ExtremeRavens Posted Tuesday at 06:14 PM Posted Tuesday at 06:14 PM The Ravens entered this season with Super Bowl aspirations. They’ve spent the first seven weeks, though, chasing themselves amid a disappointing campaign. The problems extend beyond injuries. They’re mental, emotional issues — and they trace back to a night in Buffalo when everything started to slip. That became even clearer after The Baltimore Sun spoke with more than two dozen sources in and around the Ravens to get a real understanding of what’s gone wrong. Our reporting revealed player frustration with a lack of offensive identity and a tentative defense. Perhaps most concerning was how players described the mental beating the Week 1 collapse at Buffalo created. “It was that Bills game that put a beating on us mentally where it felt like everything was ending, even though it was the first game,” one veteran player told The Sun. The collapse hardened into something deeper. That’s one of the biggest things I took away from our reporting. Through each loss, the Ravens seemingly have carried the weight of that season-opening defeat at Highmark Stadium. Since then, it feels as if pressure has only continued to shape the season, turning up a lingering psychological spin for a team ravaged by injuries. Inside The Castle, players are aware that Sept. 7 evening set a tone Baltimore has been unable to shake off completely. After last season’s playoff letdown, Buffalo again stripped Baltimore’s confidence early, and the Ravens have only attempted to reclaim it ever since. On defense, our reporting revealed exactly how cautious this Zach Orr-led group has become. A unit that once thrived on takeaways and aggression has played as if it’s afraid to make mistakes. That simply can’t continue. If this team is going to climb out of its hole, the defense needs to stack stellar performances. Consider Baltimore’s 17-3 loss to the Rams in Week 6 as a step in the right direction. There were flashes of better tackling and tighter coverage, but the Ravens need to show more consistency, especially as key pieces, such as middle linebacker Roquan Smith, return to the starting lineup. Offensively, things have gone awry since quarterback and two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson suffered a hamstring injury during the team’s Sept. 28 loss to Kansas City. The team’s tempo and passing game have evaporated with Jackson’s absence and coordinator Todd Monken’s creativity has dulled. Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey breaks up a pass intended for Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua at M&T Bank Stadium. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) The unit’s level of execution has also suffered to the point of visible frustration. If the Ravens somehow pull off a spectacular run to close the season, but fall a game or two short of making the playoffs, the offense’s sequence right outside the goal line against the Rams and the group’s inability to punch it in on three consecutive attempts will stick out like a sore thumb. The importance of Jackson’s expected return from injury cannot be overstated. His presence alone drastically shifts opposing defenses’ game plans and provides the Ravens a real chance that they haven’t felt or experienced since he limped off the field in Week 4. Jackson’s return, though, can’t be treated like a simple plug-and-play. Monken must use Jackson’s return as an opportunity to reset and streamline the offense, to play faster and lean on the run game, and recapture the sense of unpredictability behind Jackson and Derrick Henry that makes Baltimore a potent offensive threat. With 11 regular-season games remaining, the Ravens (1-5) have little room for error. And if Baltimore aspires to become just the fifth team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to start 1-5 and still make the playoffs, the Ravens absolutely need to play with consistent urgency. The journey to 10 wins, widely viewed as the prerequisite for a playoff spot in the AFC, begins Sunday against Chicago. The psychological climb might be just as steep as the on-field battle. Jackson’s imminent return gives the Ravens their best chance to clear that massive hurdle. No more excuses. No more carrying the dead weight of that opening defeat into every contest. That’s one of the most pertinent pieces of information I gathered from The Sun’s weeks of reporting: The Ravens know exactly what’s weighing them down. Either Baltimore uses the bye week and Jackson’s return as a true reset, or it lets the Week 1 collapse at Buffalo define the season. Have a news tip? Contact Josh Tolentino at jtolentino@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200, x.com/JCTSports and instagram.com/JCTSports. View the full article Quote
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