Lamar Jackson sat quietly at his corner locker, still in full uniform and pads, his teary eyes offering a blank stare across the room.
Thirty minutes after taking a game-ending sack that dropped the Ravens out of first place in the AFC North, the franchise quarterback attempted to gather himself. Coach John Harbaugh pulled up and sat to his left, consoling the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, offering a few words only Jackson could hear.
It was a symbolic snapshot of where the Ravens stand right now. With four games left to play, Baltimore’s chaotic season took another turn with its 27-22 loss to Pittsburgh.
The Ravens no longer control their playoff destiny after they found another way to unravel in their latest chapter of a massively disappointing campaign that is beginning to rapidly slip through their fingertips.
To be clear, the Ravens had no business losing to the Steelers on Sunday.
Yet here they are, now sitting at 6-7 and sliding in the division race. Baltimore’s playoff odds dropped to 31%, according to the New York Times’ simulator, while the Steelers’ (7-6) odds jumped to 66%.
“[My frustration] is through the roof,” Jackson said. “Thanksgiving game, we shouldn’t have lost that game. But this one here, I don’t know what happened.”
Despite playing in seven fewer games, Jackson already has exceeded his interception and sack totals from last season. He was officially hit five times, but surely endured much more contact in a game that saw Jackson run more frequently than he had over the past month. Jackson finished with seven carries for 43 yards, while recording his first rushing touchdown since Week 1 at Buffalo.
“We are still turning it around,” he said. “I believe this loss to a divisional opponent was a tough loss because I felt like we could have put more points on the board, and unfortunately, we didn’t. Time ran out, and those guys do what they’re supposed to.”
Why exactly didn’t the Ravens do what they’re supposed to do?
Well, they actually sort of did.
Aside from getting gashed through the air, the Ravens, by and large, dominated across the board in total plays (77 to 51), total yards (420 to 318), time of possession (33:44 to 26:16) and first downs (22 to 13). Pittsburgh also punted four times compared to just two punts from Jordan Stout.
Suffering from yet another slow offensive start — this has become an all too familiar line — the Ravens commanded the exact type of game plan that was drawn up heading into the Week 14 showdown.
A few doses of untimely misfortune didn’t aid the home sideline.
Defensive tackle Travis Jones was penalized for running over long snapper Christian Kuntz, which gifted Pittsburgh with a new set of downs, and ultimately seven points rather than the initial three in a game that was decided by four.
Linebacker Teddye Buchanan also saw his interception, briefly representing the defense’s only takeaway, called back following a questionable review that ruled Rodgers had legally caught his own pass instead of it being wrestled away by the rookie Buchanan.
Isaiah Likely’s would-be go-ahead touchdown reception that was reversed to an incompletion completed Baltimore’s triple threat of critical misfortune. Until Baltimore regains control of its playoff destiny, many fans will express anger toward the Likely touchdown that was ruled incomplete by officials.
Those calls will undoubtedly sting.
However, rough luck and misfortune are only part of Baltimore’s symptoms rather than the problem itself. If a borderline replay decides your fate at home against a rival barely above water, the moment is more indicative of the underachieving product.
Why even put yourself in that position, trailing in the waning moments of a home game over your longtime rivals? The once-Super Bowl favorite Ravens mustered just nine points in the first half against the NFL’s 28th-ranked defense. Sunday marked two consecutive games in which the Ravens’ secondary was exposed, leaving little room for error for an offense that has frequently spelled disaster for a majority of the season.
Rodgers, who hadn’t completed a pass longer than 20 yards in more than a month, dropped a 52-yard dime down the right sideline and into D.K Metcalf’s bread basket on Pittsburgh’s first(!) play.
Metcalf, who led all pass catchers with 148 receiving yards, beat veteran cornerback Marlon Humphrey on Rodgers’ opening shot.
“Over the years, that’s kind of usually the Steelers’ thing against us, is to take a lot of shots downfield,” Humphrey said. “So, it didn’t necessarily surprise me.”
While Harbaugh insisted there will be no finger pointing inside the organization, some leaky hints from Sunday’s disaster say otherwise.
When asked what it’ll take for the Ravens to turn things around, linebacker Roquan Smith pointed to an overused phrase: “It’s about … each and every individual taking control of their 1 of 11, and doing it play in and play out. I think if you do that, and if every single person does that, you will get what you want. The talent’s there, but it’s not about the talent. … It’s about playing, doing your 1 of 11, and if No. 10 is doing their job and No. 1 is not — it’s not good enough.”
Mark Andrews, four days after securing $26 million in new guaranteed salary, was a no-show, finishing with one catch for nine yards across five targets. Wide receivers Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers and Likely each had drops, while Jackson completed 19 of 35 throws with a passer rating of 71.0.
And then there’s the offensive line. Oh, boy, that offensive line.
Perhaps the group most responsible for Jackson still basking in his thoughts long after the final whistle. According to the CBS broadcast, Jackson, following his turnover, was spotted barking toward embattled right guard Daniel Faalele near the home bench.
Baltimore ran for 219 yards, an impressive bounce-back outing that masks another reality. The battered Steelers arrived without multiple key defensive linemen, and lost additional defenders to injury throughout the contest, yet still pressured Jackson a whopping 19 times.
The final knockout, delivered by linebacker Alex Highsmith, sealed the loss and Jackson’s postgame stare.
“I just saw chaos,” Jackson said of the game’s final play. “I just tried to move around as much as I could.”
General manager Eric DeCosta bet on continuity up front, while offensive line coach George Warhop banked on progress. Both should face the music in the nearing offseason for employing a regressing unit that struggles to keep their quarterback upright on a weekly basis.
“I always have so much respect for him and the way he plays, the way he fights and competes and everything else out there,” Harbaugh said of Jackson. “When the game starts, and the lights come on, there’s nobody you’d rather have.”
The Ravens are running out of time. Jackson’s boiling emotions all but confirmed it.
“Each and every week there’s no room for error,” he said. “We’ve just been talking about the [final] four-game stretch. You just have to lock in and put it all on the line.”
Have a news tip? Contact Josh Tolentino at [email protected], 410-332-6200, x.com/JCTSports and instagram.com/JCTSports.
