air, albeit against a fourth-quarter defense that was protecting a 14-point lead. Huntley’s magnetism climaxed on a fourth-and-12 try. There were four minutes left, and punting would have been the ultimate white flag. Huntley scampered for 19 yards by himself, extending a drive that reached the red zone but yielded no points. “If I were in ‘Coop’s situation, I wouldn’t want to get pulled when you’re trying to win the game,” Huntley said. “There’s a lot of stuff that, as a quarterback, you just have to be ready for.” Surely, everyone in that locker room is ready to be done with the conversation once Jackson returns after the bye week. Goal-line offense issues haven’t been resolved This offseason, the Ravens were one of 10 teams that voted in favor of keeping the “tush push” — the short-distance set in which a player takes the snap and teammates shove his derrière over the line, made popular by the Philadelphia Eagles. Detractors claim it ruins the product of the game. The play requires “no skill,” one high-ranking Packers front office member said after a playoff loss last season. He called it an “automatic first down.” The Ravens would like to have a word. In the waning seconds before halftime, they failed twice at the sure-thing, then got stuffed trying a regular Henry run on fourth down. While Baltimore has had success pushing Andrews’ tush in the past, this anticlimactic goal-line bust “didn’t get any push,” Harbaugh said. That took the wind out of Baltimore’s sails heading into halftime tied at 3 when they could have been up 10-3. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) “That sucks,” center Tyler Linderbaum said. “We just didn’t get a yard. They wanted it more than us. When it comes down to it, who wants it more?” The tush push was a new approach to an issue that’s plagued the Ravens all season. There are 22 NFL teams better than Baltimore at scoring touchdowns once they get inside the red zone. The Ravens score at a 53.3% clip. Remember when Jackson fumbled against the Lions after three failed attempts from inside the 5-yard line? Or against Cleveland, when Baltimore needed all four tries to finally punch in a touchdown? Those frustrations resurfaced with the two holding penalties that foiled the Ravens’ opening drive, instead leaving them with a field goal, their only points. Add Sunday’s goal-line meltdown to the growing list. “I mean, that’s just unacceptable,” Henry said. Defense finally showed some life The 6-foot-3, 360-pound John Jenkins lumbered up field, holding the football to the gray sky, wearing a toothy smile under his face mask. His Ravens teammates were right there beside him on a celebratory caravan for the team’s first takeaway since Week 2 vs. Cleveland. That romping against a division foe was the last time Baltimore’s defense showed this much juice. Ravens defensive tackle John Jenkins sacks Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and recovers Stafford's fumble Sunday. The takeaway was the team's first forced turnover since Week 2. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Jenkins’ strip-sack answered the prayers of a defense that spent all offseason touting the importance of takeaways and has since failed to deliver. Not to mention, the Ravens were one of the worst teams in football at bringing down the quarterback. On Sunday, linebackers Teddye Buchanan and Trenton Simpson teamed up for the Ravens’ second of the day on a crucial fourth-and-short. “I thought our defense played pretty darn well against a high-powered offense,” Harbaugh said. It may have cooled the seat under defensive coordinator Zach Orr. With each loss, his job has come into question. Harbaugh continually backed his young coach. But if a staffing change were to happen, this break in the schedule would be the time. And yet, Sunday night, Harbaugh didn’t waiver: “I don’t really have any plans to do that. No, I don’t think there’s any obvious move there that would make us better.” Ravens defensive players have all insisted these shortcomings are on them. Not Orr. At the very least, they held up their end of the bargain Sunday afternoon. Rams running back Kyren Williams’ 50 rushing yards were his fewest this season. Matthew Stafford, the league’s leader in passing yards, threw for only 181 yards, his lowest mark this season (granted, he was without star receiver Puka Nacua for much of the game). And the Ravens’ defense walled up on fourth down for the first time since Week 2 (Lions, Chiefs and Texans were all perfect converting fourth-down attempts). “We needed to see that,” Harbaugh said. The most noticeable difference was the injection of safety Alohi Gilman, whom Baltimore acquired via trade with the Los Angeles Chargers. Gilman learned a “whole new football scheme in three days” and looked right at home in Baltimore’s offense. It allowed for Orr to play around with three safety looks, which means Hamilton can move closer to the line of scrimmage. Sunday was the first time the Ravens’ defense went consecutive drives without allowing points to a team’s starting quarterback since the second quarter in Week 3 vs. Detroit. They pushed around Los Angeles in two such instances in the loss. While all of this is a good sign for the potential course-correction required after the bye week, Baltimore won’t get home scotch free. Robinson’s broken foot is “a bad one,” Harbaugh said. Baltimore is already light on pass rushers. Nnamdi Madubuike was ruled out for the season with a neck injury, and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh was traded in the Gilman deal. Oweh recorded a sack in his Chargers debut, a 29-27 win over the Dolphins. These guys can’t catch a break. Thank goodness for the bye week The Ravens can sigh a bit of relief. They won’t play another game for 14 days. Baltimore is in desperate need of this break. Both for the emotional reset of the team’s worst start since 2015, which chops off another few percentage points from their playoff chances, and to address the unending injury woes that have plagued the first third of Baltimore’s season. Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton warms up before Sunday's game vs. the Rams. Hamilton is one of several Ravens who have battled injuries this season. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Most crucially, the Ravens should return their star quarterback from a hamstring injury for Week 8 versus Chicago. They hope to have middle linebacker Roquan Smith and fullback Pat Ricard back. Hamilton, Humphrey, left tackle Ronnie Stanley and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie have all dealt with injuries to varying degrees these past three weeks. The break should offer some solace in that department. These past few weeks have been a sprint, every step weighed down by a loss then the ensuing questions trying to figure out what went wrong. Harbaugh said he doesn’t have “any plans” to make staffing changes over the break. Either way, they’ll spend the next week balancing the urgency to course correct and the obligation to embrace a break in the schedule. “I wish we could play tomorrow,” Henry said. “The bye lets guys rest up who need it … then we’ll hit the ground running when it’s time to go.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.x.com. View the full article Quote
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