Leading up to the game, it looked like we were going to get a classic run-heavy offense with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson at the helm. We had heard all week that the Bills’ defense wasn’t equipped to handle the Ravens’ run offense, but the reality was far different. Instead, Henry ended the game with just 16 carries for 83 yards, a performance that fell well short of expectations. That wasn’t the only frustration of the night—Baltimore also lost the turnover battle 3-0 in a game they ultimately lost by just two points. Going into the game, Ravens fans were anxious about two things: abandoning the run game and having a repeat of last year’s AFC Championship Game. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what we got.
While I’ve seen a lot of people online criticize Mark Andrews—and he rightly shoulders a lot of the blame for the Ravens’ loss—the whole team was unrecognizable during this game, apart from their opening drive. Lamar Jackson, while looking better than he has in recent postseasons, threw a costly interception early in the game on a 2nd-and-10. Whether it was a miscommunication with Rashod Bateman or just a bad decision, those are the kinds of mistakes you can’t afford in a game like this. Even after the defense stepped up and forced a punt from the Bills, Jackson fumbled the ball on the very next drive. This chain of events perfectly illustrates the theme of the whole night: missed opportunities and failure to capitalize when the chances were there. Despite some fans’ readiness to blame a single play or player for the loss, the offense didn’t show up on multiple levels, and that’s ultimately the biggest reason the Ravens lost.
Another aspect of the offense that was consistently frustrating was the play-calling. Late in the third quarter, it seemed like the Ravens had finally found some rhythm with Henry and the ground game, only for him to finish with just 8 carries in the second half. What’s worse, this was after a drive where Henry combined for 30+ yards and a touchdown on only three carries. This game reminded me a lot of the first loss against the Steelers in Week 11; the Steelers stopped the run early on, and the Ravens abandoned it for the rest of the game. The confusing part is that it seemed like we had found the solution to this last week—running heavy option plays with Jackson and Henry—and yet Todd Monken abandoned it the very next week. We couldn’t get the run established, which made everything more difficult. All season long we’ve heard that Jackson and Henry together are unstoppable, but in the most critical moments, the Ravens didn’t use their most powerful weapons.
Throughout the regular season, the Ravens’ offense was one of the most exciting to watch in the league, even being compared to the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’. But as we’ve seen now with both the Lions and the Ravens, having one of the best offenses isn’t enough to guarantee success in the NFL. You need to always show up at the right moments, and that is what Baltimore is going to have to learn if they want to win the big game.
